RUSSIA - CATHERINE II 1762 - 1796 - Lot 65

RUSSIA - CATHERINE II 1762 - 1796 Her bust on the right. R/. Monogram. Fr 136 Gold Poltina (half-rouble) 1777 Saint Petersburg. Weight : 0,76 g Superb. Catherine II was a cultured woman who had loved books since childhood. She had a perfect knowledge of the French language thanks to her Huguenot governess. Abandoned by her parents, her solitary childhood led her to immerse herself in reading. reading. After arriving in Russia, abandoned by her husband and virtually quarantined, she read every French novel she could get her hands on. One day, she reads a French book on the history of Germany and realizes that this kind of work appeals to her even more than the other books. that this kind of work appealed to her even more than fiction. On the advice of a number of intellectuals visiting Russia, she immersed herself in the works of Plutarism. the works of Plutarch and Tacitus, then Pierre Bayle's Dictionnaire historique et critique, a transition between history and philosophy. history and philosophy. She then read Montesquieu's "De l'esprit des lois", in which he discusses the separation of powers and advocates an aristocratic system. and advocates a liberal aristocratic system. In November 1764, she became the founder of the Académie des trois arts nobles arts, founded in 1757, by granting it privileges and regulations. Through the intermediary of the French ambassador, Count Louis-Philippe de Ségur, she brought theater and opera troupes from Paris, including Floridor, which she performed at her in her Hermitage Palace theater. She was a writer herself. First of all, she wrote the "Grande Instruction", a Code summarizing her views on Russia's political system, followed by L'Antidote, her response to Voyage en Sibérie, a virulent written in 1768 by Abbé Chappe d'Auteroche. Next came her Memoirs, followed by a series of notes and justifications on her politics and life in general, an essential source of information about her. In 1765, she bought the library of Diderot, who stayed in St. Petersburg for 5 months, during which time he spoke with her every day. with her every day. She maintained an epistolary relationship with Voltaire (1694-1778), who was a fervent supporter of her cause in France. Because of her interest in the philosophers' reflections, he saw in her an "enlightened monarch" as open-minded as the King of France should be. should be. But he never came to Russia, although he did stay in Berlin with Frederick II. In 1778, she bought his library.