Yelizaveta Petrovna (Russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́т) Петро́вна) (December 29, 1709 – January 5, 1762 (New Style); December 18, 1709 – December 25, 1761 (Ol Style)), also known as Yelisavet and Elizabeth, was an Empress of Russia (1741 – 1762) who took the country into the War of Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756 – 1763). Her domestic policies allowed the nobles to gain dominance in local government while shortening their terms of service to the state. She encouraged Lomonosov's establishment of the University of Moscow and Shuvalov's foundation of the Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg. She also spent exorbitant sums of money on the grandiose baroque projects of her favourite architect, Bartolomeo Rastrelli, particularly in Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo. The Winter Palace and the Smolny Cathedral remain the chief monuments of her reign in Saint Petersburg. Generally, she was one of the best loved Russian monarchs, because she did not allow Germans in the government and not one person was executed during her reign.