Potemkin's achievements include the peaceful annexation of the Crimea (1783) and the successful second Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792), during which the armed forces under his command besieged Ochakov.

A distant relative of the Muscovite diplomat Pyotr Potemkin (1617–1700), Grigory was born in the village of Chizhovo near Smolensk into a family of middle-income noble landowners.

Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore has suggested that Kizlovsky fathered Potemkin,[8] who became the centre of attention, heir to the village and the only son among six children.

Talented in both Greek and theology, he won the university's gold medal in 1757 and became part of a twelve-student delegation sent to Saint Petersburg later that year.

Allegedly, as Catherine reviewed her troops in front of the Winter Palace before their march to the Peterhof, she lacked a sword-knot (or possibly hat plumage), which Potemkin quickly supplied.

[21] In the interval, the Ottoman Empire had started the Russo-Turkish War of 1768 to 1774 and Potemkin was eager to prove himself, writing to Catherine: The only way I can express my gratitude to Your Majesty is to shed my blood for Your glory.

[35] Many of their trysts seem to have centered around the banya sauna in the basement of the Winter Palace;[31][36] Potemkin soon grew so jealous that Catherine had to detail her prior love-life for him.

[38] In quick succession he won appointment as Governor-General of Novorossiya, as a member of the State Council, as General-in-Chief, as vice-president of the College of War[39][40] and as Commander-in-Chief of the Cossacks.

[44] Signs of a potential "golden adieu" for Potemkin include his 1776 appointment, at Catherine's request, to the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

An Anglophile, he helped negotiate with the English ambassador, Sir James Harris, during Catherine's initiative of Armed Neutrality, though the south remained his passion.

[61] That kingdom was about to expand: under the Treaty of Kuçuk Kainarji, which had ended the previous Russo-Turkish war, the Crimean Khanate had become independent, though effectively under Russian control.

He had been the namestnik of Russia's southern provinces (including Novorossiya, Azov, Saratov, Astrakhan and the Caucasus) since 1774,[citation needed] repeatedly expanding the domain via military action.

[75] Immigrants included Russians, foreigners, British convicts diverted from Australia,[citation needed] Cossacks and controversially Jews.

Certainly, Potemkin had arranged for Catherine to see the best he had to offer, organizing numerous exotic excursions, and at least two cities' officials concealed poverty by building false houses.

His opponents were anxious to reclaim the lands they had lost in the last war, and they were under pressure from Prussia, Britain and Sweden to take a hostile attitude towards Russia.

Though the Turks were repelled in early skirmishes against the Russian fortress at Kinburn, news of the loss of Potemkin's beloved fleet during a storm sent him into a deep depression.

He divided his time between military preparation (creating a fleet of a hundred gunboats to fight within the shallow liman) and chasing the wives of soldiers under his command.

[89] In early summer 1788, fighting intensified as Potemkin's forces won their naval confrontation with the Turks with few losses, and began the siege of Ochakov, a Turkish stronghold and the main Russian war aim.

[92] In May he left once more for the front, having agreed on contingency plans with Catherine should Russia be forced into war with either Prussia or the upstart Poland, which had recently successfully demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from its territory.

[nb 3][96] Potemkin opened up a lavish court at Iași, the capital of Moldavia, to "winter like a sultan, revel in his mistresses, build his towns, create his regiments—and negotiate peace with [the Turks]... he was emperor of all he surveyed".

Despite the damage, the silver lining for the Russians was that the Swedes now felt able to negotiate on an even footing and a peace was soon signed (Treaty of Värälä on 14 August 1790) based on the status quo ante bellum, thus ending the threat of invasion.

The Prince came across as polite and charming though his latest mistress, Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukaya, appeared sidelined,[nb 4][103] and Potemkin found himself embroiled in court intrigue whilst trying to force Zubov out.

[104][105] Fortunately for the Russians, the Anglo-Prussian alliance collapsed and a British ultimatum that Russia should accept the status quo ante bellum was withdrawn.

His procrastination soured Catherine's attitude towards him, a situation compounded by Potemkin's choice of the married Princess Paskovia Adreevna Golitsyna (née Shuvalova) as his latest mistress.

[108] Potemkin fell ill in the fever-ridden city of Iași, then often known as Jassy in English, although he kept busy, overseeing peace talks,[nb 5] planning his assault on Poland, and preparing the army for renewed war in the south.

[120] Louis Philippe, comte de Ségur described him as "colossal like Russia", "an inconceivable mixture of grandeur and pettiness, laziness and activity, bravery and timidity, ambition and insouciance".

An eccentric workaholic, Potemkin was vain and a great lover of jewelry (a taste he did not always remember to pay for),[citation needed] but he disliked sycophancy and was sensitive about his appearance, particularly his lost eye.

His highs and lows, his inability to follow through on his ideas, his material and sexual excesses, his impulsive whims, his energy and lethargy, and his depressive spells suggest some kind of bipolar disorder.

He liked all food, both peasant and fine, his favorites included roast beef and potatoes, and his anglophilia meant that English gardens were prepared wherever he went.

[128] Russian opponents such as Semyon Vorontsov agreed: the Prince had "lots of intelligence, intrigue and credit", but lacked "knowledge, application and virtue".