Alexander Kerensky - biography, information, personal life. Comparative memoirs - Kerensky's escape from the winter and Gatchina in the description of different persons

Under the bridge
Neva river,
along the Neva
the Kronstadters are sailing...
From rifles talker
soon
Winter stagger.
In a crazy car
tires knocked down,
quiet,
like
packaged pipe,
for Gatchina
huddled,
fled the former -
"Into the horn,
into lamb!
Rebellious slaves! .. "
see
rare star eyes,
surrounding
Winter
into the rings
according to Millonnaya
from the barracks
the Keksholms are advancing.
And in Smolny,
in thoughts
about the battle and the army,
Ilyich
make-up
mosque steps,
yes in front of the map
Antonov with Podvoisky
stuck
to attack sites
checkboxes.
It is better
power
good leave,
nowhere
you
don't get away!
From everyone
go
outposts
to the Winter
red guards.
teams of workers,
sailors,
goli -
reached,
with a bayonet,
as if
arms
converged on the throat,
sleek
throat
palace.
Two shadows rose.
Huge and wobbly.
Moved.
Forehead on forehead.
And the yard
palace
lattice hands
squeezed
torso
crowds.
rocked
two
huge shadows
from the wind
and bullet speeds, -
yes machine guns
as if
crunch
broken bones.
Standing Pavlovians are angry.
"To politics...
started...
indulge…
Where
against us
Bochkarev fools?!
Would order
to assault."
But the shadow
fought
tangled paws -
and paws
none
did not tear or tear.
Unable to stand
silence
surrendered weak -
was leaving
from fear,
from the nerve.
First,
conquered by fear
starred
baby battalion.
Gone off the batteries
by eleven
Mikhailovites or Konstantinovites ...
And Kerensky -
hid
try
take him out!
thought
Cossack head.
And
thinned
defenders of the winter
like teeth
at the scallop
And long
lasted
this is silence
silence of hope
and the silence of despair.
And in the winter
in upholstered furniture
with bronze twists,
sitting
ministers
in copper plates,
and smells
clean-shaven.
They are not looked at
and they don't listen
they
at bayonets in the forest.
They are
fall down
overripe pear,
once
them
shake.
The voice is rare.
in a whisper
signs.
– Kerensky somewhere? -
- He?
For the Cossacks. -
And silently again
Only
in the evening:
- Where is Prokopovich? -
- No Prokopovich. -
And because of Nikolaevsky
iron bridge,
like death
looks
unkind
Aurora
towers
steel.
And so
high
over the collar
rose
Konovalov's face.
Noise,
which
tech spring,
now
surf heaped.
Who is long?
I was able to reach!
For each
glass
stick blows.
This is -
from three inches
shied away
forts of Petropavlovka.
And on top
city
as if blown up
bang
six-inch Aurora.
And so
more
she didn't have time
crumble
booming and formidable, -
over Petropavlovskaya
soared
lamp,
uprisings
conventional sign.
- Down with!
On the attack!
Forward!
On the attack! -
They broke in.
On carpets!
Under the gilded roof!
Each staircase
every ledge
took
stepping over
through the junkers.
As if
water
the rooms are full,
flowed,
merged
over every loss,
and contractions
flared up
hotter than noon
behind every sofa
at each curtain.
By this
enfilade,
salutations
monarchs,
bearing
treasure crowns, -
velvet halls,
rolling corridors
thundered,
fought
boots and butts.
Some
embarrassed
Son of a bitch,
and over it
Putilovets -
gentle dad:
"You,
boy,
spit it out
stolen watch -
the clock is now ours!
The tramp grew
and those
thirteen
raked,
scored,
hurt,
shut up.
huddled
under a tie
what should they do? -
As if
axe
hanging over the back of the head.
Two hundred paces...
for thirty...
for twenty...
Runs in
junker:
"Fighting is stupid!"
Thirteen Screams:
- Surrender!
Give up! -
And at the door
jackets,
overcoats,
sheepskin coats…
And in this
silence
reveled
bass,
strengthened
over the yards of the yard:
“Which are temporary?
Get off!
Your time is up."
And one
from the intruders
touching pennies,
announced,
like something simple
and simple:
"I,
Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee
Antonov,
Temporary
government
I declare deposed."
And in Smolny
crowd,
splayed chest,
bedspreads
song
fireworks information.
For the first time
instead of:
- and it will be ... -
sang:
- and it is
our last… -
Before dawn
left
no more than an arshin, -
arms
rays
implored from the east.
Comrade Podvoisky
got into the car
said wearily:
"It's over...
to Smolny.
Silent machine gun.
Satisfied.
fell silent
bullets
ringing hive.
were burning
like the stars
bayonet edges,
turned pale
heaven stars
in the guard.
Dul,
as always,
October winds.
rails
ridiculed over the bridge,
race
my
trams continued
already -
under socialism.

7

On nights like these
on days like these
at hours
such a time
on the streets
except that
alone
poets
and thieves.
Dusk
to the world
the ocean rolled.
Xin.
Over the fires
Boer.
underwater
boat
went to the bottom
exploded
Petersburg.
And only
when
from burning whirlwinds
staggered
dark brown,
remembered again:
from the sides
and from the top
continuous storm.
On the water
dusk
similar and so
bottomless
blue hole.
And here
more
and seeing a whale
carcass
Avrorov.
Fire
machine gun
sheared area.
Embankments -
are empty.
And only
swagger
bonfires
at dusk
thick.
And here,
where is the land
knitted from the heat,
frightened
or from ice
palms
holding
by the fire in tongues,
warming up
soldier.
Soldier
fell
fire in the eyes
on a clock
hair
lay down
I found out,
surprised
said:
"Hello,
Alexander Blok.
Lafa futurists,
junk tailcoat
breaks down
every seam.
Block looked -
bonfires are burning
"Very well".
around
drowned
Russia Blok…
Strangers
the haze of the north
walked
to the bottom,
how are they going
debris
and tin cans
canned food.
And immediately
face
changed more sparingly
darker
than death at a wedding:
"They are writing...
from village…
burned...
I have…
library in the estate.
Stared Block -
and block shadow
staring,
don't stick to the wall...
As if
both
waiting on the water
walking Christ.
But Blok
Christ
did not show up.
Blok
sadness in the eyes.
live,
with a song
instead of Christ
people
from the corner.
Get up!
Get up!
Get up!
Employees
and laborers.
Clamp,
mower and forger,
rifle
in iron hands!
Up -
flag!
Dud -
get up!
Enemy -
lie down!
Day -
rubbish!
For bread!
For peace!
For will!
take
the bourgeoisie
plant!
take
the landlord's field!
fraternize
fighting platoon!
Get lost -
old
Down
to dust.
Bay -
bar!
Fuck!
tah!
Enough,
enough,
enough
obedience
carry
on the humps.
shiver,
capital yard!
shake
crowns,
on foreheads!
Fat
hedgehog
fear
block!
Fuck!
tah!
Tah!
tah!
This song,
sung in your own way
reached
to deaf peasants -
and the villages got up
shuddering howl,
on the way to
cross axes.
But -
zhi -
chcom
on the
spot chick
lu -
then -
th
on -
the bagman.
State -
on -
din
on -
bag,
co-
bi -
rayte
things!
Before -
went
for the time being
you -
ho-
di,
barefoot,
sun -
three
axes,
lift your braids.
How
worse
my Nina?!
Ba-
the markets themselves.
drag
to the hut
piano,
gramophone with a clock!
Under -
ho-
di-
those eagles!
Waking up -
robbed.
Meet at the cola
see off
into the rake!
Case
Stenki
with Pugachev
burn hotter!
All
estates
rich
smash by a fireman.
Under -
let be
rooster!
Raise your pitchfork!
Eh,
not
shut up -
pet -
tuh cute!
Heck
him
now
relatives!
heads -
head of cabbage.
Machine guns chatter
spills from carts.
"Oh, apple
clear colors.
Bay
on right
belavo,
red on the left.
This vortex
from thought to trigger,
and building,
and fire smoke
cleaned up
the consignment
to the hands
directed,
lined up in ranks.

8

The cold is big.
Winter is healthy.
But blouses
stuck to sweaty ones.
Under the blouse of the communists.
Firewood is loaded.
On a labor Saturday.
We won't leave
although
leave
we have
all rights.
In our wagons,
on our way,
n a w i
we ship
firewood.
Can
leave
at two o'clock -
but we -
let's leave late.
To our comrades
our firewood
needed:
comrades are cold.
The work is hard
Job
languishes.
For her
no pennies.
But we
we work
as if we
do
greatest epic.
We will work,
endure everything,
so that life
hurrying the wheels of days,
fled
on the iron march
in our wagons,
across our steppes,
to the cities
frozen
n a sh i.
"Uncle,
what are you doing here?
so many
big uncles?
- What?
Socialism:
free labor
free
the assembled people.

9

Before our
republic
the rich stand.
But how to comprehend it?
And questions
perplexed
no number:
what is this
for such a nation
"socialist"
and what is this
"soci-
alistic fatherland"?
"We
your delights
powerless to understand.
What are they excited about?
What are they singing about?
What are
fruit-oranges
are growing
in your Bolshevik
paradise?
What did you know
besides bread and water,
with difficulties
interrupting
from day to day?
T a c o o g o o f the fatherland
such a smoke
is it really
is it so pleasant?
Why are you
go,
if they say -
"fight"?
Can
be
broken bombs,
can
die
for the land for with in about yu,
but how
die
for the general?
Nicely
Russian
to hug with Russian, -
but you
and name
"Russia"
lost.
What is this
fatherland
those who have forgotten about the nation?
What nation are you?
Comintern?
Wife,
yes apartment,
yes current account
this -
fatherland,
heavenly bushes.
For the sake of
here
such a fatherland
we would understand
and death
and youth."
Listen
national drone, -
our day
the good thing is that it's difficult.
This song
the song will be
our troubles
victories,
weekday

