Russian Ivan Antonovich
born Aug. 23, 1740, St. Petersburg, Russia
died July 16, 1764, Shlisselburg Fortress, near St. Petersburg
Infant emperor of Russia (1740–41).
The grandnephew of Empress Anna , Ivan was proclaimed her heir and then emperor, with his mother as regent, when he was only eight weeks old. In 1741 they were deposed by Elizabeth , daughter of Peter I , and for the next 20 years he remained in solitary confinement in various prisons. In 1764, when an army officer tried to free Ivan to restore him to power and remove Catherine II , who had seized the throne in 1762, Ivan was assassinated by his jailers.