1. A Russian officer and politician who was a favourite of Catherine II and in 1762 helped her to seize power; when she visited the Crimea in 1787 he gave the order for sham villages to be built (1739-1791)
   - Potemkin, Potyokin, Grigori Potemkin, Grigori Potyokin

Type of: military officer, officer, pol [N. Amer, informal], political leader, politician, politico [informal], pollie [Austral, informal], polly [Austral, informal]

Encyclopedia: Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin