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Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin[n 1] (21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1869 – 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire.

Key Information

Rasputin was born to a family of peasants in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, located within Tyumensky Uyezd in Tobolsk Governorate (present-day Yarkovsky District in Tyumen Oblast). He had a religious conversion experience after embarking on a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897 and has been described as a monk or as a strannik (wanderer or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1903 or in the winter of 1904–1905, he travelled to Saint Petersburg and captivated several religious and social leaders, eventually becoming a prominent figure in Russian society. In November 1905, Rasputin met Nicholas II and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna.

In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a faith healer for Nicholas' and Alexandra's only son, Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. He was a divisive figure at court, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary, and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan. The extent of Rasputin's power reached an all-time high in 1915, when Nicholas left Saint Petersburg to oversee the Imperial Russian Army as it was engaged in the First World War. In his absence, Rasputin and Alexandra consolidated their influence across the Russian Empire. However, as Russian military defeats mounted on the Eastern Front, both figures became increasingly unpopular. In the early morning of 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative Russian noblemen who opposed his influence over the imperial family.

Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov shortly after his assassination. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on common rumors; he remains a mysterious and captivating figure in popular culture.[1]

Early life

[edit]
Pokrovskoye in 1912
Rasputin with his children

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was born a peasant in the small village of Pokrovskoye, along the Tura River in the Tobolsk Governorate (now Tyumen Oblast) in the Russian Empire.[2] According to official records, he was born on 21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1869 and christened the following day.[3] He was named for St. Gregory of Nyssa, whose feast was celebrated on 10 January.[4]

There are few records of Rasputin's parents. His father, Yefim (1842–1916),[4] was a peasant farmer and church elder who had been born in Pokrovskoye and married Rasputin's mother, Anna Parshukova (c. 1840 – 1906), in 1863. Yefim also worked as a government courier, ferrying people and goods between Tobolsk and Tyumen.[5][4] The couple had seven other children, all of whom died in infancy and early childhood; there may have been a ninth child, Feodosiya. According to historian Joseph T. Fuhrmann, Rasputin was certainly close to Feodosiya and was godfather to her children, but "the records that have survived do not permit us to say more than that".[5]

According to historian Douglas Smith, Rasputin's youth and early adulthood are "a black hole about which we know almost nothing", though the lack of reliable sources and information did not stop others from fabricating stories about Rasputin's parents and his youth after his rise to prominence.[6] Historians agree, however, that like most Siberian peasants, including his mother and father, Rasputin was not formally educated and remained illiterate well into his early adulthood.[4][7] Local archival records suggest that he had a somewhat unruly youth—possibly involving drinking, small thefts and disrespect for local authorities—but contain no evidence of his being charged with stealing horses, blasphemy or bearing false witness, all major crimes later imputed to him as a young man.[8]

In 1886, Rasputin traveled to Abalak, some 250 km east-northeast of Tyumen and 2,800 km east of Moscow, where he met a peasant girl named Praskovya Dubrovina. After a courtship of several months, they married in February 1887. Praskovya remained in Pokrovskoye throughout Rasputin's later travels and rise to prominence, and remained devoted to him until his death. The couple had seven children, though only three survived to adulthood: Dmitry (b. 1895), Maria (b. 1898), and Varvara (b. 1900).[9]

Religious conversion

[edit]

In 1897, Rasputin developed a renewed interest in religion and left Pokrovskoye to go on a pilgrimage. His reasons are unclear; according to some sources, he left the village to escape punishment for his role in horse theft.[10] Other sources suggest Rasputin had a vision of the Virgin Mary or of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye, while still others suggest that a young theological student, Melity Zaborovsky, inspired his pilgrimage.[11] Whatever his reasons, Rasputin cast off his old life: he was 28 years old, married ten years, with an infant son and another child on the way. According to Smith, his decision "could only have been occasioned by some sort of emotional or spiritual crisis".[12]

Rasputin had undertaken earlier, shorter pilgrimages to the Holy Znamensky Monastery at Abalak and to Tobolsk's cathedral, but his visit to the St. Nicholas Monastery at Verkhoturye in 1897 transformed him.[13] There, he met and was "profoundly humbled" by a starets (elder) known as Makary. Rasputin may have spent several months at Verkhoturye, and it was perhaps here that he learned to read and write. However, he later claimed that some of the monks at Verkhotuyre engaged in homosexuality and criticized monastic life as too coercive.[14] He returned to Pokrovskoye a changed man, looking disheveled and behaving differently. He became a vegetarian, swore off alcohol, and prayed and sang much more fervently than he had in the past.[15]

