1-157-425 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Alexander Feodorovich Kerensky, Russian revolutionary politician, as Minister for War, reviewing the troops, 1917. Kerensky (1881-1970) was one of the most prominent leaders of the February Revolution in Russia in 1917, which led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. In the Provisional Government established after the revolution, he held the posts of Minister for Justice, then Minister for War, and, from July, Prime Minister. After a failed coup attempt led by General Kornilov in August, he also appointed himself commander-in-chief. The Provisional Government was unstable however, and Kerensky's refusal to pull Russia out of the First World War and his distribution of weapons to the Petrograd workers during Kornilov's coup brought about its downfall. The October Revolution brought the Bolsheviks to power and Kerensky was forced to flee into exile. He lived in France until 1940, from where he was forced to flee again, to the USA, when the Germans invaded in World War II.