10

Politics -
simple.
Like a sip of water.
understand
bristling
full mouth,
what if
in Russia
the claw gets stuck,
all
bourgeois bird -
abyss.
From "Surte Generale"
from "intelligence service",
"defensives"
and "Sigurans"
coming out
different
bastard and bitch
sews
overcoats
gray color,
bombs
lays down
in satchels.
crammed into the holds,
sunken decks,
for money
recruiting agency.
To Novorossiysk
sailing from Marseille,
from Dover
sail to Arkhangelsk.
With a song
with whiskey
fed up like a pig.
keels
dug up
the waters are cold.
Watching
periscopes
submarine boats.
Cruisers are sailing
litter shells.
And
destroyers
carry mines.
BUT
over
all
with guns
monstrous length
above -
dreadnoughts.
different
gases
smelling nasty,
clouds
tearing out propellers,
from the aircraft
to the aircraft carrier
ne -
re-
fling the hydro.
sent
capital
scientist captains.
Throat
groped
and squeeze.
poke
in Beloe
poke
to Black,
to the Caspian
to the Baltic
where
ship
no poking
the end
skating.
Costs
mistress of the seas,
bulldog
Britannia.
From all over
blockade ring
and guns
look in the face.
Reds don't like it?
Them
hungry?
Rybka
eat up,
going
to the bottom. -
And to whom
on the land
rob hunting,
those
from ships
descended as infantry.
- Let's sink into the sea
on the land
let's stomp. -
Aliens
hands
rowing heat,
smoke
fatherland
let
shooting -
exhibit
ahead
fooled
guys,
barons
and princes who were not shot.
dig graves,
save a coffin -
Yudenich
rati
rod
to Peter.
In carts
food tastes good
canned food -
pud.
tanks
caterpillars
on Peter
rod.
From the north
goes
admiral Kolchak,
Siberian
bread
push with a boot.
Workers to be shot
popovnym for joy,
go with him
blue Czechs.
trenches,
chosen by machines
sappers
Crimea is dug up, -
Wrangel
large-caliber
is operating
from Perekop.
love
colonels
sentimental lady.
Colonels
love
talk at lunch.
- I
I'm going, please
(sips whiskey)
but on me
dozen
monsters
Bolsheviks.
One-one
another -
rrraz, -
by the way,
like a dandy
and saved the girl. -
Lady,
ask
at the gray gelding -
is he
like Murmansk
raped.
Ask
as -
Dvina river,
blood
painted,
corpses
vytaya,
with luggage
terrible
walked
in the Arctic.
How brave
shot in a bunch
communist
one
yes, it's twisted.
Like an officer
his majesty
fled
from the shots
clean up the coast.
Like over gray
khatami
fire feathers
and hands
sleek
tight
at the throat
But…
"it's a long way
tu Tipereri,
its a long way
that go!”
For the first
republic
workers and peasants
sparkling
shots,
shining bayonets,
persecuted
armies,
fleets rolled
rich world,
and these
and those...
Damn you
rotten
kingdoms and democracies,
with their
soaked
"fraternite" and "egalite"!
Lead
pouring
on us
boiling water.
We alone -
and nowhere to hide.
"Yankees
doodle
kip it about,
Yankee doodle dandy."
in the middle
rifles
and instruments of voice
Moscow -
islet,
and we are on an island.
We -
hungry,
we -
beggars,
with Lenin in the head
and with a revolver in hand.

11

Rushing
a life,
coat,
simple
dry.
I live
in the houses of Stakheev I
now
Veesenha.
brought,
clinking rifle,
rich
and checkouts.
Now here
all sorts
and people
and classes.
in winter
in a bee-stove
shove
volumes of Shakespeare.
teeth
click, -
potato -
feast to them.
In the summer
listen to the asphalt
with pennies
in the window:
- Transval,
Transval,
my country
you are all
burning
on fire! -
I'm in it
stone
boiler
I cook
and this life
and running and fighting
and dream,
and decay -
in the house
floors
reflected
from toe
forehead
thunderstorm
washed,
how is reflected
crowd
going
trams.
Shooting
crouching
squatting,
to rest
eyes to the window,
to be
know better
I'm in
little room-boat
swam
three thousand days.

12

They walk
speculators
around the Glavtop.
hug,
kiss,
get killed for rupees.
Secretaries
responsible
stomp with felt boots.
For bread
cards
lumberjacks are standing.
Lot
affairs,
few
woe to them
lb.
- whole! -
first category.
chop,
lime
tea
having eaten.
- We
not Filippov,
we -
get used to.
There will be lunch
will
dinner, -
whites would
out
kick off the gate.
I wanted to eat
belt -
tighter
rifle in hand
and
to the front. -
BUT
past -
indispensable.
knocking
boot
goes for soldering -
Governing body
issued
dried apricots
and jam.
rich -
more dexterous
are eating
at Zundelovich.
Nothing,
no porridge -
steak
with broth
bread
your,
a million and a half.
scientist
worse:
phosphorus
need,
butter
on a saucer.
But,
as luck would have it
there is a revolution
but no
oils.
They are
scientific.
Will write
cure.
Mandate, handwritten,
Anatole Vasilyevich.
Where
bread
yes meat,
will come
for an hour to you.
Is reading
commissioner
Lunacharsky's mandate:
"So…
sugar…
So…
fat for you.
Firewood…
birch…
dry logs...
and a fur coat
wide
consumption.
I'll,
comrade,
I ask point blank.
Want to -
take
headdress.
Comes
everyone
with different kindness.
take
so far
leg
horse!"
Fur
on the eyes
like baba yaga
go
back
on three legs.

13

Twelve
square arshins of housing.
Four
in room -
Lilya,
Osya,
I
and dog
Puppy.
little hat
took
tattered
and pulled out the sled.
- Where are you going? -
To the restroom
I'm going.
to Yaroslavsky.
Like a sail
fur coat
Aweigh,
stinks
she is a goat.
in the sleigh
I'm taking logs
took away
broken fence
Log -
mascara,
harder than stone.
As if
swollen
knee
giant.
I'm coming in
with a log in an embrace.
sweaty,
soaked.
Important
and decorously
I plan
pen-operated.
Knife -
rust.
I cut.
I rejoice.
in my head
heat
raises the degree.
meadows bloom,
May
sings
in the ears -
This
stretches frenzy
from under the black sheets.
four icicles
curled up
fell asleep.
Come
people,
walk,
wake up.
Barely woke up
from coals
mad.
Out the window -
snowdrift.
The hunchback looks.
Haven't died out yet?
frosts
at night
go, creak
snow boots.
firmament,
bent over
to my room
by sea
sunset
doused
By pink
smooth
seas,
South -
clouds-ships.
For the surface
for the pink
drop anchor,
there,
where birch
firewood
are burning.
I
lot
strayed in warm countries.
But only
this winter
understandable
became
to me
heat
love,
friendship
and families.
Only lying down
in such an icy
teeth
together
screeching -
you will understand:
it is forbidden
feel sorry for people
no blanket
no caress.
earth,
where is the air
like a sweet fruit drink
quit
and rush, wheel, -
but the earth
with whom
froze together,
forever
you can't fall in love.

14

hid
that winter,
thin and strict
everyone
who is forever
went to sleep.
Where are the words!
And in these
lines
pain
Volga
I won't touch
I
I take days
from a number of days
what about a thousand
days
in kindred.
From gray
stripes
days,
they were driven
years -
watermen -
not really
hearty,
not really
hungry.
If a
I
what he wrote
if
what
said -
this is to blame
heaven eyes,
beloved
my
eyes.
Round
yes brown,
hot
to the fire
Telephone
crazy mad,
in ear
slammed his butt:
hazel
eyes
squeezed
hunger
tumor.
The doctor talked -
so that the eyes
stared,
need
heat,
need
greenery.
Not home
not for soup
and to your beloved
visit
two
carrots
I carry
for the green tail.
I
gave a lot
confection and bouquets,
but more
all
expensive gifts
I remember
this precious carrot
and gender -
log
birch wood.
wet,
skinny
under the arm
firewood,
a little
thicker
medium brow.
Cheeks puffed up.
Eyes -
clicks.
Greenery
and caresses
eyes came out.
More
saucers,
watching
revolution.
to me
easier than everyone else -
I
Mayakovsky.
Sitting
and eat
a piece
horse.
Creak -
a door,
crying.
Sister
junior.
- Hello, Volodya!
- Hello, Olya!
- tomorrow is New Year's Eve -
isn't it
salt? -
I share
I hang in my palms
pinch
damp.
Overcoming
snow
and fear
sliding sister,
sister is coming
wanders
three-verst Presnya
salt
fresh potatoes.
Near
freezing
walked
and grew up.
started
ticklish -
give back
pinch.
Came
and salt
does not fall -
frozen
to the fingers.
Behind the wall
shark:
"Go,
wife,
sell
blazer,
buy
millet.
Window, -
from him
go
snow,
soft
snow,
quiet
leg.
Bela,
goal
capitals
rock.
stuck
to the rock
forests
skeleton.
And so
because of the forest
sky in a shawl
creeps in
sun
louse.
December
dawn,
haggard
and late
rises
over Moscow
typhoid fever.
Gone
clouds
to countries
obese.
Behind the cloud
shore
lies
America.
lay,
lacala
coffee,
cocoa.
In your face
thicker
pig whims,
rounder
restaurant meals,
from a beggar
our
land
I shout:
I
earth
this
I love.
Can
forget,
where and when
bellies raised
and goiter
but the earth
with which
starving together,
it is forbidden
never
forget!

15

under the ear
most
stairs
two hundred steps,
bear
messenger minutes
On the stairs
lead.
The days have come
and stomped:
- survived
there you are, -
no
fuels
belly
groovy.
smoke
heavenly
varnish,
up to the pipe
up to the nose
locomotive
costs
in drifts.
Putting
on felt boots
colored patches,
from the gate
from an iron jaw,
again
walked,
grasping the shovels
all,
who is mobilized.
Came out
for the forest
together
started.
Am I
are you
dug up,
dug.
And again
a train
rolls
for the snow
tablecloth.
Weakens
body
no meals
and drink
stretcher made,
weaving hands.
Now
sing along
and you can go home
yes on hand
supposed
five
frostbitten.
Today
on the stairs
dirty and dull
dug
narrow-minded
pig rumors.
Denikin
fits
to herself,
to Tula
to powder
core.
The townsfolk put on their shoes,
printed on dust
whispering
cook's choirs.
- Will…
grainy!..
poods unfinished ...
tea streams,
crackers,
sugars.
Bli-and-and-sharp little whites,
take care of the cores! -
But the city
woke up,
in framed posters, -
This
party called:
"Proletarian, on horseback!"
And red
jumping
South
squadrons -
Mamontova
catch up.
Today
day
ran in a hurry
cry
silence
tearing,
shot through
easy
wheezing often,
fell
and ended
bloody
Blood
up the steps
dripped on the floor
cold
with dust in half
and again
on the floor
drops
dripping
from under the bullet
Kaplan.
four-legged
walked,
screech
walked
jackals.
Salop
He speaks
chuyke,
chuyka
salop:
- fidgeted
long-nosed pikes!
Soon
all
gobble up! -
And then
protruded
tarelyn eyes
long
surnames
and titles of the trail.
Wind
rips off
lists of those who were shot,
vomit,
twists
and puts it in the pipe.
Paw
class
lies on a predator -
Lubyanskaya
paw
Che-ka.
- Freeze, enemies!
Get away, little ones!
The townsfolk!
Attention!
At the hearth! -
Millionth
Class
stood up for Ilyich
against
white
fanged monster,
and flowed
in Lenin,
treating,
this will
the best medicine.
were buried
townsfolk
for kitchens
for diapers.
- Don't touch us -
we
chickens.
We are only midges
we are waiting for food.
close,
time,
your mouth!
We are inhabitants -
you put on us
And we
already
for your power. -
And in the morning
sky -
belfry!
yesterday
day
blame the lies
splintered
birds and sun
alive,
alive,
alive,
alive!
And again the days
clockwork
fled
and asked.
- Let's go
behind us -
"one more
effort."
From combat to labor
from labor to attacks, -
in hunger
in the cold
and nakedness
kept
taken,
yes so
that blood
protruded from under the nails.
I have seen
places,
where are the figs with quince
grew
easily
at my mouth,
to such
treat differently.
But the earth
which
conquered
and half dead
nursed
where to stand with a bullet,
lie down with a rifle,
where a drop
pouring with the masses, -
with such
earth
will you go
for life,
for work,
on holiday
and to death!

