PETER I,

born June 9 [May 30, old style], 1672, Moscow died Feb. 8 [Jan. 28, O.S.], 1725, St. Petersburg Russian in full Pyotr Alekseyevich, byname Peter The Great, Russian Pyotr Veliky tsar of Russia, who reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V (1682-96) and alone thereafter (1696-1725) and who in 1721 was proclaimed emperor (imperator). He was one of the most outstanding rulers and reformers in Russian history. A brief account of the life and works of Peter I follows; for a full biography, see Peter I the Great, of Russia. Peter-the son of Tsar Alexis by his second wife, Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina, who had been reared in an atmosphere open to progressive influences from the West-was a healthy, lively, and inquisitive child. He loved military games and enjoyed carpentry, joinery, blacksmithing, and printing. At the age of 17 a marriage was arranged with the beautiful Eudoxia but within a decade she was relegated to a convent. After becoming sole ruler in 1696, Peter's most far-reaching accomplishment was to draw Russia further into the European sphere. After touring western Europe himself (1697-98), he transferred the capital to St. Petersburg on the Baltic coast, introduced Western technology, and completely overhauled the Russian government and military system, further increasing the power of the monarchy at the expense of the nobles and the Orthodox Church. Peter pursued foreign policies aimed at giving Russia access to the Baltic and Black Seas, engaging in a war with Ottoman Turkey (1695-96) and in the Great Northern War with Sweden (1700-21). His campaign against Persia in 1722-23 secured the southern and western shores of the Caspian Sea for Russia. At his death, Russia was a far more secure and advanced nation than it had been before his reign.