Editing Peter the Great (section)

===Illness and death===
[[File:Deathbed portrait of Peter I by I.Nikitin (1725, Russian museum).jpg|thumb|Peter the Great on his [[wikt:deathbed|deathbed]], by [[Ivan Nikitin (painter)|Nikitin]]]]

In the winter of 1723, Peter, whose overall health was never robust, began having problems with his [[urinary tract]] and [[Urinary bladder|bladder]]. In the summer of 1724, a team of doctors performed surgery releasing upwards of four pounds of blocked urine. Peter remained bedridden until late autumn. In the first week of October, restless and certain he was cured, Peter began a lengthy inspection tour of various projects. Rastrelli finished his [[monument to Peter I (St. Michael's Castle)]]. According to [[legend]], in November, at [[Lakhta, Saint Petersburg|Lakhta]] along the [[Gulf of Finland]] to inspect some ironworks, Peter saw a group of soldiers drowning near shore and, wading out into near-waist deep water, came to their rescue.{{Sfn|Bain|1905}} This icy water rescue is said to have exacerbated Peter's bladder problems and caused his death. The story, however, has been viewed with skepticism by some historians, pointing out that the German chronicler [[:de:Jacob von Staehlin]] is the only source for the story.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stählin |first=Jacob von |date=1785 |title=Originalanekdoten von Peter dem Grossen: aus dem Munde angesehener Personen zu Moskau und Petersburg vernommen, und der Vergessenheit entrissen |lang=de |trans-title=Original anecdotes of Peter the Great: collected from the conversation of several persons of distinction at Petersburgh and Moscow, and snatched from oblivion |publisher=J.G.I. Breitkopf |isbn=978-0-4050-3064-2 |oclc=118987 |ol=OL4378643W}}</ref>

In early January 1725, Peter was struck once again with [[uremia]] or [[azotemia]]. Legend has it that before lapsing into unconsciousness Peter asked for a paper and pen and scrawled an unfinished note that read: ''"Leave all to&nbsp;..."'' and then, exhausted by the effort, asked for his daughter Anna to be summoned.{{NoteTag|The 'Leave all&nbsp;..." story first appears in H-F de Bassewitz ''Russkii arkhiv'' 3 (1865). Russian historian E.V. Anisimov contends that Bassewitz's aim was to convince readers that Anna, not Empress Catherine, was Peter's intended heir.}}

Peter died between four and five in the morning 8 February. An [[autopsy]] revealed his bladder to be infected with [[gangrene]].{{Sfn|Hughes|2007|pp=179–82}} He was fifty-two years, seven months old when he died, having reigned forty-two years. He is interred in [[Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg|Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral]].

After his death, students came to the Military College with a request to "leave science" under the pretext of "unconsciousness and incomprehensibility."<ref name="auto3"/>