Catherine the Great: Who was she?
Author Eva Stachniak introduces The Scarlet Empress and sets the record straight Sunday, March 11!
by Staff
Who was the real Catherine the Great?
You know the stories, right? You may not be that familiar with Catherine’s role in history, her origins and how she came to rule Russia, but we’ve all heard about her, ah, love of horses. Or perhaps her death while sitting on a commode.
Were these accurate, did they contain grains of truth or were they slanderous lies circulated by her political enemies, of which there were many?
If you want to know the truth, don’t miss our Catherine the Great event at The Revue, Sunday, March 11, at 4 p.m., presented in partnership with Doubleday Canada. (Tickets, $10 for non-members; $7 for members and seniors.)
We’ll be screening The Scarlet Empress, the 1934 film, starring Marlene Dietrich and directed by Josef von Sternberg, which, it is true, plays it somewhat fast and loose with the historical record.
But author and High Park resident Eva Stachniak will give us a true picture of Catherine, a Prussian princess brought at age 14 to the Russian court as marriage material for Peter, heir to the throne.
Eva has written The Winter Palace, a just published historical novel that nabbed the number one spot on the Globe and Mail’s best-seller list for fiction. The book, a page-turner, takes readers into the treacherous Russian court, telling the story, from Catherine’s arrival to her ascension to the throne, through the eyes of an impoverished and orphaned servant girl, whose ability to read and speak languages makes her useful as a spy in this world of vicious, often fatal intrigue.
Eva’s research is exhaustive; she meticulously details the food, clothing, dwellings, décor and the historical characters that are drawn to this stage. She also makes you feel the cold. She will introduce the film and be on hand for a Q&A following the screening.
She will be able to clear up the story of the horse, and give us her own interpretation of the brilliant, powerful Catherine, who found her feet at such a young age in a hostile environment and learned very quickly the rules of survival.
Some background: Catherine, Eva says, "has tempted me for a while." Here's how Eva describes this complex, powerful figure:
“There were so many Catherines. A minor Prussian princess invited at 14 to wed the Russian Crown Prince. A young bride in a marriage doomed from the start. A mother whose new-born infants were snatched away from her before she could take them in her arms. An intelligent, rational ruler who had herself and her son inoculated against smallpox to set an example for her subjects. A pragmatic politician with nerves of steel who tried to change what she could and undermine what she could not. A passionate and sensuous woman who, as she grew older, chose younger and younger men for her favorites.
"I aslo see an avid reader, a skillful writer of memoirs, plays, children's books and hundreds of letters. A collector of paintings and art. A builder of palaces. A passionate gardener. A great lover of dogs and birds. A grandmother designing her grandsons' education -- harnessing a child's natural curiosity, fostering creativity and passions with respect for for a chld's growing personality.
"And then I see another Catherine, a far more sinister woman. A traitor who murdered her husband to grab the Russian throne for herself. A tyrant whose troops massacred thousnads of men, women and children. An insatiable lover who took young men to her bed and whose sexual tastes were the matter of lewd jokes whispered away from the ears of the children."
Indeed, who can resist?
The Winter Palace, published by Doubleday, will be on sale at the theatre, and Eva will be on hand to sign your copy.