Rodzianko was born in the village of . He came from an old and rich noble family of Ukrainian origin and was educated at the
Corps des Pages. From 1877 until 1882 he served in
Her Majesty's Regiment of the Cavalry of the Guard. In 1884 Rodzianko married
Anna Nikolaevna Galitzine (1859–1929); the couple had three children. In 1885 he retired and lived on his estate in the
Novgorod Oblast. He was appointed as
Marshall of the Gentry. Rodzianko served as
Kammerherr in 1899. In 1900 he was elected in
Yekaterinoslav Governorate. From 1903 until 1905 he was editor of a newspaper, called "Herald Katerynoslav zemstvos." In 1906 he was elected for the
Zemstvo as
Provincial Zemstvo Executive. In 1905 Rodzianko had been one of the founders and leaders of the
Octobrist party. He became a deputy in the
Third Duma (1907), vice-president in 1909 and was elected Chairman on 22 March 1911 after the resignation of
Aleksandr Guchkov, who was hated by the court as a "Young Turk." He then continued as the Chairman of the Fourth Duma from 15 November 1912 until its dissolution on 6 October 1917 (before the
October Revolution).
Chairman of the Fourth Duma Rodzianko thought the meeting between
Grigory Rasputin and Emperor
Nicholas II "marked the beginning of the decay of the Russian society and the loss of prestige of the throne and of the tsar himself." He gathered information on Rasputin and handed it to the Emperor. Rodzianko, who asked Rasputin to leave the capital, and
Theofan of Poltava held Rasputin to be a
Khlyst. "The emperor took no account of the report which nevertheless proved undoubtedly that Rasputin was not the holy man he claimed to be." On 21 February 1913, Rodzianko dismissed Rasputin from the
Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan in Saint Petersburg shortly before the celebration of the tercentenary of Romanov rule over Russia. He had established himself in front of the seats which Rodzianko, after considerable difficulty, had secured for the Duma. According to
Orlando Figes, "the members were to be seated at the back, far behind the places reserved for the state councilors and senators. This, he complained to the master of ceremonies, was 'not following the dignity' of the parliament." Rasputin considered Rodzianko a personal enemy. "Rodzianko told the Tsar in March 1913: 'A war will be joyfully welcomed and it will raise the government's prestige.'" In April 1915, Rodzianko visited the Russian troops occupying
Austrian Galicia. On 11 August 1915, the day the Emperor announced he would take the Supreme Command from
Grand Duke Nicholas, according to M. Nelipa, Rodzianko suffered a heart attack. Somehow, Rodzianko participated in the creation of the
Progressive Bloc. For Rodzianko,
Alexei Khvostov had broken his neck in combating the Rasputin clique and Prime Minister
Boris Stürmer would become a dictator with full powers early in 1916. In the summer of 1916, there was another crisis in the government: Rodzianko proposed
Alexander Protopopov to the Emperor and Protopopov hinted at Rodzianko as Premier and Foreign Minister. But after Protopopov had become Minister of the Interior and had expressed admiration for the ruling family, the Duma attacked him fiercely and called at once for his dismissal. Rodzianko demanded that the Empress be internally exiled to the Crimea until the end of the war. The
Empress demanded in response that Rodzianko's court rank be taken from him; she referred to him in her letters as a scoundrel.
Zinaida Yusupova, Alexandra's sister
Elisabeth,
Grand Duchess Victoria, and the
Emperor's own mother tried to influence the Emperor or his stubborn wife to remove Rasputin, but without success. Rodzianko told Nicholas the truth, after being urged by the Emperor's mother and sisters. To him, the Empress Alexandra clearly should not have been allowed to interfere in state affairs until the end of the war; she treated her husband as if he were a little boy, quite incapable of taking care of himself. On 7 January 1917, Rodzianko told the Tsar in regard to his government, "All the best men have been removed or have retired. There remain [only] those of ill repute."
February Revolution Mikhail Rodzianko was one of the key politicians during the Russian
February Revolution. On 26 February, Rodzianko urged the Tsar to promulgate reforms in a telegram. "Serious situation in the capital, where anarchy reigns. General discontent was increasing. In the streets, uninterrupted firing, and one part of the troops is firing on the other. It is necessary to nominate without delay a person possessing the confidence of the people and who would form a new Government. To wait is impossible." Nicholas refused to reply, instead he ordered the dissolution of the Duma and a military crackdown and in a conversation with Count
Vladimir Freedericksz referred to Rodzianko, not very respectfully, as "fat-bellied Rodzianko". On 27 February he retired as Captain of the Guards. On 28 February he presided over the
Provisional Committee of the State Duma and advised the local governments to stay calm. On 1 March the power came entirely in the hands of the
Petrograd Soviet. On that day Rodzianko assured general
Mikhail Alekseyev that the Duma leaders, rather than the Soviet ones, would form the new government in Petrograd. Rodzianko discussed the situation with General
Nikolai Ruzsky, who had the Imperial train stopped in
Pskov. Nicholas II had no other choice than to follow Rodzianko's advice. On 2 March 1917, a
Russian Provisional Government was formed, which included members of the
Social Revolutionary Party. Rodzianko appointed General
Lavr Kornilov as head over the troops in Petrograd. In the evening Rodzianko led abdication talks with the Tsar, to satisfy the crowds. Early in the morning of 2 March (
Old Style) or 15 March (
New Style), the Tsar stepped down in favor of his son Alexei. As the
tsesarevich suffered from an incurable disease,
hemophilia B, his life expectations were short. Then
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia came into the picture as the new heir to the throne, but was regarded as unacceptable. With Prince Lvov,
Alexander Kerensky and
Pavel Miliukov, Rodzianko visited Grand Duke Michael. The Grand Duke declined the crown after a long talk with Rodzianko. Rodzianko remained Prime Minister just for a few days. He succeeded in publishing an order for the immediate return of the soldiers to their barracks and to subordinate to their officers. To them Rodzianko was unacceptable as prime minister and Prince
Georgi Lvov, a member of the
Constitutional Democratic Party, became his successor.
Later years Together with
Aleksandr Guchkov he founded a liberal republican party in the summer of 1917. After the
October Revolution or shortly after the seizure of power by
Lenin, he left Petrograd and moved to
Rostov-on-Don and
Crimea. Rodzianko supported
Anton Denikin and
Pyotr Wrangel but when it became clear the
White Army had lost, he emigrated to
Serbia in 1920. There he wrote his memoirs ''The Reign of Rasputin: an Empire's Collapse.'' According to
Bernard Pares he died in great poverty. His remains were moved to the
Belgrade New Cemetery in May 1924. ==References==