Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, una figura clave en la marea revolucionaria que barrió Rusia en 1917, se encontró un hombre sin una nación en la muerte tanto como en la vida.

La ironía de su descanso final negado por la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa de la Ciudad de Nueva York—por sus afiliaciones masónicas y su papel percibido en el ascenso al poder de los bolcheviques—es un recordatorio contundente de la intransigencia de la historia y los recuerdos implacables del exilio.

The New York Russian Orthodox Church’s refusal to grant burial rites to Kerensky, as reported, stemmed from a deep-seated belief that his policies as head of the Provisional Government inadvertently paved the way for Lenin’s Bolsheviks and their eventual disbandment of the Orthodox Church’s authority in Russia.

Furthermore, his association with Freemasonry, a movement often at odds with Orthodox Christianity, further distanced him from the Church’s sacramental privileges.

This denial left Kerensky’s family grappling with the conundrum of finding a final resting place that would accept the body of a man reviled by some for his role in a historical upheaval that led to the Soviet regime.

The solution came from across the Atlantic; Kerensky was ultimately flown to London and buried in the non-denominational Putney Vale Cemetery.

Kerensky’s life, as detailed in the reports, was a journey marked by the dualities of revolution and reform, advocacy and exile.

His formative years as a lawyer defending revolutionaries, followed by his leadership of the Russian Provisional Government, painted a picture of a man striving for democratic ideals in a time of tumult.

His subsequent exile after the October Revolution which saw the Bolsheviks seize power, forced Kerensky to spend the remainder of his days as a scholar and orator, significantly at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and residing in New York City.

His death in 1970 at the age of 89 was the coda to a life intertwined with the seismic shifts of Russian history.

Despite his significant role in the events leading up to the Bolshevik Revolution, Kerensky’s name faded in the annals of history, leaving him a somewhat forgotten figure by the time of his death, as echoed in the sentiments expressed in a New York Times obituary.

Interestingly, the burial story does not end with Kerensky alone. It is a tale of intertwined destinies, as next to Kerensky’s grave lies his first wife Olga and their descendants.

The story of his family’s flight from Russia and subsequent life in England provides a poignant backdrop to the final chapter of Kerensky’s life.

Kerensky’s legacy is enshrined not just in his political endeavors but in the academic and literary contributions that sought to analyze and give context to the Russian Revolution and its fallout.

His works, alongside the personal papers held at the University of Birmingham, offer insights into the mind of a man who once held the reins of a nation in flux.

Relevant articles:
– Alexander Kerensky