Peter I the Grand Emperor of Russia (1672 - 1725) - after an anonymous miniature of the 18th century. Peter the Great, or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov, or Pyotr Velikiy (9 June [O.S. 30 May] 1672 - 8 February [O.S. 28 January] - ruled the Russian Empire from 7 May [O.S. 27 April] 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V. Peter carried out a policy of Westernization and expansion that transformed the Tsardom of Russia into the Russian Empire, a major European power. 固opFoto