16

to me
told
quiet jew,
Pavel Ilyich Lavut:
"Just now
I went out
from the doors
I see -
they float…”
run
around Sevastopol
to smoking steamers.
Per day
soles stopped,
like a year of travel.
On the roads
transports
and transporters
fights,
cries,
swearing,
motna, -
run
volunteers,
raising the ports, -
clean audience
and a soldier.
Who -
canary,
who -
piano,
who is with the closet,
who
with an iron.
Cadets -
what for
people are loyal
elbowed,
covered with matyug.
Forgotten decency,
abandoned the fashion
who -
no skirt
who -
without socks.
Beats
the male
lady
in the face
soldier
colonel
knocked off bridges.
Ours pressed
wings on ladders.,
porridge
loaded
military echelon.
slamming
door,
dry as a report
from headquarters
deserted
he went out.
Looking
on your feet
step
sharp
walked
Wrangel
in black Circassian.
The city was abandoned.
On the pier -
naked
A boat
six-oared
costs
at the mall
And over the white ashes
like falling from a bullet,
for both
knee
commander-in-chief fell.
thrice
earth
having kissed
thrice
city
baptized.
Under the bullets
jumped into the boat...
– Your
excellency,
row? -
- Rowing! -
Removed the paddle.
Motor
jammed up.
Went
funny
to "Diamond"
powerboat.
Bullet
flew by
standard yacht.
And in galoshin transports
far,
behind,
dragged along
torn off
from the machine and plowing,
nodes
a hundred and fifty
winding up in a day.
From the motherland
into the clutches of the Turkish police,
to the Turks in the hole,
the Dardanelles are narrow,
floated
tomorrow's Gallipoli,
floated
yesterday's Russians.
Vpe -
redi
year on year.
Everyone
shake,
who is wearing a helmet.
Will you
milk
cows in Argentina
you will
die
through the pits of Africa.
Aliens
waves
rocked transports,
flags
with a crescent
darted into the eyes
and from transports
behind the yacht
chased -
"Asps,
stole the treasury
and run away, bastards.
Already
crews
beware
bullets
crazy
necessary.
Two
American destroyer
stood
on the roads
near.
Admiral
circled the pipe
shooting
mountains
edge:
– Ol
wright. -
And gone
at the tail of the retreating packs, -
guns on the city
heading for the Bosphorus.
In the ovens of the sun
the mountains
roast.
Air
the flowers were scattered.
Our
with a song
come from Dzhankoy,
pouring in
from Simferopol.
interrupting
bullet talk.
banners
the battle
sheep,
with red
together
descends from the mountains
song
combat.
Didn't bend
when
crushed with a machine gun,
got up,
fearless,
in lead-rain:
"And with us
Voroshilov,
first red officer.
listen
guns,
sea ​​witches,
y -
le -
petting
in the screws with everything
how it pours
from the mountains
- we are ready to die
for es es es er!” -
Chief of Staff
furrows his forehead.
Fingers
clumsy hand
letters
naughty bend:
"Wrangel
op-
crayfish -
chickpeas
in the sea.
There are no prisoners."
For now -
dot
and telegram
and war.
Remembered -
underplowed,
who is missing
who
domain
fireboxes and dawns.
And let's go
wiping sweat with sleeves
spreading
on towers
patrols.

1st Minister of Justice of the Provisional Government of Russia
Predecessor:	Position established
Successor:	Pavel Nikolaevich Pereverzev
2nd Military and Naval Minister of the Provisional Government of Russia
Predecessor:	Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov
Successor:	Alexander Ivanovich Verkhovsky
2nd Minister - Russia
Predecessor:	Georgy Evgenievich Lvov
Successor:	Provisional government overthrown: V. I. Lenin (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars)
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:	Simbirsk, Russian Empire
Date of death:
Place of death:	New York, USA
Occupation:
Education:	Imperial Saint Petersburg University

Political career

February Revolution

Minister of Justice

War and Naval Minister

Chairman of the Provisional Government

Kerensky in October 1917

After the October Revolution

Life in exile

Descendants of A. F. Kerensky

Interesting Facts

Movie incarnations

Addresses in Petrograd

Compositions

Or Kerensky(April 22 (May 4), 1881, Simbirsk - June 11, 1970, New York), a prominent Russian political and public figure; minister, then minister-chairman of the Provisional Government (1917), nobleman (since 1885), freemason.

Biography

Childhood, education, upbringing, origin

On the paternal side, the ancestors of Alexander Kerensky come from among the Russian provincial clergy. His grandfather Mikhail Ivanovich from 1830 served as a deacon in the village of Kerenka, Gorodishchensky district, Penza province. The surname Kerensky comes from the name of this village, although Alexander Fedorovich himself associated it with the county town of Kerensk in the same Penza province. The youngest son of Mikhail Ivanovich, Fedor, although he graduated with honors from the Penza Theological Seminary, did not become a priest, like his older brothers Grigory and Alexander. He received his higher education at the Faculty of History and Philology of Kazan University and then taught Russian literature at Kazan gymnasiums. In Kazan, F. M. Kerensky married Nadezhda Adler, the daughter of the head of the topographical bureau of the Kazan Military District. On her paternal side, N. Adler was a noblewoman, and on her mother’s side, she was the granddaughter of a serf, who, even before the abolition of serfdom, managed to redeem himself and later became a wealthy Moscow merchant. He left his granddaughter a considerable fortune. Having risen to the rank of collegiate adviser, Fedor Mikhailovich was appointed to Simbirsk, to the post of director of a men's gymnasium and a secondary school for girls. The most famous pupil of Fyodor Kerensky was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin), the son of his boss, the director of the Simbirsk schools, Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov. It was Fyodor Mikhailovich Kerensky who gave him the only four (logically) in the certificate of the gold medalist in 1887. The Kerensky and Ulyanov families in Simbirsk had friendly relations, they had much in common in their lifestyle, position in society, interests, origin. Fedor Mikhailovich, after the death of Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov, to the best of his ability, took part in the fate of the Ulyanov children. In 1887, after Alexander Ilyich Ulyanov was arrested and executed, he gave the brother of a political criminal, Vladimir Ulyanov, a positive reference for entering Kazan University. In Simbirsk, two sons were born in the Kerensky family - Alexander and Fedor (before them only daughters appeared in Kazan - Nadezhda, Elena, Anna). Sasha, the long-awaited son, enjoyed the exclusive love of his parents. As a child, he suffered tuberculosis of the femur. After the operation, the boy was forced to spend six months in bed and then for a long time did not take off his metal, forged boot with a load. In May 1889, Fyodor Mikhailovich Kerensky, a real state councilor, was appointed chief inspector of schools in the Turkestan region and moved to Tashkent with his family. According to the "table of ranks", his rank corresponded to the rank of major general and gave the right to hereditary nobility. At the same time, eight-year-old Sasha began to study at the Tashkent gymnasium, where he was a diligent and successful student. In high school, Alexander had a reputation as a well-mannered young man, a skilled dancer, and a capable actor. He, with pleasure taking part in amateur performances, played the role of Khlestakov with special brilliance. In 1899, Alexander graduated from the Tashkent gymnasium with a gold medal and entered the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University.

Political career

He participated in the committee, created by the bar association, to help victims on January 9, 1905. Since October 1905, Kerensky has been writing for the revolutionary socialist bulletin Burevestnik, which the Organization of an Armed Uprising began to publish. Burevestnik became one of the first victims of police repression - the circulation of the eighth (according to other sources - the ninth) issue was confiscated. On December 21, a search was carried out in Kerensky's apartment, during which leaflets of the "Armed Insurrection Organization" and a revolver intended for self-defense were found. As a result of the search, an arrest warrant was signed on charges of belonging to the fighting squad of the Socialist-Revolutionaries. Kerensky was in pre-trial detention in Kresty until April 5, 1906, and then, due to lack of evidence, was released and deported with his wife and one-year-old son Oleg to Tashkent. In September 1906 he returned to St. Petersburg.

In October 1906, at the request of the lawyer N. D. Sokolov, Kerensky began his career as a political lawyer in a lawsuit in Revel - he defended the peasants who plundered the estates of the Baltic barons. Participated in a number of major political processes.

In 1910, he was the main defender at the trial of the Turkestan organization of socialist revolutionaries accused of anti-government armed actions. The process for the Socialist-Revolutionaries went well, the lawyer managed to prevent the imposition of death sentences.

At the beginning of 1912, Kerensky defended terrorists from the Armenian Dashnaktsutyun party at a trial in St. Petersburg. In 1912, he headed the commission of the State Duma to investigate the execution of workers at the Lena gold mines. He spoke in support of M. Beilis, in connection with which he was prosecuted in the course of the case of 25 lawyers.

He was elected a deputy of the IV State Duma from the city of Volsk, Saratov province; inasmuch as the SR party decided to boycott the elections, he formally left this party and joined the “Trudoviks” faction, which he headed from 1915. In the Duma he delivered critical speeches against the government and gained fame as one of the best orators of the left factions. He was a member of the budget committee of the Duma. In June 1913 he was elected chairman of the IV All-Russian Congress of Trade and Industry Workers.

In 1914, in the "Case of 25 Lawyers" for insulting the Kyiv Court of Justice, he was sentenced to 8 months in prison. On appeal, the imprisonment was replaced by a ban on practicing law for 8 months.

In 1915-1917 - General Secretary of the Supreme Council of the Great Orient of the Peoples of Russia, an organization that emerged from the Grand Orient of France. The Great East of the peoples of Russia was not recognized by other Masonic obediences as a Masonic organization, since it set political activity as a priority for itself. In addition to Kerensky, the Supreme Council of the Great East included such people as N. S. Chkheidze, A. I. Braudo, S. D. Maslovsky-Mstislavsky, N. V. Nekrasov, S. D. Urusov and others.

I received an offer to become a Freemason in 1912, immediately after my election to the Fourth Duma. After serious reflection, I came to the conclusion that my own goals coincided with the goals of society, and I accepted this offer. It should be emphasized that the society I joined was not an ordinary Masonic organization. First of all, it was unusual that the society severed all ties with foreign organizations and allowed women into its ranks. Further, the complex ritual and the Masonic degree system were abolished; only an indispensable internal discipline was preserved, which guaranteed the high moral character of the members and their ability to keep a secret. No written records were kept, no lists of lodge members were made. This maintenance of secrecy de led to the leakage of information about the goals and structure of society. When I studied the Police Department Circulars at the Hoover Institution, I did not find any evidence of the existence of our society in them, even in those two circulars that concern me personally. - Kerensky A.F. Russia at a historical turn. Memoirs. M., 1993. S. 62-63.

In June-July 1915 he made a trip to a number of cities in the Volga region and the South of Russia.

