Ivan V of Russia



Tsar of Russia (1682-1696)

fullname Ivan Alekseyevich Romanov

Born: August 27 (Old Style August 27), 1666, Moscow Died: January 29 (Old Style January 29), 1696, Moscow

Joint tsar of Russia with his younger half-brother Peter I. Ivan V was the youngest son of Alexis I of Russia and Maria Miloslavskaya. As he had serious physical and mental disabilities, his capacity for supreme power was unsuitable. Upon the death of his elder brother Feodor III in April 1682, he did not want to become the next tsar but was persuaded by his elder sister Sophia Alekseyevna. She stopped the accession of their half-brother Peter in becoming the sole tsar by spreading rumors that his relatives had strangled the last tsar and is about to do the same thing to his brother Ivan. On June 25 the same year, Ivan and Peter were crowned in the Cathedral of the Dormition as joint rulers. Although Ivan was considered the "senior tsar", actual power was wielded by his sister, Sophia. But by 1689, Ivan declared his allegiance to his brother Peter I.

During the last decade of his life, Ivan was completely overshadowed by his co-tsar Peter I. At the age of 27 he was described by foreign ambassadors as too old for his age and almost blind. He died two years later and was interred in the Archangel Cathedral. One of his five daughters— Anna Ivanovna — would assume the throne in 1730.