Georgy Lvov
Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov[a] (2 November [O.S. 21 October] 1861 – 7/8 March 1925) was a Russian aristocrat, statesman and the first prime minister of the Russian Republic from 15 March to 20 July 1917. As Russia's de facto head of state, he led the Provisional Government after the February Revolution led to the abolition of the Russian monarchy.
In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Yevgenyevich and the family name is Lvov.
Georgy Lvov
Nikolai Golitsyn
(As Prime Minister of Russia)
Nicholas II
(As Emperor of Russia)
Himself
Vacant
Constitutional Democratic (1905 – 1911)
Progressive (since 1911)
Politician
A member of the Lvov princely family, Lvov was born in Dresden, Germany, and gained national fame for his relief work in the Russian Far East during the Russo-Japanese War. In 1906, he was elected to the First Duma as a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party. After the February Revolution, Lvov was made head of the Provisional Government and oversaw a number of liberal reforms. A series of political crises ultimately brought down his government, and in July 1917 he resigned as prime minister and was succeeded by his war minister, Alexander Kerensky. After the October Revolution, Lvov was arrested by the Bolsheviks, but later escaped to France by way of the United States. He settled in Paris and died in 1925.
Early life and education[edit]
Georgy Lvov was born on 2 November 1861[1] (21 October, Old Style, Julian calendar) in Dresden, Saxony, then part of the German Confederation.[2] The Lvov princely family were among the oldest Russian noble families, tracing their roots from the sovereign Rurik dynasty princes of Yaroslavl.[3] His father was a reform-minded liberal who spent almost all his income on his children's education; Lvov and his five brothers were sent off to the most prestigious Moscow schools. Throughout his youth, Georgy lived with his family at their ancestral home at Popovka in Tula Governorate, less than 120 miles (190 km) away from Moscow and only a few miles away from Yasnaya Polyana, the home of writer Leo Tolstoy. The Lvovs counted Tolstoy as one of their closest friends.[4]
By the standards of the Russian noble class, the Lvovs lived a frugal lifestyle. Luxuries were minimal and their estate was considered small at only 1,000 acres (400 ha).[4] The Lvovs generated massive debts in excess of around 150,000 roubles by the end of the 1870s. With the abolition of serfdom, they fell into the category of landowners who did not have the means to live in the manner to which many other Russian nobles had been accustomed. In order to pay off their arrears, the family were forced to sell their other landed estates, a brewery in Bryansk, and their flat in Moscow.[4] Despite this, they remained heavily in debt and were faced with the prospect of either having to sell Popovka or convert it into a profitable farm. The Lvovs opted for the latter, with Georgy later recalling: "The idea of giving up the home of our ancestors was unthinkable".[5] The farm at Popovka had become so dilapidated after decades of neglect that it required strenuous work to restore it. By this time his father was too ill to work, leaving Georgy's four older brothers and only sister to take charge of the farm while he studied law at the University of Moscow. The family laid off all their servants and lived like peasants ― Lvov would later recall this time as a source of his own emancipation: "It separated us from the upper crust and made us democratic". As a result of their labour, all debts were repaid by the late 1880s and their ancestral home saved.[5]
In 1899, Prince Lvov married a Hungarian-born portrait painter Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy in Prague; they were quickly divorced, though Vilma continued to style herself the "Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy" using her artist name with the authorization of Prince Lvov. The prince also continued to provide her with a permanent annual allowance.
Lvov was also married to Countess Julia Alexeievna Bobrinskaya (1867–1903), great-great-granddaughter of Grigory Orlov and Catherine the Great, without issue. They met whilst Lvov was working in a soup kitchen in Tambov Governorate during the Russian famine of 1891–1892.[6]
February Revolution[edit]
On 14 January O.S. (27 January N.S.) Lvov proposed to Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich that he should take control of the country. At the end of January negotiations took place between the Allied powers in Petrograd; unofficially they sought to clarify the internal situation in Russia.[9]
Memorials[edit]
There is a memorial to Prince Lvov in Aleksin as well as a small exhibition on him in the town museum. In Popovka there is another memorial opposite his local church and a plaque on the wall of the local school he founded. He died in Boulogne-sur-Seine and is buried in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery in France.
A relative of his by the name of Prince Andre Nikita Lwoff (1901–1933), variously described as either Georgy Lvov's son or nephew, is buried in the old cemetery in Menton, France.
Further reading[edit]
Lvov wrote an autobiography, 'Воспоминания' ("Memories"), while in exile and a biography was also written in 1932 by Tikhon Polner entitled 'Жизненный путь князя Георгія Евгеніевича Львова. Личность. Взгляды. Условія дѣятельности' ("The Life Course of Prince Georgy Yevgenievich Lvov. Personality. Views. Conditions of Activity"). Neither has been translated but both have been reprinted and are still available in Russian.