The fate of the unfortunate Emperor Peter Fedorovich, born Karl Peter Ulrich, son of the Duke of Holstein, has long attracted the attention of historians. Possessing from birth the rights to the crowns of two great empires - Swedish and Russian, he in no way corresponded to his high purpose and did not possess qualities worthy of a politician or just a man. And he managed to hold out on the Russian throne for just over six months and was overthrown by his own wife. But it fell to him to become the founder of the male line of the Romanov dynasty, the direct ancestor of all subsequent Russian emperors. Or not him? There are still doubts expressed regarding the birth of the only son of Peter and Catherine, the future Emperor Paul I, but are they grounded? And are the assurances of contemporaries grounded that Peter III was killed in Ropsha and did not die a natural death there? The permanent author of the “Life of Remarkable People” series, historian and writer Olga Eliseeva.