On this day June 9 in 1672, Peter I of Moscow, Russia was born. He died February 8 in 1725, St. Petersburg.. He was the tsar of Russia who reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V (1682–96) and alone thereafter (1696–1725) and who in 1721 was proclaimed emperor (imperator). He was one of his country’s greatest statesmen, organizers, and reformers.