False Dmitriy (Russian: Лжедмитрий, Lžedmitrij) is a term that refers to the pretenders to the Russian throne during the Time of Troubles who claimed to be Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich of Russia, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, after the real Dmitriy's death at the age of eight. These impostors claimed to have miraculously escaped the assassination attempt that appeared to have claimed Dmitriy's life. There were several people who claimed to be Dimitriy; the most prominent were the following three:
- False Dmitriy I, who actually became Tsar of Russia and reigned from 1605 to 1606
- False Dmitriy II
- False Dmitriy III
Famous quotes containing the word false:
“If I be false, or swerve a hair from truth,
When time is old and hath forgot itself,
When waterdrops have worn the stones of Troy,
And blind oblivion swallowed cities up,
And mighty states characterless are grated
To dusty nothing, yet let memory
From false to false among false maids in love
Upbraid my falsehood.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)