Paul I (Russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич; Pavel Petrovich) (1 October [O.S. 20 September] 1754 – 23 March [O.S. 11 March] 1801) was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 71st Grand Master of the Order of Malta (de facto) Paul was born in the Palace of Empress Elisabeth in St Petersburg. He was the son of Elizabeth's heir, her nephew, the Grand Duke Peter, later Emperor Peter III, and his wife, the Grand Duchess Catherine, later Empress Catherine II. In her memoirs, Catherine strongly implies that Paul's father was not Peter, but her favorite at the time, Sergei Saltykov. Peter's behavior was infantile and immature and he chose other favorites among Catherine's ladies in waiting but he was not sterile as many believed; he later sired an illegitimate child with one lover. However, it was no secret that Peter and Catherine were estranged through much of their marriage. Paul does in fact seem to physically resembled the Grand Duke (Peter III) so one might doubt any claims of illegitimacy. During his infancy, Paul was taken immediately from his mother by the Empress Elisabeth, whose overwhelming attention may have done him more harm than good. As a boy, he was reported to be intelligent and good-looking. His pug-nosed facial features in later life are attributed to an attack of typhus, from which he suffered in 1771. Some claim that his mother Catherine hated him, and was restrained from putting him to death. Massie is more compassionate towards Catherine; in his 2011 biography of her he claims that Paul was taken from his mother at birth and withheld from her presence except during very limited moments, that having done her duty in providing an heir to the throne, Elizabeth had no more use for Catherine who was then forbidden from seeing the child. Paul was put in the charge of a trustworthy governor, Nikita Ivanovich Panin, and of competent tutors. It is interesting to note that Panin's nephew went on to become one of Paul's assassins. Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna of Russia. Portrait by Alexander Roslin, Hermitage Museum The Russian Imperial court, first of Elizabeth and then of Catherine, was not an ideal home for a lonely, needy and often sickly boy. However, Catherine took great trouble to arrange his first marriage with Wilhelmina Louise (who acquired the Russian name "Natalia Alexeievna"), one of the daughters of Ludwig IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, in 1773, and allowed him to attend the Council in order that he might be trained for his work as Emperor. His tutor, Poroshin, complained that he was "always in a hurry," acting and speaking without reflection. There is no doubt that there was considerable pressure on the young Paul to be, and look, and act the part of a young Tsar and that his refusal or inability to do so concerned those in power. Paul's premonitions of assassination were well-founded. His attempts to force the nobility to adopt a code of chivalry alienated many of his trusted advisors. The Emperor also discovered outrageous machinations and corruption in the Russian treasury. Although he repealed Catherine's law which allowed the corporal punishment of the free classes and directed reforms which resulted in greater rights for the peasantry, and better treatment for serfs on agricultural estates, most of his policies were viewed as a great annoyance to the noble class and induced his enemies to work out a plan of action. A conspiracy was organized, some months before it was executed, by Counts Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Nikita Petrovich Panin, and the half-Spanish, half-Neapolitan adventurer Admiral Ribas. The death of Ribas delayed the execution. On the night of the 23 March [O.S. 11 March] 1801, Paul was murdered in his bedroom in the newly built St Michael's Castle by a band of dismissed officers headed by General Bennigsen, a Hanoverian in the Russian service, and General Yashvil, a Georgian. They charged into his bedroom, flushed with drink after supping together, and found Paul hiding behind some drapes in the corner.[49] The conspirators pulled him out, forced him to the table, and tried to compel him to sign his abdication. Paul offered some resistance, and one of the assassins struck him with a sword, after which he was strangled and trampled to death. He was succeeded by his son, the 23-year-old Alexander I, who was actually in the palace, and to whom General Nicholas Zubov, one of the assassins, announced his accession, accompanied by the admonition, "Time to grow up! Go and rule!".