Peter I of Russia

Peter I, called the Great (1672–1725), was tsar of Russia from 1682 and its first emperor from 1721, the ruler who forced Russia toward Europe. Chosen tsar at ten, he first ruled with Ivan V under Sophia's regency, overthrowing her in 1689. He ruled alone from 1694 and took Azov in 1696.

In 1697 he travelled incognito and worked as a shipwright at Zaandam and Amsterdam. He ordered beards cut, dress worn and the new year moved to 1 January in 1699. Beaten by Charles XII at Narva in 1700, he rebuilt his army, founded Saint Petersburg in 1703 and crushed the Swedes at Poltava in 1709; the 1721 Treaty of Nystad gave Russia Ingria, Estonia and Livonia.

He created the Senate, Table of Ranks and Academy of Sciences. In 1718 his son Alexei, suspected of plotting, died under torture; Peter died in February 1725, aged fifty-two.