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Birthday anniversary of Alexander Guchkov, Russian public and political figure
14 (26) October 1862, in Moscow, into a merchant family, was born Alexander I. Guchkov, public and political figure, entrepreneur, leader of the Union of October 17; chairman of the Third State Duma (1910-1911), chairman of the Central Military and Industry Committee of the Russian Empire (1915-1917), Military and Marine Minister of the Provisional government (1917).
In 1881 Guchkov graduated with a gold medal from the 2nd Moscow gymnasium, one of the largest and most prestigious secondary schools in the end of 19th century. In 1885 he finished the History & Philology Department of Moscow University and continued his education in Berlin and Heidelberg Universities. As a student, Guchkov attended a circle of young historians, lawyers and economists where future famous scholars and political figures such as P. N. Milyukov, A. A. Kizevetter, A. A. Manuylov presented their papers.
In 1888 Guchkov was elected a honorary Justice of the Peace in Moscow. In early 1890 he started working for the governor of Nizhny Novgorod, then – in Moscow municipal administration; from 1893 to 1897 he had been a member of Moscow municipality. He contributed a lot to the completion of construction of the water supply and sewage in Mytishchi. For his distinguished services in 1894 Guchkov was awarded with the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class.
In 1895-1896 Guchkov visited the Ottoman Empire, crossed the Tibet. The next three years he served as a junior officer in a Cossack squadron guarding the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria. During this time Guchkov traveled in China, Mongolia and Middle Asia. In 1899 – 1902 he participated in the Second Anglo-Boer War as a volunteer, was wounded and taken prisoner by Englishmen. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 he was at the front as a representative of the Moscow State Duma and the Committee of the Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, and a deputy of the president of the Russian Society of the Red Cross under the Manchurian Army.
In 1905 Guchkov participated in Zemstvo and City congresses, in 1906 contributed to the creation of the Union of October 17, having become the chairman of the Central Committee of the party and one of the ideologists of the union. The union leader was proponent of constitutional monarchy with a strong central executive power and recognition of rights of particular peoples for cultural autonomy. He believed it necessary to avoid radical political changes: in his opinion it threatened historical evolution of the country and could destroy Russian statehood.
In 1907 Guchkov was elected a deputy of the Third State Duma where he headed the October 17 group and the Commission on Defence. He repeatedly made addresses in Duma criticizing the high military command of Russia.
When the First World War began Guchkov, as an authorized person of the Russian Society of the Red Cross, engaged in arrangement of hospitals and provision of medicaments, equipment and personnel for them; he often went to the front. Guchkov was one of the founders and the chairman of the Central Military and Industry Committee, a member of the Special Council for the state defence. In September 1915 he was elected a member of the State Council from the curia of commerce and industry.
2 (15) March 1917 Guchkov, as a representative of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, together with deputy V. V. Shulgin accepted the abdication of Emperor Nikolai II. As a member of the Provisional Government, Guchkov became minister of defense. He abolished the use of titles in the army, abrogate national, religious and estates restrictions for the promotion to officers. He let service men be members of political associations. Being supporter of the war till final victory, Guchkov made a great effort to maintain discipline in the army and mobilize military industry. However, his aspirations were not supported by the cabinet, so after the “April crisis” of the government Guchkov resigned.
In May 1917 Guchkov headed the “Society of Russian Economical Revival”, in August became a member of the State meeting, in September – a member of the Provisional Council of the Russian Republic (Preparliament).
During the Civil War in Russia Guchkov, being an authorized person of the delegation of the Russian Society of the Red Cross under the Army of Volunteers, engaged in maintenance of its material and technical supply. In January 1919, on request of General A. I. Denikin, Guchkov went to Paris leading a special mission charged with conducting talks with governments of the Western Europe states regarding a support for the White Army. In August 1920 Guchkov came to Crimea to carry on negotiations with Lieutenant General P. N. Wrangel.
In emigration the politician lived in Berlin, then in Paris. From 1921 he had been the chairman of the Russian Parliament Committee in Paris, and a member of the National Committee; in 1922-1923 he was one of the initiators of a military coup in Bulgaria where the units of the Russian Army played the key role. Abroad Gorchakov attended many Russian congresses, worked in the Chief Directorate of the Russian Society of the Red Cross abroad. In early 1930s Guchkov coordinated the arrangement of support for starving population in the USSR.
In early 1935 Guchkov’s health became worse but he continued to work: wrote memoirs which were never completed.
Alexander I. Guchkov died February 14, 1936 in Paris. The funeral service was attended by all eminent representatives of the Russian emigrants. His body was cremated, and the urn was placed into a columbarium at Père Lachaise Cemetery.
Lit.: А. И. Гучков в Третьей государственной думе (1907—1912 гг.): Сб. речей. Александр Иванович Гучков рассказывает..: Беседы А. И. Гучкова с Н. А. Базили (история стенограмм) // Вопросы истории. № 7—11, 1991; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://www.rummuseum.ru/portal/node/1311; Боханов А. Н. Александр Иванович Гучков //Исторические силуэты. М., 1991; Гучков А. И. «Корабль потерял свой курс»: Политические речи 1912—1913 гг. М., 1991; Он же. Речи по вопросам государственной обороны и об общей политике: 1908—1917 г. Пг., 1917; Керенский А. Ф. А. И. Гучков // Современные записки. 1936. № 60; Олейников Д. Александр Иванович Гучков // Российский либерализм: идеи и люди. М., 2007. С. 539—549; Сенин А. С. Александр Иванович Гучков. М., 1996.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: