Peter The Great

Peter was a grandson of Tzar Michael Romanov (who was chosen to be a Tzar in 1613). In 1682, at the age of 10, Peter was proclaimed Tzar, but due to a power struggle between different political forces he had to rule together with his brother Ivan under the patronage of his sister Sofia. In 1689, after the failure of a coup d'etat, Sofia was overthrown and exiled to a convent. When tzar Ivan died in 1696, Peter remained monarch …

…personally interrogated his own son Alexei, suspected of plotting against him (Alexei was the first inmate of a high security political jail in the Peter and Paul fortress). Nevertheless, the scale of Peter's personality and massive reforms have inspired generations of historians, writers and ordinary people. There are many monuments to Peter the Great in St. Petersburg. Among the most prominent are the "Bronze Horseman" and another equestrian monument in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle.