Document signed, promotion certificate in Russian, printed on vellum
Russia, Saint Petersburg, 12 November 1772
Catherine II (1729 - 1796) - also Catherine the Great, Russian Empress from 1762 onwards
Catherine II promoted Captain Fedor Geikin due to his great services to the Second Major
Magnificently decorated border with military heroic motifs and ornamentation
8-line type printed in Cyrillic with 3-line headline
Sheet size: 39.5 x 28.0 cm
In fine to very fine condition

This Letters Patent is printed on vellum and supplemented with an autograph signature by Catherine II. Here Catherine II promoted Captain Fedor Geikin due to his great services to the Second Major. This officer's certificate is a very rare time capsule of the Russian-Turkish war (1768-74).



The certificate is in a fine to very fine state of preservation with slight traces of use. The plate impression is strong. The leaf is a little dusty and slightly wavy with crease marks in the middle due to the material and folding. The signature is slightly faded. The seal has been removed, leaving only remains present. Sheet size: 39.5 x 28 cm; plate size: 39 x 24.5 cm; written script: 25.5 x 8 cm.



Catherine the Great (1729 - 1796)

Actually Catherine II (or ????????? ??????? / Yekaterina Welikaja ) was born 1729 as German Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt- Zerbst -Dornburg in Szczecin. In February of 1744 Princess Sophie arrived in St. Petersburg to marry Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Tsar Peter III. In 1744 she converted from Protestant to Orthodox faith and received, in honor of the mother of the reigning Empress Elizabeth Petrovna's, the name Yekaterina Alexeyevna. On 24 December 1761 Elizabeth died and Catherine’s husband Tsar Peter III. came to the throne. However, his inappropriate behavior led to his dismissal and imprisonment. On 17 July 1762 he was murdered. On 23 Sept. 1762 Catherine was crowned at the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin to the Empress of Russia, to which she reigned for 34 years. Catherine II was the only regent, who was awarded 'the Great' in the history of the epithet.