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Elizabeth was born December 18, 1709, the daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine I. In later years her legitimacy came into question because her parents had not been publicly married at the time of her birth. In 1711, Peter , declaring that he and Catherine had married secretly in 1707, named Elizabeth Czarina. Peter hoped that Louis XV of France might marry Elizabeth, but it was an unacceptable union in France. She was next betrothed to Prince Karl Augustus of Holstein-Gottorp, but he died of smallpox before the marriage could take place. She was Peter's favorite child and is said to have been very beautiful. When Peter I died in 1725, her mother, Catherine I, supported by Aleksandr Menshikov and the Supreme Privy Council ruled for two years. Catherine I died in 1727 and Peter II assumed the throne. Peter II was the grandson of Peter the Great.
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