Rasputin spent the years that followed as a strannik (a holy wanderer or pilgrim), leaving Pokrovskoye for months or even years at a time to wander the country and visit a variety of holy sites.[16] It is possible he wandered as far as Mount Athos—the center of Eastern Orthodox monastic life—in 1900.[17]

By the early 1900s, Rasputin had developed a small circle of followers, primarily family members and other local peasants, who prayed with him on Sundays and other holy days when he was in Pokrovskoye. Building a makeshift chapel in Yefim's root cellar—Rasputin was still living within his father's household at the time—the group held secret prayer meetings there. These meetings were the subject of some suspicion and hostility from the village priest and other villagers. It was rumored that female followers were ceremonially washing Rasputin before each meeting, that the group sang strange songs, and even that Rasputin had joined the Khlysty, a religious sect whose ecstatic rituals were rumored to include self-flagellation and sexual orgies.[18][19] According to Fuhrmann, however, "repeated investigations failed to establish that Rasputin was ever a member of the sect", and rumors that he was a Khlyst appear to have been unfounded.[20]

Rise to prominence

[edit]
Makary, Bishop Theofan and Rasputin, 1909

Word of Rasputin's activity and charisma began to spread in Siberia during the early 1900s.[18] At some point during 1904 or 1905, he traveled to the city of Kazan, where he acquired a reputation as a wise starets who could help people resolve their spiritual crises and anxieties.[21] Despite rumors that Rasputin was having sex with female followers,[22] he made a favorable impression on several local religious leaders. Among these were Archimandrite Andrei and Bishop Chrysthanos, who gave Rasputin a letter of recommendation to Bishop Sergei, the rector of the theological seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, and arranged for him to travel to Saint Petersburg.[23][24][25]

Upon arriving at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Rasputin was introduced to church leaders, including Archimandrite Theofan, inspector of the theological seminary, who was well-connected in Saint Petersburg society and later served as confessor to the imperial family.[26][27] Theofan was so impressed with Rasputin that he invited him to stay in his home; he went on to become one of Rasputin's most essential friends in Saint Petersburg,[26] gaining him entry to many of the influential salons where the local aristocracy gathered for religious discussions. It was through these meetings that Rasputin attracted some of his early and influential followers—many of whom would later turn against him.[28]

Alternative religious movements such as spiritualism and theosophy had become popular among Saint Petersburg's aristocracy before Rasputin's arrival, and many of the aristocracy were intensely curious about the occult and the supernatural.[29] Rasputin's ideas and "strange manners" made him the subject of intense curiosity among the city's elite, who, according to Fuhrmann, were "bored, cynical, and seeking new experiences" during this period.[26] Rasputin's appeal may have been enhanced by the fact that he was also a native Russian, unlike other self-described "holy men" such as Nizier Anthelme Philippe and Gérard Encausse, who had previously been popular in Saint Petersburg.[27]

According to Fuhrmann, Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg for only a few months on his first visit and returned to Pokrovskoye in the fall of 1903.[30] Smith, however, argues that it is impossible to know whether Rasputin stayed in Saint Petersburg or returned to Pokrovskoye at some point between his first arrival and 1905.[31] Regardless, by 1905 Rasputin had formed friendships with several members of the aristocracy, including the "Black Princesses", Militsa and Anastasia of Montenegro, who had married cousins of Tsar Nicholas II (Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich and Prince George Maximilianovich Romanowsky) and were instrumental in introducing Rasputin to the tsar and his family.[27][32]

Rasputin first met Nicholas on 1 November 1905, at the Peterhof Palace. The tsar recorded the event in his diary, writing that he and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna, had "made the acquaintance of a man of God – Grigory, from Tobolsk province".[31] Rasputin returned to Pokrovskoye shortly after their first meeting and did not return to Saint Petersburg until July 1906.[33] On his return, he sent Nicholas a telegram asking to present the tsar with an icon of St. Simeon of Verkhoturye. He met with Nicholas and Alexandra on 18 July and again in October, when he first met their children.[34]

At some point, Nicholas and Alexandra became convinced that Rasputin possessed the miraculous power to heal their only son, Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. Historians disagree over when this happened: according to Orlando Figes, Rasputin was first introduced to the tsar and tsarina as a healer who could help their son in November 1905,[35] while Joseph T. Fuhrmann has speculated that it was in October 1906 that Rasputin was first asked to pray for the health of Alexei.[36]

