Aleksandr Ivanovich Guchkov

Guchkov, Aleksandr Ivanovich (əlyĭksän'dər ēvä'nəvĭch gʊch'kôf), 1862-1936, Russian political leader. A prominent businessman, during the 1905 revolution he helped found the Octobrist party, which was based on acceptance of Czar Nicholas II's October Manifesto; the manifesto in effect made Russia a constitutional monarchy. Guchkov led the Octobrists in the third duma (1907-12) but resigned in 1911 in protest against the Czar's usurpation of the Duma's authority. During World War I he served as chairman of the central war industries committee. Prior to the overthrow of the autocracy in Mar., 1917, he urged Nicholas's abdication in favor of his son. In the provisional government set up after the Russian Revolution he served briefly as minister of defense. Following the Bolshevik seizure of power, Guchkov emigrated to France.