In 1916, on the orders of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers B. V. Stürmer, mobilization of 200,000 indigenous people for rear work began in Turkestan. Prior to that, according to the laws of the Russian Empire, the indigenous population was not subject to conscription into the army. The decree on the "requisition of indigenous people" caused a riot in Turkestan and the Steppe region. To investigate the events, the State Duma created a commission headed by Kerensky. Having studied the events on the spot, he laid the blame for what had happened on the tsarist government, accused the Minister of the Interior of exceeding his powers, and demanded that corrupt local officials be brought to justice. Such speeches created for Kerensky the image of an uncompromising exposer of the vices of the tsarist regime, brought popularity among liberals, and created a reputation as one of the leaders of the Duma opposition. By 1917, he was already a fairly well-known politician, who also led the Trudoviks faction in the State Duma of the 4th convocation. In his Duma speech on December 16, 1916, he actually called for the overthrow of the autocracy, after which Empress Alexandra Feodorovna declared that "Kerensky should be hanged" (according to other sources - "Kerensky should be hanged along with Guchkov").

Sukhanov N. N. in his fundamental work “Notes on the Revolution” reports that before the revolution, Kerensky was under the supervision of the Security Department under the nickname “Fast” because of the habit of running through the streets, jumping into a tram on the go, and jumping back. To spy on him, the police had to hire a cab.

February Revolution

Kerensky's ascent to power begins already during the February Revolution, which he accepted enthusiastically and from the first days was an active participant in it. The French ambassador in Petrograd, Maurice Palaiologos, in his diary, in an entry dated March 2 (15), 1917, characterizes Kerensky as follows: new regime."

After the session of the Duma was interrupted at midnight from February 26 to 27, 1917 by decree of Nicholas II, Kerensky at the Council of Elders of the Duma on February 27 urged not to obey the tsar's will. On the same day, he became a member of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma formed by the Council of Elders and a member of the Military Commission, which led the actions of the revolutionary forces against the police. During the February days, Kerensky repeatedly spoke to the insurgent soldiers, received from them the arrested ministers of the tsarist government, received money and secret papers confiscated from the ministries. Under the leadership of Kerensky, the guards of the Tauride Palace were replaced by detachments of insurgent soldiers, sailors and workers.

During the February Revolution, Kerensky joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, took part in the work of the revolutionary Provisional Committee of the State Duma. On March 3, as part of the Duma delegation, he contributes to the renunciation of power by Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich.

As a result of the February Revolution, Kerensky finds himself simultaneously in two opposing bodies of power: in the first composition of the Provisional Government as Minister of Justice, and in the first composition of the Petrograd Soviet as Comrade (Deputy) Chairman.

Minister of Justice

On March 2, he took up the post of Minister of Justice in the Provisional Government. In public, Kerensky appeared in a military-style jacket, although he himself had never served in the army. He initiated such decisions of the Provisional Government as amnesty for political prisoners, recognition of Poland's independence, restoration of the Finnish constitution. By order of Kerensky, all the revolutionaries were returned from exile. The second telegram sent to the post of Minister of Justice was an order to immediately release the "grandmother of the Russian revolution" Ekaterina Breshko-Breshkovskaya from exile and send her to Petrograd with all honors. Under Kerensky, the destruction of the former judicial system began. Already on March 3, the institute of justices of the peace was reorganized - the courts began to be formed from three members: a judge and two assessors. On March 4, the Supreme Criminal Court, special offices of the Governing Senate, judicial chambers and district courts with the participation of class representatives were abolished.

Under Kerensky, judicial officials were dismissed en masse without any explanation, sometimes on the basis of a telegram from some barrister who claimed that such and such was unacceptable in public circles.

War and Naval Minister

In March 1917, Kerensky again officially joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, becoming one of the most important leaders of the party. In April 1917, Foreign Minister P. N. Milyukov assured the Allied Powers that Russia would unconditionally continue the war to a victorious end. This step caused a crisis in the Provisional Government. On April 24, Kerensky threatened to withdraw from the government and the Soviets go into opposition if Milyukov was not removed from his post and a coalition government was created, including representatives of the socialist parties. On May 5, 1917, Prince Lvov was forced to fulfill this demand and set up the first coalition government. Milyukov and Guchkov resigned, socialists entered the government, and Kerensky received the portfolio of military and naval ministers.

The new minister of war appoints little-known but close to him generals, who received the nickname "Young Turks", to key positions in the army. Kerensky appointed his brother-in-law V. L. Baranovsky to the post of head of the cabinet of the Minister of War, whom he promoted to colonel, and a month later to major general. Kerensky appointed Colonels of the General Staff G. A. Yakubovich and G. N. Tumanov as assistants to the Minister of War, people not sufficiently experienced in military affairs, but active participants in the February coup. On May 22, 1917, Kerensky appointed General Brusilov A.A. to the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief instead of the more conservative General Alekseev M.V.

As Minister of War, Kerensky made great efforts to organize the offensive of the Russian army in June 1917. Kerensky traveled around the front-line units, spoke at numerous rallies, trying to inspire the troops, after which he received the nickname "Chief Persuader". However, the army was already seriously weakened by the post-revolutionary purges of generals and the creation of soldiers' committees ( see Democratization of the army in Russia in 1917). On June 18, the offensive of the Russian troops began, which, however, quickly ended in complete failure. According to some assumptions, it was this shameful defeat in the war that served as the main reason for the overthrow of the Provisional Government.

"March" hysteria around Kerensky

The peak of Kerensky's popularity begins with his appointment as Minister of War after the April crisis. Newspapers refer to Kerensky in such expressions: "knight of the revolution", "lion heart", "first love of the revolution", "people's tribune", "genius of Russian freedom", "sun of Russia's freedom", "people's leader", "savior of the Fatherland", "prophet and hero of the revolution", "good genius of the Russian revolution", "the first people's commander in chief", etc. Contemporaries describe the "March" hysteria around the personality of Kerensky in the following terms:

In May 1917, the Petrograd newspapers were even seriously considering the establishment of the Foundation named after the Friend of Mankind A. F. Kerensky.

Kerensky tries to maintain the ascetic image of the "people's leader", wearing a paramilitary jacket, and a short haircut.

As a young man, Kerensky considered a career as an opera singer, and even took acting lessons. Nabokov V. D. describes his performances in the following way: ““I say, comrades, with all my heart ... from the depths of my heart, and if you need to prove it ... if you don’t trust me ... I’m right there, before your eyes ... I’m ready to die ...“. Carried away, he illustrated the "readiness to die" with an unexpected, desperate gesture. Already in his old age, Kerensky notes with regret that "if there had been television then, no one would have been able to defeat me!" Kerensky manages to “charm” even the deposed tsar: in July, Nikolai writes in his diary about Kerensky “This man is positively in his place at the present moment; the more power he has, the better."

The failure of Kerensky's first major political project, the June offensive of 1917, was the first noticeable blow to his popularity. The ongoing economic problems, the failure of the surplus appropriation policy initiated by the tsarist government at the end of 1916, the ongoing collapse of the army in the field are increasingly discrediting Kerensky.

As minister of the Provisional Government, Kerensky moved to the Winter Palace. Over time, rumors appear in Petrograd that he allegedly sleeps on the former bed of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, and Alexander Kerensky himself begins to be ironically called "Alexander IV" (the last Russian tsar with the name Alexander was Alexander III). The Soviet poet Mayakovsky satirizes the life of former barrister Kerensky in the palace:

Chairman of the Provisional Government

On July 8 (21) A.F. Kerensky replaced Georgy Lvov as Prime Minister, retaining the post of Minister of War and Navy. Kerensky tried to reach an agreement on the support of the government by the bourgeois and right-wing socialist parties. On July 12, the death penalty was restored at the front. New banknotes were issued, called "Kerenki". On July 19, Kerensky appointed a new Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the General Staff, Infantry General Lavr Georgievich Kornilov. In August, Kornilov, with the support of Generals Krymov, Denikin and some others, refused Kerensky (after the latter's provocation with the mission of Lvov) to stop the troops moving on Petrograd on the orders of the Provisional Government and with the knowledge of Kerensky. As a result of the actions of agitators, Krymov's troops in his absence (a trip to Petrograd to see Kerensky) were propagated and stopped on the outskirts of Petrograd. Kornilov, Denikin and some other generals were arrested.

Kerensky and the Kornilov rebellion (the point of view of the Kornilovites)

A.F. Kerensky, who had effectively concentrated government power in his hands, found himself in a difficult position during the Kornilov speech. He understood that only the harsh measures proposed by L.G. Kornilov, they could still save the economy from collapse, the army from anarchy, free the Provisional Government from Soviet dependence and, in the end, establish internal order in the country. But A.F. Kerensky also understood that with the establishment of a military dictatorship, he would lose all the fullness of his power. He did not want to give it up voluntarily even for the good of Russia. This was joined by personal antipathy between the Minister-Chairman A.F. Kerensky and commander-in-chief General L.G. Kornilov, they did not hesitate to express their attitude towards each other.

On August 26, State Duma deputy V.N. Lvov hands over to the Prime Minister the various wishes in terms of increasing power. Kerensky takes advantage of this interference situation for his own purposes and commits a provocation in order to denigrate the Supreme Commander in the eyes of the public and thus eliminate the threat to his personal (Kerensky's) power.

“It was necessary,” says Kerensky, “to prove immediately the formal connection between Lvov and Kornilov so clearly that the Provisional Government was in a position to take decisive measures that same evening ... by forcing Lvov to repeat his entire conversation with me in the presence of a third person.” For this purpose, Bulavinsky, assistant chief of police, was invited, whom Kerensky hid behind a curtain in his office during Lvov's second visit. Bulavinsky testifies that the note was read to Lvov and the latter confirmed its contents, but to the question "what were the reasons and motives that forced General Kornilov to demand that Kerensky and Savinkov come to Headquarters," he did not answer. Lvov categorically denies Kerensky's version. He says: " Kornilov did not present me with any ultimatum demand. We had a simple conversation during which various wishes were discussed in terms of strengthening power. I expressed these wishes to Kerensky. I did not and could not present any ultimatum demand (to him), but he demanded that I put my thoughts on paper. I did it, and he arrested me. I did not even have time to read the paper I had written, when he, Kerensky, tore it from me and put it in my pocket.

On the evening of August 26, at a government meeting, Kerensky qualified the actions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief as a rebellion. Having granted emergency powers to the Prime Minister, the Provisional Government resigned.

Kerensky is trying to appoint a new Supreme Commander, but both generals - Lukomsky and Klembovsky - refuse, and the first of them, in response to an offer to take the post of Supreme Commander, openly accuses Kerensky of provocation.

General Kornilov comes to the conclusion that...

(From the testimony of General Kornilov subsequently to the commission of inquiry.)

... and decides not to obey and not to surrender the post of Supreme Commander.

Deeply offended by the lies of various government appeals that began to come from Petrograd, as well as by their unworthy external form, General Kornilov, for his part, answers with a number of ardent appeals to the army, people, Cossacks, in which he describes the course of events and the provocation of the Chairman of the Government.

