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Ivan VI Antonovich of Russia (Ioann Antonovich; Russian: Иоанн VI; Иоанн Антонович) was Emperor of Russia in 1740-41. He was only two months old when he was proclaimed emperor and his mother named regent. Scarcely a year later his first cousin twice-removed, Elizabeth, seized the throne in a coup, ruling thereafter as Empress of Russia. Ivan and his parents were imprisoned far from the capital and spent the rest of their lives in captivity. After more than twenty years as a prisoner, Ivan was killed by his guards when some army officers (unknown to Ivan) attempted to free him. His surviving siblings, who had been born in prison, then were released into the custody of their aunt, the Queen of Denmark, but none could live normally after a lifetime of confinement.
During his lifetime he was referred to as Иоанн III (John the Third), counting reigns from Ivan the Terrible. In later historiography though his reign was re-numbered as John (Ivan) the Sixth, counting from Ivan I, Prince of Moscow.
Throughout Elizabeth's reign her predecessor's name was subjected to a damnatio memoriae procedure; all coins, documents, and publications bearing Ivan's name and titles were systematically confiscated and destroyed, and now are of an extraordinary rarity. |
