in 1911, while also maintaining his post as Minister of Finance, and held both offices until his retirement in 1914. Kokovtsov opposed to the appointment of Alexei Khvostov. In 1912 Kokovtsov asked the Tsar to authorize Grigori Rasputin's exile to Tobolsk. Nicholas refused: "I know Rasputin too well to believe all the tittle-tattle about him." Kokovtsov had offered Rasputin a substantial amount of money to leave for Siberia and ordered the newspapers not to mention his name in connection with the Empress. The Tsar dismissed Kokovtsov on 29 January 1914 for a "lack of control over the press". In domestic policy, Kokovtsov's time as Prime Minister saw the passage of two laws in 1912 that provided accident and sickness insurance to about 20% of workers. Retirement and later life Upon retiring, Kokovstov was invested with the title and rank of count. After the February Revolution, he moved to Kislovodsk. After the October Revolution of 1917, he was investigated by the Cheka but escaped with his family to Finland and eventually settled in Paris. He was a leading figure in Russian émigré society until his death on 29 January 1943. In 1933, he published his memoirs, which describe his childhood and education as well as his early years in government service from 1903 to 1919. Relationship with Sergei Witte Witte states in his autobiography that while Kokovtsov was serving as one of his assistants, he was left alone to do the business he knew so well and that Kokovtsov was the source of several small but meaningful reforms in the finances of the Russian Empire. Much was made of Kokovtsov's differences with Witte which resulted in the two refusing to work with one another after 1905–06. The apparent cause of these differences were conflicts over courses of action in the preparation for peace talks with Japan, following the Russo-Japanese War; the changing of the government structure in the wake of widespread political unrest; Witte's opposition to several of Kokovtsov's policies as Minister of Finance during the Russo-Japanese War, and in an important loan negotiation that occurred in 1905–06. The differences were made public in the Council of State when one or the other would make comments in opposition to the other's viewpoint on various issues. He was awarded Order of the White Eagle, Order of Prince Danilo I. and the Grandcross of Royal Swedish Order of the Pole Star (1897). References