Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia

Who was Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia?

Sophia Alekseyevna was regent of Russia from 1682 to 1689. She allied herself with a singularly capable courtier and politician, Prince Vasily Galitzine, to install herself during the minority of her brothers, Peter the Great and Ivan V. Her regency was carried out with a firm and heavy fist. She did not hesitate to use violent tactics to promote her agenda. The activity of this "bogatyr-tsarevna" was all the more extraordinary, as upper-class Muscovite women, confined to the upper-floor terem and veiled and guarded in public, invariably were kept aloof from any open involvement in politics.