Born to a rich
Tereshchenko family of a sugar factory owners, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and art patrons of
Ivan Nikolaevich (1854–1903) and
Elizabeth Mikhailovna. Mikhail had a younger brother Mykola (1894–?). His uncle Aleksandr Tereshchenko (1856–1911) worked in
Saint-Petersburg. Mikhail Tereshchenko graduated from
Kiev University and
Leipzig University. In 1910, he joined the
Freemasonry and became one of the five prominent Masons in
Russia (the other four being
Aleksandr Konovalov,
Alexander Kerensky,
Nikolai Nekrasov, and
Ivan Yefremov). Mikhail Tereshchenko was a member of the Fourth
State Duma (he shared the views of the
Russian Progressive Party). In 1912–1914, Tereshchenko was the owner of a private
publishing house Sirin in
St Petersburg, which published
Andrey Bely's pioneering novel
Petersburg in three installments in 1913–1914. During
World War I, he took part in organizing the
Red Cross hospitals. In 1915–1917, Mikhail Tereshchenko was the chairman of the
Military Industry Committee of the Kiev district and deputy chairman of the All-Russian Military Industry Committee. After the
February Revolution of 1917, Mikhail Tereshchenko was appointed Minister of Finance of the
Provisional Kerensky Government. In April 1917, Tereshchenko (together with Kerensky and Nekrasov) was actively seeking to create a governmental interparty coalition with the Socialists. On 5 May 1917, he was appointed minister of foreign affairs after the resignation of
Pavel Milyukov. Tereshchenko continued his foreign policy course, which led to his conflict with
Minister of War Alexander Verkhovsky, who had considered Russia to be unable to continue the war. He was a member of the
Directorate in September 1917. Tereshchenko was known to support the Ukrainian government that led to the establishment and recognition of the
General Secretariat in Ukraine 1917. On the night of 26 October, Mikhail Tereshchenko was arrested in the
Winter Palace with other ministers of the Provisional Government and placed into the
Peter and Paul Fortress while his office was temporarily held by
Anatoly Neratov. In the spring of 1918, Tereshchenko escaped from prison and fled to
Norway with the
Tereshchenko Blue Diamond. Tereshchenko was one of the supporters of
allied intervention in
Soviet Russia. In 1920s and 1930s, he was engaged in financial activities in
France and
Madagascar. ==Personal life==