He was a cousin of Prince Grigory Potemkin, a well-known military and political figure of Empress Catherine the Great’s Russia.

He took part in the wars with the rebel adventurer Yemelyan Pugachev, the Ottoman Empire, the Bar Confederation, and in the Kościuszko Uprising.

[3] Potemkin served Imperial Russia during the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) and was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th Class on September 22, 1770[2] for bravery in battle against the Ottoman Empire.

[2] He was known as a brave and capable officer who moved up the ranks quickly, although this may have been in part due to the support of his cousin, Grigory Potemkin.

In October 1774, together with General-in-Chief Petr Ivanovich Panin, the military leader of the suppression of the uprising, he interrogated Yemelyan Pugachev in Simbirsk, before returning to Moscow.

[3] He was buried in the family tomb in Nikolskoye-Kolchevo, Podolsk district, Moscow Governorate, in the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

According to Ivan Dmitrevsky, Potemkin was “a man with great talent, and if he had not devoted himself entirely to military service, he would have been an excellent writer.” He translated several poems into Russian including the play Mahomet by Voltaire[1] and authored two dozen poems including two poetic dramas: In 1785, Potemkin married Praskovya Andreevna Zakrevskaya (02.09.1765 – 1816), maid of honor of the court, whose father Andrey Osipovich Zakrevsky was a state councilor, director of the Imperial Academy of Arts, St. Petersburg, and district marshal of the nobility.

She was a lady of state, famous at court for her beauty and was the favorite of His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Potemkin.