On her desk sits a portrait of Russia's Catherine the Great, another underestimated east German woman.

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She was many-faceted in this respect comparable with those giants among mankind, Elizabeth I and Catherine the Great of Russia.

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Grigory Potemkin was Catherine the Great's lover and, for more than 20 years, the power behind the Russian throne.

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This is one of a remarkable set of four paintings of the evangelists that belonged in the 18th century to Catherine the Great, Russia's empress.

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Over 70 pieces, including works by Van Dyck and Rembrandt - sold in 1779 to Catherine the Great of Russia, will be on display from 17 May 2013.

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He used these qualities to influence Empress Catherine the Great not just during the few years when he was her lover, but as her confidant when her affections shifted.

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He even bought and sold the Catherine the Great Sapphire.

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Born in Baghdad and the first woman to achieve the prestigious Pritzker prize for architecture (awarded to her in 2004 on a stage built for Catherine the Great), Hadid is accustomed to bucking the status quo.

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On a quick gallop round Europe's courts over eight centuries, she does indeed turn up a galaxy of formidable female rulers, from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Russia's Catherine the Great (though Britain's Queen Victoria gets no mention).

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Here Russian painters can be caught at the moment when they ceased to imitate their French and Italian contemporaries, as they had done under Catherine the Great, and started to discover their own distinct country of mysterious landscapes, fading light, desperate peasants and brooding great men.

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My wife and I were getting the opportunity not just to try the Gatsby cocktail but also to stay at the newly opened Fitzgerald Suite and decorated by Catherine Martin, "The Great Gatsby's" Academy Award winning production designer ("Moulin Rouge"), and Mr. Luhrmann's wife.

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Summer Bronson , Catherine Rousculp , and their teammates have already begun to test the model to the great enthusiasm of their subjects.

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