Member of the Central Committee of the Cadet Party, deputy of the State Duma of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th convocations Vasily Alekseevich Maklakov (1869 -1957) was one of the most authoritative Russian politicians of the early XX century and, like many at that time, dreamed of revolutionary renewal of Russia. He met the October Revolution in Paris, where the Provisional Government sent him as ambassador of the Russian Republic. In the 30s, rethinking the events that led to the revolution, and the role of various parties and political movements in it, V.A. Maklakov wrote memoirs about the activities of the State Duma of the 1st and 2nd convocations, in which he shared with readers bitter reflections on the results of his revolutionary struggle.