Catherine I
1684 – 1727 · 43 years · Saint Petersburg · Eastern Europe & Russia
Reign: 1725 – 1727 (Rus and Russia)
Born Marta Skavronska, a Livonian commoner who became Peter the Great's wife. Placed on the throne by the guards and Menshikov, she created the Supreme Privy Council and saw the Academy of Sciences open.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century
Portrait: Jean-Marc Nattier · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Isaac Newton — English physicist and mathematician, 41 years older
- Johann Sebastian Bach — German composer and organist, 1 year younger
- Voltaire — French Enlightenment writer, 10 years younger
- Louis XIV — King of France, the Sun King, 46 years older
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — German philosopher and mathematician, 38 years older
- Queen Anne — last Stuart monarch, under whom Great Britain was created, 19 years older
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Peter the Great — first Emperor of Russia, 12 years older
- Mikhail Lomonosov — Russian polymath, 27 years younger
- Vitus Bering — Danish explorer in Russian service, 3 years older
- Anna — empress who tore up the Conditions; era of Biron's dominance, 9 years younger
- Leonhard Euler — Swiss mathematician, 23 years younger
- Elizabeth — empress who founded Moscow University, 25 years younger
Middle East
- Ahmed III — sultan of the 'Tulip Era', 11 years older
- Nader Shah — Shah of Iran and conqueror, 4 years younger
- Mahmud I — sultan who regained Belgrade by the 1739 peace, 12 years younger
- Osman III — sultan who spent 50 years in the 'cage', 15 years younger
- Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab — Islamic religious reformer, 19 years younger
- Mustafa II — sultan who signed the Treaty of Karlowitz, 20 years older
Africa
- Moulay Ismail — Sultan of Morocco, 39 years older
- Osei Tutu I — founder of the Ashanti Empire, 24 years older
- Kimpa Vita — Kongolese prophet, born the same year
Asia
- Kangxi Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 30 years older
- Tokugawa Yoshimune — reforming shogun who allowed Western books, born the same year
- Tokugawa Tsunayoshi — the 'Dog Shogun' who outlawed cruelty to animals, 38 years older
- Aurangzeb — Mughal emperor, 66 years older
- Qianlong Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 27 years younger
- Matsuo Bashō — Japanese poet, 40 years older
Americas
- Benjamin Franklin — American scientist and statesman, 22 years younger
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz — Mexican poet and nun, 36 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 1687 Newton's Principia — aged 3, Europe
- 1688–1689 Glorious Revolution — aged 4, Europe
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — aged 19, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1709 Battle of Poltava — aged 25, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1721 Proclamation of the Russian Empire — aged 37, Eastern Europe & Russia