Georgy Lvov

Born in Dresden in 1861 to the Lvov princely family, he first gained national attention organizing relief work during the Russo-Japanese War in the Russian Far East. Elected to the First Duma in 1906 as a Constitutional Democrat, he spent a decade in reformist politics before the February Revolution swept away the monarchy in 1917. On 15 March he became head of the Provisional Government, Russia's de facto leader, and pushed through a wave of liberal reforms. Political crises mounted through the spring, and by July the government couldn't hold. He resigned on 20 July and handed power to his war minister, Alexander Kerensky. The October Revolution brought the Bolsheviks; they arrested him, but he escaped through the United States to France. He died in Paris in 1925.