1. Potemkin - Noun
2. Potemkin - Proper noun
a Russian officer and politician who was a favorite 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)
Source: WordNetThe Potemkin city of which I wish to speak here is none other than our dear Vienna herself. Adolf Loos
As Catherine the Great’s advisor Potemkin posited, this adoration was due to the fact that she was “the only woman who looked truly fine, and completely a man… As she was tall and powerful, male attire suited her.” Source: Internet
He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike (1925), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October (1928), as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1944, 1958). Source: Internet
He may have been involved in arranging to bring Sergei Eisenstein 's groundbreaking film The Battleship Potemkin (1925) to US audiences for the first time. Source: Internet
In 1772, Catherine wrote to Potemkin. Source: Internet
In February 1784, Catherine the Great ordered Grigory Potemkin to build a fortress there and call it Sevastopol. Source: Internet