Death and Succession
Anna was famed for her big cheek, "which, as shown in her portraits", Carlyle says, "was comparable to a Westphalian ham". As her health declined she declared her grandnephew, Ivan VI, should succeed her, and appointed Biron as regent. This was an attempt to secure the line of her father, Ivan V, and exclude descendants of Peter the Great from inheriting the throne.
Anna died at the age of 47 of kidney disease. Ivan VI was only a one-year-old baby at the time and his mother, Anna Leopoldovna, was detested for her German counselors and relations. As a consequence, shortly after Anna's death Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter I's legitimized daughter, managed to gain the favor of the populace, locked Ivan VI in a dungeon and exiled his mother.
Read more about this topic: Anna Of Russia
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