Peter was born in St. Petersburg on 12 October, 1715. His mother died when he was only ten days old, leaving him in the care of his wayward father. Peter the Great disliked the offspring of his disloyal son and gave the child over to the care of his sister Natalia. After the death of Peter the Great, Prince Menshikov replaced his teachers with the vice chancellor, Ostermann, who left the boy completely to himself. As a result, he never gained anything more than a superficial education. He was a shy and reserved child. Peter was tall for his age and when he was fourteen looked more like sixteen or eighteen.

Peter was particularly enamoured by his beautiful aunt, Elizabeth Petrovna. He fell in love with her and several courtiers mooted the possibility of their marriage. This idea collapsed, however, when Elizabeth fell in love with Alexander Buturlin and Peter's love turned cold.

Peter II and his aunt, Elizabeth Petrovna
Artist: Valentin Serov, 1900

Dim-witted, empty-headed and vain, Ivan Dolgorukov soon became Peter's intimate friend. A lover of alcohol and depravity, he led the young emperor into an exciting new world of physical pleasures and inebriation. Another of Peter's passions was hunting.

Peter II was completely uninterested in affairs of state. He announced that he was an opponent of the transformations of Peter the Great and set about dismantling the institutions founded by his illustrious grandfather.

Ivan's father, Prince Aleksei Dolgorukov, decided to marry Peter to his daughter Catherine and they were officially engaged at Lefortovo Palace in Moscow on 30 November, 1729. That day, the carriage driving Catherine into the palace got stuck in a rut. The golden crown atop the carriage fell off and smashed. many regarded this as a bad omen. The royal wedding was set for 19 January, 1730. On 6 January, during the traditonal blessing of the waters on the Moscow River, Peter caught a cold. The following day, he contracted smallpox. The emperor died at Lefortovo Palace on 19 January, the day of his wedding. Histories are generally scathing of the two-year reign of Peter II, forgetting that he was still a boy. He was buried in the Archangel Cathedral in Moscow, bringing to an end the male line of the Romanov dynasty.