Russia
Alexander Kerensky
1881–1970 Minister of War, then Prime Minister of the Provisional Government
A lawyer and Duma deputy who had defended revolutionaries, Kerensky was the only socialist in the first Provisional Government and the one figure who belonged to both the Government and the Soviet. A mesmerizing speaker, he became minister of war in May and prime minister in July. He launched the June offensive (July by the Western calendar), survived the July Days, broke with Kornilov and lost the confidence of the army and the left. After the Bolshevik coup he escaped abroad, living in Paris and then New York, where he taught and wrote for decades, always defending his role. He died in 1970, outliving almost all the actors in the revolution, including those who vilified him.