The most INFAMOUS charlatans in Russian history
False Dmitry I. From Thesaurus Picturarum, 1564-1606. Found in the Collection of Universitaets und Landesbibliothek Darmstadt. Heritage Images/Getty Images These people tried to reach the Russian throne by posing as Tsar’s murdered sons who were miraculously saved. One of them even managed to become Tsar – but only for a short time.
1. False Dmitry I
False Dmitry I as the Russian tsar, 1606 Legion Media
This man was the first person in Russian history to ascend the throne with the help of a popular uprising – and under a false identity! This person, whose real identity is still heavily debated, claimed during the Time of Troubles to be Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich (1582-1591), the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible and Maria Nagaya, his last wife. He supposedly escaped an assassination attempt in 1591, when he was just nine years old.