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| The Masterful, Charismatic (Temporary) Leader of Revolutionary Russia Alexander Kerensky |
Aleksandr Fyodorovich Kerensky (1881-1870) was a prominent Russian lawyer and moderate social revolutionary who served as the Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic starting in July 1917. He won the office through his skill at bridging the gaps among the multiplicity of revolutionary factions that had opposed the Tsar. Kerensky's short-lived administration faced persistent challenges from every direction. His ultimate downfall was driven by his continued support for fighting the war and his mismanagement of the "Kornilov Coup" attempt during which he armed the Bolsheviks—his deadliest enemies—in order to protect the capital.
Back in 1917, when the Bolsheviks came to power, you would not have bet a lot of money on the survival of the leader of the government they had violently deposed leading a long life. Yet Kerensky would, first escaping to Paris in 1918 and in 1940—next fleeing the Nazis—making it to America, the Land of Opportunity. When I was doing some research in the 1980s at Stanford's Hoover Institution, there was one curator named Agnes Peterson, who was very supportive of me, who spoke fondly about working with Kerensky. She did, however, hint that he came equipped with a demanding and eccentric personality, with a flair for the dramatic.
Back to 1917: Kerensky escaped the Bolsheviks just after they had seized power and fled to Russia's backcountry, where he rallied some loyal troops for an attempt to retake Petrograd. His supporters managed to capture Tsarskoye Selo but were soon beaten back. Kerensky narrowly escaped, and he spent the next few months in hiding before fleeing the country in May 1918. With the help of French and British operatives (including Sidney Reilly) he departed in disguise through the port of Murmansk, never to return. He stopped in England briefly and eventually settled in Paris, living among the fractious White émigré community for the next two decades.
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| In Exile in the 1950s |
Although there is no evidence he met Woodrow Wilson while both were in Paris, some sources suggest he influenced Wilson on Russian matters during the peace conference. During the Russian Civil, he refused to support either side, as he opposed both the Bolshevik regime and the White Movement. He actively sought to discredit Alexander Kolchak in Western eyes, telling American diplomats that if Kolchak succeeded, he would "inaugurate a regime hardly less sanguinary and repressive than that of the Bolshevists."
For the next half-century, he earned his living in exile primarily by writing books, editing émigré Russian newspapers and journals, lecturing at universities, and working as a research scholar and librarian. Stalin and the Soviet leadership considered Kerensky so minor and toothless after the October Revolution that, unlike Trotsky or other prominent opponents, Kerensky was never targeted for assassination and was left alone to live out his long life in Western Europe and the United States.
Forced to leave Paris in 1940 to stay ahead of the Nazis, Alexander Kerensky moved to the United States, where he continued working as a lecturer and writer focusing on the Russian Revolution. During the Cold War, Kerensky, who was gradually going blind, began a decade of work at Stanford's Hoover Institution. He helped with research on the Provisional Government, gathered material for his memoir, Russia and History's Turning Point, did some lecturing in the political science department, and also taught several seminars.
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| Kerensky's Grave |
Alexander Kerensky died from cancer in New York on 11 June 1970, at the age of 89. Both the local Russian and Serbian Orthodox churches refused his body due to his Freemasonry, and because they saw him as largely responsible for the Bolshevik seizure of power. Eventually, his body was flown to London and buried in the non-sectarian Putney Vale Cemetery.
Sources: EBSCO; Wikipedia; The Independent (7 Nov. 2017); Spartacus Educational; History Today
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