Paul I was the emperor of Russia (from 1796 to 1801) from the Romanov's dynasty, the son of Catherine II and Peter III.

He was the successor to the throne from December, 26th, 1761 and a general admiral from December, 20th, 1762. On December, 16th, 1798 he was elected the great master and protector of the Malthusian Order.

Pavel I strengthened the reigning dynasty. He procreated numerous offspring, and thus earned the nickname of the emperor-ancestor. He introduced the decree about succession to the throne, according to which the power was passed from the father to the elder son, which promoted the termination of palace revolutions.

He was the first one who attempted to limit the serfdom, having forbidden the gavel work of peasants for the landowner for more than three days a week. Besides, the emperor stopped prosecution of the Old Believers.

The feeling of order, discipline, and equality was the basis of Pavel I’s activity, whereas struggle against class privileges was his pivotal purpose. He founded the Russian-American company. During his reign Alexander Suvorov carried out the famous Italian and Swiss campaigns, and Fyodor Ushakov headed the Mediterranean expedition, which added most vivid pages to the military history of Russia.

As a result of a palace revolution Pavel I was strangled in his bedroom in the Mikhailovsky Palace on March, 11th, 1801.

Soon miracles started to happen over his tomb in Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral. In the early 20th century the issue of canonizing Emperor Paul I was considered in Russia.

In 1809 a monument-mausoleum in honor of Pavel I was established in Pavlovsk. Pavel I monuments designed by sculptor I.P. Vitali were set up in Gatchina in 1851 and Pavlovsk in 1872. In 2003 the original monument was set up in the yard of the Mikhailovsky Palace, the emperor’s main residence.