After the death of Emperor Peter II, she was elected to the Russian throne by the Supreme Privy Council, which set limits to her power. On March 4, 1730, Anna Ivanovna rejected their conditions and dissolved the council; then on April 28, 1730, she crowned herself in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Historians have different opinions of her reign. On one hand, the Empress herself spent little time on affairs of state, surrounding herself with German grandees. Power lay in the hands of her favorite, Count Biron. On the other hand, her rule was a period of internal stability and successful foreign policy.
Anna Ivanovna died of kidney disease at the age of 47, leaving no heirs, and was buried in the Cathedral of the St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.
Biography and image from The Florida International Museum WWW exhibit
"The Treasures of the Czars"