On August 28, General Kornilov refuses Kerensky's demand to stop the movement to Petrograd, sent there by decision of the Provisional Government and with the consent of the Kerensky Corps, General Krymov. This corps was sent to the capital by the Government with the aim of finally (after the suppression of the July rebellion) to put an end to the Bolsheviks and take control of the situation in the capital:

(Savinkov. "On the case of Kornilov.")

As a result, General Kornilov, seeing the full depth of Kerensky's provocation directed against him, with the accusation of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of treason and the alleged ultimatum demand that "the fullness of civil and military power be transferred to him" decides:

... using for this the corps of General Krymov, already moving at the direction of Kerensky to Petrograd, in order to put pressure on the Government and gives General Krymov the appropriate instruction.

On August 29, Kerensky issues a decree on dismissal and trial "for rebellion" of General Kornilov and his senior associates.

The method applied by Kerensky with the "Lvov mission" was successfully repeated in relation to General Krymov, who shot himself immediately after his personal audience with Kerensky in Petrograd, where he went, leaving the corps in the vicinity of Luga, at the invitation of Kerensky, which was transmitted through a friend General - Colonel Samarin, who served as assistant to the head of Kerensky's cabinet. The meaning of the manipulation was the need for a painless removal of the commander from among the troops subordinate to him - in the absence of the commander, the revolutionary agitators easily propagandized the Cossacks and stopped the advance of the 3rd Cavalry Corps on Petrograd.

General Kornilov refuses offers to leave Headquarters and "escape". Not wanting bloodshed in response to assurances of loyalty from parts devoted to him

the general replied:

General Alekseev, wanting to save the Kornilovites, agrees to arrest General Kornilov and his associates at Headquarters, which he does on September 1, 1917. This episode turned out to be misunderstood and later, already on the Don, had a very negative impact on the relations between the two generals-leaders of the young Volunteer Army.

Kerensky's victory in this confrontation was prelude to Bolshevism because it meant the victory of the Soviets, among which the Bolsheviks already occupied a predominant position, and with which the Kerensky government was only capable of pursuing a conciliatory policy.

Kerensky in October 1917

Kerensky, having become the supreme commander, completely changed the structure of the provisional government, creating the "Business Cabinet" - the Directory. Thus, Kerensky combined the powers of the chairman of the government and the supreme commander in chief.

Having concentrated dictatorial powers in his hands, Kerensky carried out another coup d'etat - he dissolved the State Duma, which, in fact, brought him to power and announced the proclamation of Russia as a democratic republic, without waiting for the convocation of the Constituent Assembly.

To ensure the support of the government, he went to the formation of an advisory body - the Provisional Council of the Russian Republic (Pre-Parliament) on October 7, 1917. Assessing the situation in Petrograd on October 24 as a "state of uprising", he demanded from the Pre-Parliament full support for the actions of the government. After the adoption of an evasive resolution by the Pre-Parliament, he left Petrograd to meet the troops called from the front to support his government.

In his own words, Kerensky found himself "between the hammer of the Kornilovites and the anvil of the Bolsheviks"; a popular legend ascribes to General Kornilov the promise "to hang Lenin on the first post, and Kerensky on the second."

Kerensky did not organize the defense of the Provisional Government from the inevitable uprising of the Bolsheviks, which had become obvious to everyone, despite the fact that many drew the attention of the Prime Minister, including representatives of foreign embassies, to this. Until the last moment, he invariably answered that the Provisional Government had everything under control and that there were enough troops in Petrograd to suppress the uprising of the Bolsheviks, which he even looked forward to in order to finally put an end to them. And only when it was already quite late, at 2 o'clock. 20 minutes. On the night of October 25, 1917, a telegram was sent to General Dukhonin at Headquarters about sending Cossack units to Petrograd. In response, Dukhonin asked why this telegram had not been transmitted earlier and called Kerensky several times by direct wire, but he did not come up. Later, in exile, Kerensky tried to justify himself that, allegedly, “in the last days before the Bolshevik uprising, all my orders and the headquarters of the St. Petersburg Military District on the expulsion of troops from the Northern Front to Petrograd were sabotaged on the ground and on the way.” The historian of the Russian revolution, on the basis of documents, proves that Kerensky is lying, and that such orders simply did not exist at all.

At the same time, by October 1917, there was practically no sufficient military force left on which Kerensky could rely. His actions during the Kornilov speech push the army officers and Cossacks away from him. In addition, during the fight against Kornilov, Kerensky is forced to turn to the Bolsheviks as the most active left, thereby only bringing the events of November 1917 closer. In the words of Richard Pipes, "Yesterday's arsonists have become the fire brigade." Kerensky's indecisive attempts to get rid of the most unreliable units of the Petrograd garrison only lead to them drifting "to the left" and going over to the side of the Bolsheviks. Also, units sent to Petrograd from the front in July are gradually moving over to the side of the Bolsheviks. The dissolution of the unpopular police after the February Revolution also contributed to the growing chaos. The "people's militia" that replaced it was unable to fulfill its functions.

There is a myth that Kerensky escaped from the Winter Palace, disguised as a nurse (another option is a maid), which allegedly does not correspond to reality and, presumably, was created by Bolshevik propaganda or even by the people (According to the memoirs of journalist Genrikh Borovik in the newspaper "Arguments and Facts" No. 24 of June 2010, this lie was launched by the younger brother of the head of the cadet school that guarded the Winter Palace in October 1917, who hated A.F. Kerensky).

Kerensky himself claims that he left Zimny ​​in his usual jacket, in his car, accompanied by the American ambassador's car offered to him by American diplomats, with the same American flag. Oncoming soldiers habitually saluted. Kerensky emphatically and in certain tones distorts reality in his memoirs: in fact, his departure from the Winter Palace had a different character, even in small things. So David Francis, who was the American ambassador to Russia at that time, writes in his book “Russia from the Window of the American Embassy” that the American car was not “offered” to Kerensky, but seized by his adjutants. The American flag was also forcibly appropriated. The secretary of the American embassy only bowed to the inevitable and limited himself to protesting against the use of the US flag. In general, it cost Kerensky great effort to leave Petrograd, since all its stations were already controlled by the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee.

The campaign of the Krasnov-Kerensky detachment against Petrograd was not successful. After a series of battles, Krasnov's Cossacks signed a truce with the Soviet troops on October 31 in Gatchina. The 3rd cavalry corps of General Krasnov showed no particular desire to defend Kerensky, while the Bolsheviks developed a stormy activity in organizing the defense of Petrograd, Trotsky personally arrived at the Pulkovo Heights. Dybenko, who arrived for negotiations, jokingly suggested to the Cossacks of the 3rd Corps "to exchange Kerensky for Lenin", "if you want, we will exchange ear for ear." According to the memoirs of General Krasnov, after the negotiations, the Cossacks clearly began to incline to extradite Kerensky, and he disappeared from the Gatchina Palace.

Kerensky had to change into a sailor suit during his flight from the Gatchina Palace, after an unsuccessful trip to Petrograd.

The agent who was in Petrograd from August to November 1917 and met with Kerensky " Somerville"British secret service, which was the writer Somerset Maugham, gave him the following description:

One of the leaders of the Cadet Party, Ivan Kutorga, in his book “Orators and the Masses” characterizes Kerensky as follows: “... Kerensky was the true personification of February with all its upsurge, impulse, good intentions, with all its doom and frequent political childish absurdity and state crime. The hatred of Kerensky personally is explained, in my opinion, not only by his indisputably huge political mistakes, not only by the fact that “Kerensky” (a word that has become common in all European languages) failed to offer serious resistance to Bolshevism, but, on the contrary, cleared the ground for it but also by other, broader and more general reasons.

In Soviet times, history textbooks for general education schools cited a reproduction of a painting allegedly falsifying Kerensky's behavior - the work of the artist Grigory Shegal "Flight of Kerensky from Gatchina", in which he is shown changing into a nurse's uniform.

After the October Revolution

In the 20th of November, Kerensky appeared in Novocherkassk to General A. M. Kaledin, but was not received by him. He spent the end of 1917 wandering through remote villages near Petrograd and Novgorod. At the beginning of January 1918, he secretly appeared in Petrograd, wishing to speak at the Constituent Assembly, but the Socialist-Revolutionary leadership apparently considered this inappropriate. Kerensky moved to Finland, at the end of January 1918 he returned to Petrograd, at the beginning of May - to Moscow, where he established contact with the Union for the Revival of Russia. When the performance of the Czechoslovak corps began, the Union of the Renaissance suggested that he make his way abroad to negotiate the organization of military intervention in Soviet Russia.

Life in exile

In June 1918, under the guise of a Serbian officer, Kerensky, accompanied by Sidney Reilly, traveled through northern Russia outside the former Russian Empire. Arriving in London, he met with British Prime Minister Lloyd George and spoke at a Labor Party conference. After that, he went to Paris, where he stayed for several weeks. Kerensky tried to win support from the Entente for the Ufa directory, which was dominated by the Social Revolutionaries. After the coup in Omsk in November 1918, during which the directory was overthrown and Kolchak's dictatorship was established, Kerensky agitated in London and Paris against the Omsk government. He lived in France, participating in constant splits, quarrels and intrigues of Russian exiles.

Kerensky tried to continue active political activity in Paris. In 1922-1932, he edited the newspaper Dni, gave harsh anti-Soviet lectures, and called on Western Europe to embark on a crusade against Soviet Russia.

In 1939 he married former Australian journalist Lydia Tritton. When Hitler occupied France in 1940, he fled to the USA.

When his wife became terminally ill in 1945, he went to her in Brisbane in Australia, and lived with her family until his death in February 1946, after which he returned to the United States and settled in New York, although he also spent much time at Stanford University in California. There he made a significant contribution to the archive on Russian history and taught students.

In 1968, Kerensky tried to get permission to come to the USSR. A favorable resolution of this issue depended on the fulfillment by him of a number of political conditions, and this was directly indicated in the draft document submitted by the employees of the Central Committee apparatus on August 13, 1968. The document said: “... to receive his (Kerensky's) statement: on the recognition of the laws of the socialist revolution; the correctness of the policy of the government of the USSR; recognition of the successes of the Soviet people achieved over the 50 years of the existence of the Soviet state. According to the memoirs of the priest of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchal Church in London, A.P. Belikov, through whom these negotiations began, “Kerensky recognized that the events that took place in October 1917 are the logical conclusion of the social development of Russia. He does not regret at all that it happened exactly the way it was and what it led to after 50 years.” For unknown reasons, the question of Kerensky's arrival in Moscow was unexpectedly removed from discussion.

In December 1968, the Center for Humanitarian Research at the University of Texas at Austin (USA) acquired the Kerensky archive with the consent of the owner from his son Oleg and personal secretary E.I. A.F. Kerensky. The archive was valued at $100,000.

He died June 11, 1970 at his home in New York from cancer at the age of 89. The local Russian Orthodox Church refused to bury him, considering the culprit of the fall of Russia, a freemason. The Serbian Orthodox Church also refused. The body was taken to London and buried in the Vale Cemetery.

