Ivan VI of Russia

Ivan VI of Russia (Ivan Antonovich, in Russian: Иван Антонович) (Saint Petersburg, August 23, 1740-Shlisselburg, July 16, 1764) was Tsar of Russia (1740-1741), great-grandson of Ivan V, his father was Prince Antony Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel and his mother Princess and Duchess Anna Leopoldovna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. In Spanish he was also known as Juan VI of Russia.

Emperor of Russia

His great-aunt and Empress, Anna I of Russia, adopted him when he was only eight weeks old, declaring him her successor on October 5, 1740. When Anna died (October 28, 1740 in the Gregorian Calendar) Ivan Antonovich was proclaimed Emperor, and the next day Ernst Johann von Biron, Duke of Courland, took over as regent. On the fall of Biron (November 8) the regency passed to the baby's mother, but the vice-chancellor, Andrei Osterman, led the government.

The fall of the throne and imprisonment

Thirteen months later, a coup brought Elizabeth I, daughter of Peter I, to the throne on December 6, 1741. Ivan Antonovich and his family were imprisoned in the Dunamunde fortress (now Riga) on December 13. December of the following year, after a previous arrest in Riga, where the new Empress had first decided to send them to Brunswick. In June 1744 he was taken to Kholmogory, near the White Sea, where Ivan Antonovich, isolated from his family, spent the next twelve years. Some rumors claim that he was secretly transferred to the Shlisselburg fortress (1756) where he was protected and cared for more rigorously. The commander claimed not to know the identity of a certain prisoner.

When Pedro III took the throne, the prisoner's condition seemed to improve, but Pedro lost his life a few weeks later.

Death

In 1762, Catherine II assumed power as Empress of Russia and more stringent orders were given to the officer responsible for the "anonymous". Before any attempt to free himself, the prisoner should be shot. Under no circumstances could he be delivered alive into someone's hands. But by now twenty years in prison had affected his mental balance. In his correspondence, the Duke of Almodóvar indicates the following: "It is assured that Tsar Ivan, dethroned by Empress Isabel, is in the Shlisselburg Fortress on Lake Ladoga, not far from this city, and that the Emperor (Pedro III) has been to see him incognito with some people he trusts. [...] This unhappy prince, who knows no world except his prison, is said to have a beautiful figure but no other sign of rationality." However, despite the mystery that surrounded him, he was aware of of imperial origin, and was always called Gosudar ("the sovereign"). Although they had given orders to keep him ignorant, they allowed him to read his letters and his bible. Nor could his residence in Shlisselburg remain hidden forever, and his discovery would be the cause of his ruin. A second lieutenant, Vasily Mirovich, found out the truth about him, and devised a plan to free him and proclaim him Emperor. At midnight on July 5, 1764, Mirovich persuaded a section of the garrison, arrested the commander, Ivan Berednikov, and demanded the surrender of Ivan Antonovich. His jailers murdered him immediately, following orders.

Mirovich and his followers were arrested and executed soon after. Ivan Antonovich was buried in the fortress, and his death secured Catherine II's position on the throne until her son came of age.

Ivan Antonovich's siblings who had been born in prison were handed over to the custody of their aunt, Queen Juliana of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel of Denmark, on June 30, 1780, and exiled to Denmark, where they lived under arrest. domicile in Horsens for the rest of their lives in Juliana's custody and at Catherine's expense. Although they were prisoners, they lived in relative comfort with a "court" of between 40-50 people, all Danes except one priest.

Vasili Miróvich standing on the body of Ivan VI (1884). For Ivan Tvorozhnikov.

Ancestry