Page "Ivan VI of Russia" Paragraph 1

Ivan was born in Saint Petersburg to Prince Antony Ulrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Duchess Anna Leopoldovna of Mecklenburg, niece of Empress Anna of Russia and grand-daughter of Tsar Ivan V. His grand-aunt Empress Anna of Russia adopted the eight-week-old boy and declared him her successor on 5 October 1740.

Upon the death of Anna ( 17 October of the Julian Calendar / 28 October of the Gregorian Calendar, 1740 ) Ivan was proclaimed Emperor, and on the following day Ernst Johann von Biron, duke of Courland, became regent.

With the fall of Biron on 8 November, the regency passed to the baby Tsar ’ s mother, though the vice-chancellor, Andrei Osterman, ran the government.