From the end of 1917 Kerenki were sent all over Russia. They gave out most of the salaries of civil servants and paid the expenses of government agencies, including the army, transport, etc. Therefore, by the beginning of the Civil War, Kerenki had become a common means of payment everywhere. When the printing of local money began almost everywhere by regional and city councils, bank branches, and even just private individuals, caused by a shortage of banknotes in conditions of galloping inflation, Romanov, Duma and Kerenka received the status of "real" money. After all, they were printed back when, theoretically, they were provided with Russia's gold reserves. In regional markets, Kerenki, as a rule, were quoted above local banknotes. Hyperinflation raged in Moscow, Petrograd and Central Russia. For a while, the system of "war communism" was installed, when money was actually abolished. The population received food rations for free, a little later - at fixed low prices, enterprises were provided with free raw materials, and transport, post office, theaters worked for free. However, money was needed in the frontline zone. And those that are recognized by the population. And the Kerenki turned out to be most welcome. Moreover, the price level on the periphery was completely different from that in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The centralized supply of the Red Army, as well as the White Army, almost did not exist. The Red Army soldiers bought food and fodder from local residents for kerenki, which they received in the form of a salary. Preference over Kerenki was given only to royal money or, in extreme cases, banknotes of the government that had power in a given territory.

For several decades, the story of the forgery of kerenok right in the headquarters of the White Ataman Bulak-Balakhovich by his officers wandered through the pages of books and magazines for several decades. The source is the newspaper "Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee" dated September 7, 1919, which reported: "In Pskov, captured by our troops, more than a pood of almost ready-made 40-ruble kerenok were found in the White Guard headquarters. The front side of them is forged quite well, the reverse side did not have time to finish printing. And even General Yudenich himself, who was in conflict with the chieftain, in his orders accused Balakhovich of robberies, looting and making counterfeit money. Moscow bonist A.S. Korshunov, who investigated this issue, did not find any concrete evidence of counterfeiting money by the ataman (by the way, the former commander of the Red Guard regiment). Indirect data allow us to conclude that the printing of fake 40-ruble kernels from home-made clichés and on primitive equipment was not of a criminal nature, but of a "military-economic" nature - for distribution on Soviet territory to the detriment of the enemy. And it was carried out not without the knowledge of the High Command, although not for long. At the same time, preparations were underway in Pskov for the local issue of temporary tokens of the field treasury, which were not printed to the end and did not enter circulation due to the rapid fall of the city. A.S. Korshunov cites an excerpt from a magazine for collectors of 1926 with the recollections of an eyewitness: “In 1919, when the Red Army units entered the city [city] of Pskov, the Red Army soldiers dragged whole sheets of underprinted banknotes, similar to Kerenki, only much smaller. This money was printed only on one side, while the other remained clean and were found in the premises of Balakhovich's headquarters in a fairly large amount (whole piles) ... "

Small kerenki (small square banknotes worth 20 and 40 rubles) were supplied in large uncut sheets without perforation, from which they were cut with scissors or torn off during the issuance of salaries - therefore, it is rare to find kerenki with smooth edges. As hyperinflation developed, they even stopped cutting the cores, because it lost its meaning - and they paid in sheets. They were often printed in non-specialized printing houses by workers without proper qualifications, with different colors, often on unsuitable paper, sometimes even one-sided: on the back of various labels of goods and products. Therefore, in relation to 20- and 40-ruble kerenok, the concept of “fake” loses all meaning - they were printed by everyone who had access to a printing house. As a result, they did not inspire the confidence of the population.

The next banknote of the "real" Kerenok has a face value of 250 rubles in 1917. This banknote already looks like money both in size and “content” - watermarks, date, numbers, signatures of the manager and cashier, and the promise of exchange for gold without restriction. As a matter of fact, the listed three types of banknotes are the real “kerenki”, because the denomination of 1000 rubles was popularly called “dumka”. The thousand-rouble bill of 1917 did not have an image of a double-headed eagle, but hid a swastika under the signature of the manager, and got its name from the Tauride Palace of St. Petersburg depicted on its reverse side - the State Duma of Russia of those years. There is a corresponding inscription.

And these are those that were already issued by the Soviet government on the cliché of the Provisional, and were called in the old fashioned way “Kerenki” (because of the image of double-headed eagles without a crown on them, inscriptions of pre-revolutionary spelling, swastikas on large banknotes and promises of exchange still royal). However, today this is an erroneous name for treasury notes - at one time, these banknotes were called “pyatakovka” by the people, thanks to the signature of the manager of the State Bank of the RSFSR in 1918, G.L. Pyatakov.

Kerensky is repeatedly proved: emergency measures are needed, a critical mass is accumulating, then a chain reaction and a half-life. But he does not listen, but speaks, speaks, speaks ... For example, the British agent Somerville, better known as the writer Somerset Maugham, at that moment gives him the following characterization: “ The situation in Russia was deteriorating every day, ... and he removed all the ministers, as soon as he noticed in them abilities that threatened to undermine his own prestige. He made speeches. He made endless speeches. There was a threat of a German attack on Petrograd. Kerensky made speeches. Food shortages were getting worse, winter was approaching, there was no fuel. Kerensky made speeches. The Bolsheviks were active behind the scenes, Lenin was hiding in Petrograd ... He made speeches ».

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm breaking the historical sequence. Usually parallels are drawn to the past, but I will direct them to the future. One of the few who represented the true state of affairs in a country that was going to hell (or hell) was the new Supreme Commander-in-Chief Lavr Georgievich Kornilov appointed by Kerensky ...

... From the appeal of the State Emergency Committee of August 1991: “... in order to overcome a deep and comprehensive crisis, political, interethnic and civil confrontation, chaos and anarchy that threaten the life and security of citizens, sovereignty, territorial integrity, freedom and independence of our Fatherland ... an emergency position".

Gorbachev repeatedly spoke with his protege, Minister of Defense Dmitry Timofeevich Yazov, that, apparently, the time was coming for decisive action. But everything was limited to words. Gorbachev seemed to be pushing his comrades - you start, and I will support you. The maneuver is excellent: in case of success, he is the savior of the Soviet Union, but "a bunch of conspirators" will answer for failure. In addition, in a harsh scenario, Gorbachev will retain his “human face”, which the West liked so much. So, the comrades from the GKChP started, the democrats yelled: “Nightmare! On the streets of Yazov!”…

... August 1917 turned out to be troublesome for Lavr Kornilov. Lavr Georgievich was never a socialist or a monarchist: like the vast majority of the then officers, he shied away from political passions. But he knew for sure: for the sake of saving the army and the state, all means are good. According to his like-minded people from the GKChP, the National Defense Council from Kornilov, Kerensky (he was considered “his own”), Kolchak, Savinkov and others was to become the supreme power in the country. Under the Council, a government was formed with the broadest representation: from the former tsarist minister Pokrovsky to one of the leaders of the socialists Plekhanov.

From the memoirs of General Denikin: “On August 20, Kerensky agrees to declaring Petrograd and its environs under martial law and to the arrival of a military corps in Petrograd for the real implementation of this situation, that is, to fight the Bolsheviks.” On August 25, Kornilov, at the head of units loyal to him, moved to the capital. Kerensky understands that he has played too much, the strengthening of Kornilov is a direct threat to his personal power. For the sake of its preservation, he is ready for an alliance with even the devil, even with "German spies", therefore he releases the Bolsheviks from prisons and distributes rifles to workers (according to Uritsky - as many as 40 thousand pieces). A hasty telegram flies - to remove Kornilov from the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief and declare him a rebel. The “fighters” of the Petrograd garrison, whom Kornilov promised to send to the front, who dug in in the rear, are not at all smiling at the prospect of a trench. They are a mountain for Kerensky, he is supported by the "Red Guard" (those same workers with rifles). The "defenders of democracy" are preparing to fight back, although their chances against regular troops are extremely doubtful. A swift attack is needed, the officers persuade their general, but he replies: “Tell the Kornilov regiment, I order him to remain completely calm, I don’t want even one drop of fraternal blood to be shed ...”

... Yazov will also not give the order to use weapons, not out of weakness, but because of his upbringing. Nobility, of course, will be assessed "according to merit" - the last Minister of Defense of the USSR will be accused of "treason." The floor is given to the former investigator for particularly important cases under the USSR Prosecutor General Vladimir Kalinichenko: “Then I was the first deputy head of a special unit - we worked in hot spots. The head was my friend Sasha Frolov, who actually led the investigation. On August 21, when members of the State Emergency Committee were being arrested, I flew away on a business trip and returned 10 days later... When I found out what charge he had brought against them, I asked: “Sasha, do you have a conscience?” After all, what is "Treason to the Motherland" - the 64th article? The law clearly states: this is a deliberate act committed by a citizen of the USSR with the aim of undermining state sovereignty, military power and territorial integrity. And what was the aim of the gekacheists? They wanted to save the Soviet Union…”

Kornilov went down in history as a "rebel". A word - to the most prominent writer, philosopher, publicist Ivan Ilyin in 1917: “ Now in Russia there are only two parties: the party of disintegration and the party of order. The disintegration party has its leader Alexander Kerensky. The leader of the party of order was to be General Kornilov. Alas, it is not destined for the party of order to get its leader. The disintegration party tried...» Kornilov in no way encroached on the state system; he sought, with the assistance of some members of the government, to change the composition of the latter, to select honest, active and energetic people. This is not treason, not rebellion. After the suppression of the Kornilov rebellion, Alexander Fedorovich received unlimited rights: he headed the Directory of five people and became the Supreme Commander. The last coalition government was formed by him on September 25, 1917 ...

Well, then ... What then? Yeltsin climbs on the tank, excuse me, Lenin - on the armored car. On October 25 (November 7), 1917, exactly one month later, the Provisional Government was overthrown. Kerensky flees in the car of the American embassy and for the rest of his life, in exile, greatly indignant at the tales that he fled, dressed in women's clothes, assures that this is not so, explaining these myths by the hatred of the rumor authors towards him. Such rumors were explained by the chairman of the Provisional Government by the hatred of the monarchists towards him; according to him, they also spread gossip that he spent the night on the bed of the empress, and called him "Alexandra Feodorovna" behind his back.

According to one version, fearing the reprisals of the Bolsheviks, A.F. Kerensky fled the Winter Palace, disguised as a sister of mercy (or, alternatively, a maid). The source of these rumors is considered to be the brother of the head of the cadet school, which was supposed to defend Zimny. In fact, the head of the interim government left the Winter Palace in a paramilitary jacket and riding breeches. Even if he had changed into a woman's dress, the "resident" would have given out a red beard.

According to another version of the myth, Kerensky fled in a woman's dress not from the Winter Palace, but from the Gatchina Palace, where he moved after the power was in the hands of the Bolsheviks. The ex-Chairman of the Provisional Government himself inadvertently contributed to the spread of this myth. In his memoirs, he writes: “I left the Palace 10 minutes before the traitors broke into my rooms. I left, not knowing for another minute what I would go. streets of Gatchina when the persecution began." In fact, when General Krasnov's Cossacks were about to hand over Kerensky if the Bolsheviks promised to let them go to the Don, Kerensky had to change into sailor clothes. Despite the fact that the head of the interim government sported a short-sleeved sailor pea coat, brown boots, a tight peakless cap and huge glasses on his nose, none of the Cossacks recognized this strange character as the “chief”. By the way, General Krasnov subsequently spoke about the flight from Gatchina with “ridiculous disguise”, according to which, given by P.N. Milyukov, Kerensky left "in a sailor jacket and blue glasses."

