Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Peter was born in Kiel. His parents were Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (nephew of Charles XII of Sweden) and Anna Petrovna, a daughter of Emperor Peter the Great of Russia and his second wife, Catherine I of Russia. His mother died less than two weeks after his birth. In 1739, Peter''s father died, and he became Duke of Holstein-Gottorp as Karl Peter Ulrich. He could thus be considered the heir to both thrones (Russia and Sweden). When Anna''s sister Elizabeth became Empress of Russia she brought Peter from Germany to Russia and proclaimed him her heir in the autumn of 1742.