Serge Saltykov

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Sergei Vasilievich Saltykov (c. 1726 - 1765) was a noble Russian officer who became the first lover of Empress Ekaterina the Great after her arrival to Russia.

In her memoirs, Catherine spread rumours that he was the actual father of her son Paul I of Russia. Most historians believe that her insinuations were motivated by personal animosity towards Paul and desire to hurt him. Actually, Paul greatly resembled his official father Peter III of Russia in character and appearance. There was very little in common between the pugnacious, short Paul and tall, handsome Serge Saltykov.

Sergei was the son of Count Vassili Saltykov and his wife, Princess Maria Golitsyna. The Saltykovs were an ancient boyar family which rivalled the Romanovs in nobility and descended from a sister of the first Romanov tsar, as well as from several Rurikid branches through females. The mother of Empress Anna, for example, came from this family.

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