The myth of "Kerensky's women's dress" was successfully picked up by both official propaganda and popular rumor. In 1938, the artist Grigory Shegal completed the painting "Kerensky's Flight from Gatchina", in which the main character is depicted in women's clothing; a reproduction of the painting was subsequently replicated by Soviet textbooks. Despite the fact that many years have passed since then, the image of Kerensky in a woman's dress still exists in the public mind.

The main weak point of the myth is the lack of a single version of events. His repeaters agree only that Kerensky has changed into a woman's dress. What kind of dress was it - a maid or a nurse; under what circumstances, during which particular stage of his flight the chairman of the Provisional Government could change clothes in this way, the authors of the myth do not give an unequivocal answer.

I remember how often in our prehistoric times many had to hear and read fables painted by Bolshevik historians about Alexander Kerensky, first of all, about his flight from Russia in a woman's dress after October. In fact, on June 20, 1918, Kerensky left his illegal apartment in Moscow at the Patriarch's Ponds, at the Yaroslavl railway station he boarded a train that was taking Serbian soldiers to Murmansk, and on the British cruiser Admiral Ob left Russia forever. Kerensky's passport was in the name of Milutin Markovich. (Yu. Bezelyansky. "Fiery Age", M., 2001, p. 307)

Kerensky suffered from the story of the "women's dress" until the last years of his life. In 1966, while talking with the Soviet journalist Genrikh Borovik, he emotionally declared: “Mr. Borovik, well, tell me there in Moscow - you have smart people! Well, I didn’t run away from the Winter Palace in a woman’s dress!” However ... I changed clothes, I did not change clothes - what's the difference now?

Semyon KIPERMAN, Weekly "Secret"

Like most politicians of that era, Kerensky made many mistakes. Like many at that time, he mainly hoped for the Constituent Assembly, which would solve all the basic questions of the state structure of Russia. Moreover, having become prime minister, he immediately did what the Cadets did not want to do so much - he accelerated the holding of elections to the Constituent Assembly (a representative body in Russia, elected in November 1917 and convened in January 1918 to determine the state structure of Russia). It was clear to the liberals that they would lose the elections, so they did not aspire to them. Thanks to Kerensky, the elections (the cleanest possible in conditions of war and political chaos) took place. Moreover, the impetus for the elections was set so strong that they took place even after the October coup. Only later, having consolidated their hold on power, did the Bolsheviks disperse the Constituent Assembly, but they did not dare to interfere with the elections. By the way, the Bolsheviks lost in those elections, lagging behind the Socialist-Revolutionaries by 16%. The results give historians an idea of ​​the real alignment of political forces in Russia at that time. For Lenin, of course, this did not matter. A man with a gun voted for him - the army, and in revolutionary times this is more important than the vote of a peasant or an intellectual ...

After the Bolsheviks came to power and defeated the units of General Krasnov who tried to resist them, Kerensky went to the Don. After wandering around Russia until June 1918, Alexander Kerensky emigrated to England through Murmansk. After trying his luck in London, Kerensky decided to go to Paris. In Paris, he was driven by French gendarmes, who even put at his disposal a personal car. On July 10, 1918, he met with French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, with whom he tried to negotiate an intervention to overthrow the Bolsheviks. But here, too, his mission ended in failure. The very man who helped him come to power, General Alekseev, put an end to Kerensky's political activities in Russia. “Tell the allies,” he wrote in July 1918 to one of his associates, “that I believe that Russia is mainly indebted to A.F. Kerensky for the destruction of its statehood ... European politicians looked at Kerensky not as the head of the future “government in exile”, but as an ordinary refugee. The name of Kerensky was so discredited in Russia that the All-Russian Directory, created in September 1918 in Ufa, declared that Kerensky was abroad as a private person and no official political missions were entrusted to him. The former head of the Provisional Government, devoid of influence, rejected by white émigré circles as a direct culprit for the final fall of the empire, and if rude and straightforward - a traitor - very soon became mired in squabbles and intrigues of the Russian emigration.

The poet Konstantin Balmont wrote of Kerensky thus:

Who were you? What have you become? Look at you
Read the obvious story.
Those who loved you despise you
Seeing a double-minded conscience.
You are not the will of the people, not a color, not a grain,
You are an ascended barren ear.
In the picture of time, you are just a blur,
Only a saying to a folk tale.

In Paris, Kerensky was listed as an employee of the émigré newspaper For Russia. For lack of funds, he was forced to spend the night right in the editorial office of the newspaper. For the next ten years, journalism and publicism became Kerensky's main source of income. From October 1922, his own newspaper Dni began to appear in Berlin, where Zinaida Gippius, Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Konstantin Balmont and Ivan Bunin published. On the pages of his publication, he systematically criticized the Bolsheviks. The only way to defeat the "red infection" was to unite all European democratic forces and the Russian emigration. But Kerensky failed to gather even all the Russian democratic forces within the framework of one organization. An attempt to organize a new Constituent Assembly in January 1921 ended in a major failure.

Kerensky's wife Olga Lvovna Baranovskaya met the October Revolution in Petrograd. There, on Degtyarnaya Street, she, along with her sons Oleg and Gleb, lived throughout the Civil War. Her children went to a country school. The ex-premier's wife herself constantly changed her place of work in order to have at least some kind of income for her continued existence. But Olga Lvovna managed to get Estonian documents somewhere and leave for her new homeland with her children. She finally reached London, but she no longer lived with her husband. The family broke up forever. His wife and both sons remained in England, subsequently receiving British citizenship. Kerensky, in exile, met Teresa Lydia (Nelle) Trittin, the daughter of the owner of a furniture factory from Australia. She was 28 years younger than Kerensky. Olga Lvovna did not give her husband a divorce for a long time, but by 1939 all issues were resolved and the “newlyweds” finally got married. The beginning of their married life was overshadowed by the outbreak of World War II.

in 1938

Alexander Kerensky objectively considered Hitler a product of the Versailles Peace Treaty. He, like many Western politicians, considered the Munich Agreement on the division of Czechoslovakia the only way to avoid a new world war. Kerensky publicly welcomed the attack on the USSR. With Germany, he linked the hope for the destruction of Soviet power and Bolshevism. But later, realizing the scale of the tragedy, realizing that it was not only about the destruction of the Bolshevik regime, but of the Slavs in general, he changed his views on the war, and was already entirely on the side of the Red Army and its allies. On June 28, 1941, Kerensky wrote in his diary: “After long and painful reflections, I came to the conclusion that we must now passionately desire only one thing - that the Red Army retain its combat capability until this autumn. And if it works, it will be a miracle!” Kerensky himself suffered from the actions of Hitler. Together with his wife, he had to leave German-occupied Paris. Nell, Kerensky's second wife, feared most of all that the Germans would imprison "Alex" "like Schuschnigg" (the Austrian Chancellor imprisoned after the Anschluss). In the UK, Kerensky was not allowed in because of his past public pro-German statements. As a result, he, along with Nell, traveled across Spain across the ocean to the USA. Since 1940, Kerensky lived in New York, taught Russian history for many years at New York and Stanford Universities, continuing to conduct active propaganda against the Soviet regime. In 1949, he spoke on the radio from London to the citizens of Russia, participated in the organization of the Union for the Liberation of Russia ...

After the end of World War II, he worked at the Hoover Institution for War, Revolution, and Peace. At this time, he wrote the three-volume "History of Russia", which covered the period from ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century. But this work did not interest any of the publishers. But the book "Russia at the historical turn", which was published in 1965, reached its readers. Although it was rather a tribute to the gray hairs of Kerensky, who was preparing to celebrate his 85th birthday. By the way, according to eyewitnesses, Alexander Fedorovich did not look decrepit at this age ...

By the way, at the end of his life he intended to return to Russia to die in his homeland. In 1968, the Central Committee of the CPSU received a message that Kerensky would like to come to the Soviet Union. He was given a condition: to recognize the laws of the Socialist Revolution. He was given a condition: “... to receive his (Kerensky's) statement: on the recognition of the laws of the socialist revolution; the correctness of the policy of the government of the USSR; recognition of the successes of the Soviet people. And Alexander Fedorovich betrayed his youthful ideals: he recognized that “the events that took place in October 1917 are the logical conclusion of the social development of Russia. He has no regrets about what happened the way it did." Reminds me of nothing (no one)? “I don’t regret anything,” Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev also said. However, the visit did not take place ...

At the very end of his life, the story with the dress continued - the ambulance, having taken the elderly Russian emigrant, for a long time could not find a place where to attach a low-income patient, since there were no empty places in the free clinic. When Kerensky woke up, he found, to his horror, that he had been placed on an empty bed ... in the gynecology department. And although the veteran of Russian politics was soon transferred from there, Kerensky considered this a humiliation no less than the myth of his escape in October 1917. Kerensky's relatives found funds for treatment in a more decent clinic by selling the politician's archive. However, the seriously ill old man decided that his continued existence did not make sense. He refused to eat, and when the doctors began to inject a nutrient solution through a needle, the patient began to pull it out.

Alexander Fedorovich died on June 11, 1970 at the age of 89 at his home in New York. Kerensky's reputation prevented him even after his death - the local Russian Orthodox Church refused his funeral and burial, considering that Kerensky brought too many troubles to Russia. The body was transferred to London, where his son lived, and buried in the non-denominational Putney Vale Cemetery. On June 18, 1970, the Parisian newspaper Russkaya Mysl published an obituary: “He aroused immoderate (albeit short-lived) admiration by some and equally immeasurable hatred by others. In all honesty, he deserved neither one nor the other ... "

Kerensky did not live to see his ninetieth birthday for less than a year. Not everyone can live such a long life. But here's what catches your eye - almost two-thirds of this life was life ... after death. Nina Berberova called Kerensky "a man who was killed in 1917". From a formal point of view, this is not entirely true. In emigration, Kerensky did not simply drag out an existence, living exclusively in the past. He fully devoted himself to today - he loved, intrigued, quarreled and put up. But all this was the life of an ordinary man in the street, one of the thousands of Russian refugees. If such a person is mentioned in the pages of history, then at best in small print in the notes. The same Kerensky, who was destined to get into the textbooks, really died at 36 years old. He ceased to be a man, but became a symbol: for some - a symbol of the collapse and humiliation of Russia, for others - the personification of a short moment of freedom that preceded terrible times.

In the summer of 1917, when Kerensky's popularity was at its peak, one of his secretaries was the young and little-known poet Leonid Kannegiser. A year later, his name will thunder throughout Russia - Kannegiser will make an attempt on the Chekist Moses Uritsky, will be captured and shot. As if anticipating this, in one of his poems he wrote:

And if, staggering in pain,
I will come to you, mother,
And I'll be in an abandoned field
To lie with a shot in the chest,
Then at the blessed entrance,
In a dying and joyful dream
I remember - Russia. Freedom.
Kerensky on a white horse.

