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Aleksander Menshikov was still the power behind the throne until he was overthrown by a coup engineered by fellow privy councilor, Prince Vasily Lukich Dolgorukov. After getting rid of Menshikov, Dolgorukov took Peter II to Moscow and arranged to have him marry his niece. Before the wedding could take place Peter II died of smallpox and was buried in the Kremlin in 1730. Prince Dimitry Mikhailovich Galitzine was president of the Supreme Privy Council and he oversaw the transfer of the monarchy to Anna of Courland, the daughter of Ivan V. Anna moved the capitol back to St. Petersburg. Anna ruled until her death in 1740. After a thirteen month interregnum during which the Duke of Courland served as regent, Elizabeth locked Anna's one year old adopted son, Ivan VI, in a dungeon, staged a coup, and took power as Empress Elizabeth I. She reigned until her death in January 1762. During her reign, she did much to support the reforms introduced by Peter the Great. Elizabeth had not married and her chosen heir was a nephew, Peter of Holstein Gottorp, the son of Elizabeth's older sister Anna.
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