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Birthday anniversary of Vladimir N. Kokovtsov, Russian statesman, count, Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire
6 (18) April 1853 in the village of Gorno-Pokrovskoye, Bogorovich uyezd, Novgorod province, in the family of Lieutenant Colonel of Railway Engineers Corps was born Vladimir N. Kokovtsov, Russian statesman, Count (from 1914), Actual Privy Counsellor (1905). V. N. Kokovtsov served as a Senator (1900), the Secretary of State (1902-1904), a member of the State Council (1905-1917), Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire (1904-1914).
In 1872 Kokovtsov graduated from the Imperial Alexander Lyceum with a grand gold medal. From 1873, he had been serving in the Ministry of Justice. In 1882 Vladimir was Assistant Chief of the General prison administration and actively participated in the reform of the agency. In 1890 he became assistant to Secretary of State of the State Council; from 1891 - Secretary of State for the Department of State Economy. From 1895 Kokovtsev had been Deputy Secretary of State, and a year later - Deputy Minister of Finance S. Yu. Vitte. In this position Kokovtsov acquired "a reputation for miserly and uncompromising" "guardian” of public funds.
In 1900 Kokovtsov was appointed Senator while retaining all his positions; two years later he became Secretary of State, and then was appointed Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire, and held that post until 1914, with a recess in 1905-1906 , when the Government was headed by S. Vitte .
At the heart of fiscal policy of Kokovtsov lay understanding of the need to maintain a stable exchange rate of ruble, which was undermined by the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905 and the Russian Revolution, 1905-1907. Stabilization of the Russian financial system was to provide the conditions for economic growth. This involved a strong saving of public funds, the accumulation of gold and currency reserves to maintain a balance of gold and credit circulation in Russia. The Minister believed that his main task was to preserve the Russian financial system based on a gold monetary circulation. He believed that the gold reserve was to serve as the basis for International Settlements; serve as a reserve for emergency payments of deposits of the population or due to war and, finally, be the reserve fund for the internal gold circulation which periodically expanded or decreased. The minister also believed that careful tax increase is possible only as a secondary measure to cover government spending, and priority should be given to the natural growth of tax revenues from the development of agriculture, industry and commerce. Kokovtsov was a supporter of effort to attract foreign capital into the Russian industry.
In 1911-1914 Minister of Finance was at the same time the chairman of the Council of Ministers. In this role, he had been repeatedly accused by right-wing politicians of having allowed the State Duma "to interfere in all affairs of state" and not influencing the press, which as a result ceased to account the power. Criticism of Kokovtsov had led to his dismissal from office of the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
After the February Revolution of 1917 Kokovtsov was arrested but soon released. From May 1917 he had lived in his own estate in the province of Novgorod, and in late October, traveled to Kislovodsk. In March 1918 he was elected chairman of the Union of protection of Russian interests in Germany, formed under the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty (1918). However, upon arrival to Petrograd in July 1918, he again suffered brief arrest.
In November 1918 Kokovtsov emigrated and lived in London, and from 1919 - in Paris. From 1920 he had served as chairman of Lyceum Association in France; from 1929 - Chairman of the Committee of Russian public organizations.
Vladimir Kokovtsov died in 1943 in France and was buried in the cemetery of Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris.
Lit: Векшина Ю. А. Граф В. Н. Коковцов – государственный деятель Российской империи. СПб., 2008; Зайцев М. В. Государственная деятельность В. Н. Коковцова: 1896-1914 гг.: дис. ... к. и. н. Саратов, 2003; Коковцов В. Н. Из моего прошлого: Воспоминания. 1911-1919. М., 1991; Коковцов В. Н. Поступление обыкновенных государственных доходов за 5-летие 1887-1891 гг. в сравнении со сметными, за то же время назначенными. СПб., 1893; Коковцов В. Н., Рухлова С. В. Систематический сборник узаконений и распоряжений по тюремной части. СПб., 1894; Кривошеин К. А. А. В. Кривошеин и В. Н. Коковцов // Возрождение. 1972. № 239; Синегубов С. Н. В. Н. Коковцов (1853-1943) // История государства Российского: Жизнеописания. XX век. М., 1999. Кн. 1; Соколова Е. А. Эволюция общественно-политических взглядов В. Н. Коковцова (1866-1943 гг.). Воронеж, 2009; Соловьёва А. Д. Горемыкин И. Л. и Коковцов В. Н. – российские премьеры: дис. ... к. и. н. Самара, 2005.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Председатель Совета министров В. Н. Коковцев [Изоматериал] : [фотография]. [19--];
Kokovtzoff W.-N. La verite sur la tragedie d'Ekaterinbourg. Paris, 1922.