Kerensky is inseparable from the "epoch of hopes", and the end of this epoch was the end of Kerensky himself. In his personality, in his rapid rise and fall, a crazy time was reflected, when words meant more than deeds, when a heady sense of freedom pushed people to terrible deeds, when selfishness was disguised as idealism, and idealism served as an excuse for murder and betrayal. Fate gave Kerensky the opportunity to perform on the most important stage, in front of the largest audience. He received both enthusiastic worship and fierce hatred in full measure. And only those few who retained the memory of the "epoch of hopes" did not desecrate its main character.

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About the last Prime Minister Provisional Government surprisingly little is known. To most, he seems to be a comical and almost random figure. Meanwhile Alexander Kerensky to power was a long and difficult path. And in the end he got his way. But he was not able to hold power in his hands, in fact, "giving" victory to his main opponents - the Bolsheviks.

The last Minister-Chairman of the Provisional Government Alexander Fedorovich Kerensky lived a very long, interesting and eventful life. He was born on April 22, 1881, on the same day as his irreconcilable political opponent - Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov-Lenin (only eleven years later than him), in the same city - Simbirsk.

He celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the October Revolution in exile and died in June 1970. This year, the whole world celebrated the centenary of the birth of the leader of Bolshevism. Such is the irony of history. However, we can say that Kerensky was still lucky - he did not die in the maelstrom of the Civil War. Although this option was quite possible.

Lawyer and revolutionary

First of all, it is worth refuting the most common legend about Kerensky, according to which he was a classmate of Volodya Ulyanov. Yes, the father of Alexander Kerensky really served as the director of the male gymnasium in the city of Simbirsk. But back in 1889, Fyodor Mikhailovich Kerensky was appointed chief inspector of public schools in the Turkestan region, and the whole family moved to Tashkent. There the childhood and youthful years of the future politician passed.

Alexander Kerensky graduated with a gold medal from the 1st Tashkent Men's Gymnasium and entered the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University. But soon he moved to the Faculty of Law. After graduating from university, he married and began working as an assistant lawyer.

In general, a typical beginning of a career as an ordinary clerk in an ordinary law firm. But Kerensky did not want to be a mere clerk. He dreamed of a brilliant political career. Under the conditions of the First Russian Revolution of 1905-1907, it could only be done by taking part in the revolutionary movement. Therefore, Kerensky joined the banned Socialist-Revolutionary Party, providing his apartment "for the needs of the party." The young lawyer quickly got used to the role of an underground revolutionary.

The first wife of Alexander Fedorovich with sons - Oleg and Gleb

Late in the evening of December 23, 1905, when the Kerenskys were decorating a Christmas tree for their eight-month-old son, a bell rang in the apartment. At the same time, someone knocked on the back door. The owner opened the door, and several gendarmes burst into the apartment.

“Azef betrayed me”

The uninvited guests were cloyingly polite, trying to be quiet so as not to wake the baby sleeping in the crib. The search lasted several hours. A certificate drawn up by the security department stated that during a search in the apartment of assistant barrister Alexander Kerensky, they found “a leather briefcase with hectographed statements on behalf of the Armed Uprising organization ... a cardboard box with hectograph paper, eight copies of the program of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, a notebook with "poems of criminal content" and a revolver with cartridges.

This turned out to be quite enough for detention on suspicion of anti-government activities. The captain of the gendarme showed Kerensky an arrest warrant and told him what things he could take with him.

Kerensky later recalled: “Dawn was approaching. No one said where we were going, but when we crossed the Neva and turned right behind the Liteiny Bridge, I saw the outline of the infamous "Crosses" in front of me.

St. Petersburg solitary prison, better known as "Crosses", was built in 1892. At that time, it did not yet have such a neglected appearance and in many respects was more comfortable than other Russian prisons. The standard loner in "Crosses", according to Kerensky's description, looked like this:

“The chamber had five and a half steps in length and three and a half in width, with a height of about a sazhen. Its plastered walls were painted with dark brown oil paint, as was the door. A square hole was made in the middle of the door, a quarter and a half - a window leaf, which leaned towards the corridor and was locked with a lock.

He later wrote of his content in The Crosses: "Strange as it may seem, I almost enjoyed my solitary confinement, which provided time for reflection, for analyzing a life lived, for reading books to my heart's content."

While at Kresty, Kerensky went on a hunger strike, as no charges were brought against him within a two-week period. He survived seven days, but during this time he became so weak that he could not get out of bed on his own. On the eighth day, guards appeared in the cell, helped the prisoner to get up and took him to the office of the head of the prison.

The assistant prosecutor was already here, who officially charged Kerensky with involvement in the preparation of an armed uprising and belonging to an organization that aims to overthrow the existing system. Without listening to the accusation to the end, the prisoner fainted from weakness, and he was carried in his arms to the cell.

However, despite the severity of the charges, on April 5, 1906, Kerensky was released, as an amnesty was declared in Russia. He and his family were sent to Tashkent under police supervision.

And one more curious detail. Twelve years later, when the archives of the Okhrana were opened, it turned out that Kerensky was arrested on the basis of a denunciation that his apartment was used by the Socialist-Revolutionary terrorists to prepare an assassination attempt on Nicholas II himself! And this information was provided to the gendarmes by none other than Yevno Azef, the most famous provocateur of the security department! Subsequently, Kerensky more than once flaunted the fact that Azef personally betrayed him to the Okhrana.

Talentless Democrat

Staying in prison did not become an obstacle to Kerensky's further professional and political activities. Moreover, this circumstance contributed to her, since he now had a reputation as a "martyr" and "prisoner of the autocracy." The path of a lawyer and public figure chosen by Kerensky successfully allowed him to combine "work for the revolution" with moving up the career ladder. He defended mostly "political" criminals.

For example, in 1910, Kerensky was the main defender at the trial of the Turkestan organization of socialist revolutionaries accused of anti-government armed actions. The process for the Social Revolutionaries ended relatively well, none of the defendants was sentenced to death. Around the same time, Kerensky became a Freemason. He later wrote: “I received an offer to become a Freemason in 1912, immediately after my election to the Fourth Duma. After serious consideration, I came to the conclusion that my own goals coincided with the goals of society, and I accepted this offer.

In March 1917, shortly after the February Revolution, Kerensky received the portfolio of Minister of Justice. At his first appearance at a new workplace, he showed his "democratism" by shaking hands with the porter. And he managed to insist that the Provisional Government adopt a law on a general political amnesty, as well as on halving the terms of imprisonment for persons held in custody on sentences of judicial places for general criminal offenses.

The result: about 90 thousand prisoners were released, among which were thousands of thieves and raiders, popularly nicknamed "Kerensky's chicks." Then, in March 1917, the Police Department was abolished. The country was immediately swept by a shaft of criminality. Criminals practically killed and robbed the townsfolk with impunity.

In this act, for the first time, Kerensky's "corporate style" appeared - to ruin any business that he began to manage.

Minister in Chief

Then, in May 1917, Kerensky became Minister of War and the Navy. He saw his role in the leadership of the Russian army and navy in going around the front-line units, speaking with pomp at numerous rallies. With many hours of speeches, he sought to inspire the troops, which is why he received the nickname “Chief Persuader” among the military. His leadership of the war ultimately led to the complete failure of the June offensive of the Russian army.

But instead of resigning, Kerensky received a new position - in the summer of 1917 he became Minister-Chairman of the Provisional Government, reaching the peak of his political career. Having concentrated the maximum power in his hands, Kerensky did not acquire much fame.

from how the well-known English writer and part-time MI-b employee Somerset Maugham described his activities: “The situation in Russia worsened every day ... and he removed all the ministers, as soon as he noticed in them abilities that threatened to undermine his own prestige. He made speeches. He made endless speeches. There was a threat of a German attack on Petrograd. Kerensky made speeches. Food shortages were getting worse, winter was approaching, there was no fuel. Kerensky made speeches. Behind the scenes, the Bolsheviks were active, Lenin was hiding in Petrograd ... He made speeches ...

After the failure of the Kornilov rebellion, when Kerensky essentially betrayed General Kornilov, the prime minister lost the trust of the army. He actually opened the way to power for the Bolsheviks, armed the Red Guard, and gave the go-ahead to the separatists, who, taking advantage of the anarchy in the country, began a "parade of sovereignties." By the autumn of 1917, Kerensky ensured that no one came to his aid when the Bolsheviks decided to take power in the country into their own hands. None of the military units in Petrograd came to the defense of the Provisional Government headed by him.

As a result, in October 1917, determined Bolsheviks, led by his countryman Vladimir Lenin, seized power in the country.

Gatchina prisoner

On the eve of the capture of the Winter Palace by the Bolsheviks, Kerensky fled Petrograd in an American embassy car. He subjugated the Cossack units commanded by General Krasnov, and with them tried to regain the lost power. However, his troops were defeated on the outskirts of Petrograd and retreated to Gatchina.

Then the Bolshevik agitators managed to propagate the Cossacks who fought on the side of Kerensky and persuade them to extradite the former head of the Provisional Government. For Kerensky, this meant certain death, since the Baltic sailors and soldiers of the Petrograd garrison hated him fiercely. They would have torn to pieces the former minister-chairman on the spot.

With great difficulty, the recent leader of the country managed to escape from arrest and leave the Gatchina Palace. According to some reports, he took advantage of an old underground passage, according to others, he changed into a marine uniform and in this form proceeded past the guards. The legends about dressing up in a woman's dress, of course, are nothing more than an anecdote.

Rumors that he fled from the Bolsheviks in a woman's dress tormented and insulted Kerensky for the rest of his life. Painting by Grigory Shegal, 1937

For some time, the former prime minister was hiding in underground SR apartments. In June 1918, under the guise of a Serbian officer, Kerensky, accompanied by British intelligence agent Sidney Reilly, traveled through northern Russia outside the former Russian Empire. He lived in France.

When Hitler occupied France in 1940, Kerensky fled to the United States. He died in 1970 in New York from cancer. The local Russian and Serbian Orthodox churches refused to bury him, considering him responsible for the fall of Russia. Kerensky's body was transferred to London, where his son lived, and buried in a cemetery that did not belong to any religious denomination.

It is said that at the end of his life, Alexander Fedorovich said in an interview with Soviet international journalist Genrikh Borovik: “Do you know who I would shoot if I could go back to 1917? Himself, Kerensky ... "

What this mysterious phrase meant, no one can understand so far.

Assessment of contemporaries

One of the leaders of the Cadet Party, Ivan Kutorga, in his book Orators and the Masses, characterizes Kerensky as follows:

“... Kerensky was the true personification of February with all its upsurge, impulse, good intentions, with all its doom and frequent political childish absurdity and state crime. The hatred of Kerensky personally is explained, in my opinion, not only by his indisputably huge political mistakes, not only by the fact that “Kerensky” (a word that has become common in all European languages) failed to offer serious resistance to Bolshevism, but, on the contrary, cleared the ground for it but also by other, broader and more general reasons.

Nikolai SERGEEV