Prince Nikolai Dmitriyevich Golitsyn (; 12 April 1850 – 2 July 1925) was a Russian aristocrat, monarchist and the last prime minister of Imperial Russia. He was in office from 29 December 1916 (O.S.) or 9 January 1917 (N.S.) until his government resigned after the outbreak of the February Revolution. Biography Golitsyn was born in Porechye, a village in the Moscow Governorate near Mozhaisk, into the noble Golitsyn family. His father was Dmitry Borisovich Golitsyn (1803–1864) who came from Bolshiye Vyazyomy, the family estate. Nikolai passed his childhood in the Dorogobuzhsky District. He graduated from the Imperial Alexander Lyceum in 1871 and entered the Ministry of the Interior, where he was appointed to the Łomża Governorate (Congress Poland). He became vice-governor of Archangelsk (1879); vice-director of the Economics Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (1884); Governor of the guberniyas of Arkhangelsk (1885), Kaluga (1893), and Tver (1897). He was appointed senator in 1903. As a plenipotentiary of the Red Cross in Turgay and Uralskaya Oblasts and Saratov Governorate he organized aid for famine-stricken areas (1907–1908). He was a member of the State Council (1912) and chairman of the commission to render assistance to the Russian prisoners of war abroad (1915). He was a deputy chairman of one of Empress Alexandra's charity commissions. Prime minister On 25 December he was invited by the Empress for an interview, but received by the Tsar. A hesitating prince Golitsyn did not want to succeed prime minister Alexander Trepov, insisted on the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs Alexander Protopopov and begged Nicholas II to cancel his appointment, citing his lack of preparation for the role of prime minister. The Tsar refused, but Pavel Ignatieff, Alexander Makarov and Dmitry Shuvayev were replaced; Nikolai Dobrovolsky was appointed. The Council of Ministers of Russia officially met once or twice a week (seven meetings in January, six in February). The main concern of the government was "food and transport." The most important thing, according to Prince Golitsyn, was the convocation of the Duma and the desire to work together with it and somehow make this work possible. The government discussed the timeframe for resuming the Duma sessions: it was originally scheduled to open on 12 January, then - on 31 January, but in the end, it was postponed until 14 February. Protopopov, who excused himself many times and did not attend the meetings, suggested dissolution or