Peter the Great

1672 – 1725 · died at about 53^[1][2]

Politics & Leadership

Fun Facts About Peter the Great

• Peter the Great toured Western Europe "incognito" under a fake name, but at a reported 6 ft 8 in he was far taller than most people and fooled no one.^[1]
• Peter ordered Russian courtiers to shave their long beards. Nobles who wanted to keep theirs had to pay an annual beard tax of 100 rubles.^[1]
• To learn shipbuilding, the tsar spent four months gaining practical experience at a Dutch East India Company shipyard.^[1]
• In 1698, Peter arrived at Victoria Embankment with a cook, a priest, six trumpeters, 70 soldiers, four dwarfs, and a monkey he had bought in Amsterdam.^[1]
• At 18, Peter founded the All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters, a group that mocked the Orthodox and Catholic churches.^[1]
• According to legend, Peter waded into icy water to rescue drowning soldiers, and the rescue is said to have worsened his bladder problems and caused his death.^[1]
• Peter the Great was alive at the same time as Adam Smith — their lives overlapped for 2 years (1723–1725).^[1][2][3][4]
• Peter the Great lived to about 53, from 1672 until 1725.^[1][2]

Peter I was the Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. Peter, as an autocrat, organized a well-ordered police state.^[1]

Contemporaries

Isaac Newton

53 yr overlap

Christopher Wren

51 yr overlap

Antonio Vivaldi

47 yr overlap

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

44 yr overlap

Louis XIV

43 yr overlap

Johann Sebastian Bach

40 yr overlap

George Frideric Handel

40 yr overlap

John Locke

32 yr overlap

Voltaire

31 yr overlap

Matsuo Bashō

22 yr overlap

Benjamin Franklin

19 yr overlap

Carl Linnaeus

18 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Peter the Great

When was Peter the Great born?

Peter the Great was born on June 9, 1672, and died on February 8, 1725.

How old was Peter the Great at death?

Peter the Great was born on June 9, 1672, and died on February 8, 1725, at age 52.

What was Peter the Great known for?

Peter the Great was known for: Tsar who modernized Russia. Peter I was the Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. Peter, as an autocrat, organized a well-ordered police state.

Who was alive at the same time as Peter the Great?

Peter the Great's closest contemporary was Isaac Newton. Their lives overlapped for 53 years.