Katsura Tarō (1848–1913)
Born 1848 CE, died 1913 CE.
Prince Katsura Tarō (桂 太郎; 4 January 1848 – 10 October 1913) was a Japanese statesman and general who served as prime minister of Japan from 1901 to 1906, from 1908 to 1911, and from 1912 to 1913. He was a genrō, or senior statesman who helped dictate policy during the Meiji era, and is the second-longest serving Japanese prime minister after Shinzo Abe, serving for a combined total of 7 years and 330 days. Born in the Choshu Domain to a samurai family, Katsura participated in the Boshin War that led to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He spent several years studying military science in Germany, and became a protégé of Yamagata Aritomo. He distinguished himself in the First Sino-Japanese War, then served as governor-general of Taiwan and later as minister of war from 1898 to 1901, when he was appointed prime minister. Katsura's relatively stable tenure saw Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War before he was forced to resign in 1906 amid public outrage at the government's failure to secure an indemnity from Russia.
Text from the Wikipedia article Katsura_Tarō, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.