Anna Ivanovna

Anna Ivanovna, Empress of Russia, the daughter of the Czar Ivan, the brother of Peter the Great, was born in 1693. After the death of her first husband, the Duke of Courland, she bestowed her affections and her hand on an adventurer Joan Biren. Ascending the throne in 1730 on the deposition of Peter II., she reigned with some ability, endeavouring to civilise her subjects. Biren, however, exercised a pernicious influence over her policy. The famous palace of ice on the Neva was a freak of this sovereign, who died in 1740.