Healer to Alexei Nikolaevich

[edit]
Alexandra Feodorovna with her children, Rasputin and the nurse Maria Ivanova Vishnyakova, 1908

Much of Rasputin's influence with the imperial family stemmed from the belief by Alexandra and others that he had, on several occasions, eased Alexei's pain and stopped his bleeding. According to historian Marc Ferro, the tsarina had a "passionate attachment" to Rasputin, believing he could heal her son's affliction.[37] Harold Shukman wrote that Rasputin became "an indispensable member of the royal entourage".[38] It is unclear when Rasputin first learned of Alexei's haemophilia, or when he first acted as a healer. He may have been aware of Alexei's condition as early as October 1906,[36] and was summoned by Alexandra to pray for the tsarevich when he had an internal hemorrhage in the spring of 1907. Alexei recovered the next morning.[39] Alexandra's friend Anna Vyrubova became convinced that Rasputin had miraculous powers shortly thereafter and became one of his most influential advocates.[40][41]

During the summer of 1912, Alexei developed a hemorrhage in his thigh and groin after a jolting carriage ride near the imperial hunting grounds at Spała, which caused a large hematoma.[42] In severe pain and delirious with fever, the tsarevich appeared close to death.[43] In desperation, Alexandra asked Vyrubova to send Rasputin (who was in Siberia) a telegram, asking him to pray for Alexei.[44] Rasputin wrote back quickly, telling the tsarina that "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much."[44] The next morning, Alexei's condition was unchanged, but Alexandra was encouraged by the message and regained some hope that he would survive. His bleeding stopped the following day.[44] Dr. S. P. Fedorov, one of the physicians who attended Alexei, admitted that "the recovery was wholly inexplicable from a medical point of view."[45] Later, Dr. Fedorov admitted that Alexandra could not be blamed for seeing Rasputin as a miracle man: "Rasputin would come in, walk up to the patient, look at him, and spit. The bleeding would stop in no time.... How could the empress not trust Rasputin after that?"[46]

Historian Robert K. Massie has called Alexei's recovery "one of the most mysterious episodes of the whole Rasputin legend".[44] The cause of his recovery is unclear: Massie speculated that Rasputin's suggestion not to let doctors disturb Alexei had aided his recovery by allowing him to rest and heal, or that his message may have aided Alexei's recovery by calming his mother and reducing the tsarevich's emotional stress.[47] Alexandra believed that Rasputin had performed a miracle, and concluded that he was essential to Alexei's survival.[48] Some writers and historians, such as Ferro, claim that Rasputin stopped Alexei's bleeding on other occasions through hypnosis.[37] Still other historians–including memoirist Pierre Gilliard, Alexei's French-language tutor–have speculated that Rasputin controlled Alexei's bleeding by disallowing the administration of aspirin, then widely used to relieve pain, but unknown as an anti-clotting agent until the 1950s.[49]

Relationship with the Imperial Children

[edit]
Caricature of Rasputin and the imperial couple, 1916

Alexei and his siblings were also taught to view Rasputin as "our friend" and to share confidences with him. In the autumn of 1907, their aunt, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, was escorted to the nursery by Nicholas to meet Rasputin. Maria, her sisters and brother Alexei were all wearing their long white nightgowns. "All the children seemed to like him," Olga Alexandrovna recalled. "They were completely at ease with him."[50]

Rasputin's friendship with the tsar's children was evident in the messages he sent to them. "My Dear Pearl M!" Rasputin wrote the nine-year-old Maria in one telegram in 1908. "Tell me how you talked with the sea, with nature! I miss your simple soul. We will see each other soon! A big kiss." In a second telegram, Rasputin told the child, "My Dear M! My Little Friend! May the Lord help you to carry your cross with wisdom and joy in Christ. This world is like the day, look it's already evening. So it is with the cares of the world."[51] In February 1909, Rasputin sent all of the children a telegram, advising them to, "Love the whole of God's nature, the whole of His creation in particular this earth. The Mother of God was always occupied with flowers and needlework."[52]

One of the girls' governesses, Sofia Ivanovna Tyutcheva, was horrified in 1910 when Rasputin was permitted access to the nursery when the four girls were in their nightgowns. Tyutcheva wanted Rasputin barred from the nurseries. In response to her complaints, Nicholas asked Rasputin to end his nursery visits. "I am so afr(aid) that S.I. [Tyutcheva] can speak ... about our friend something bad," Maria's twelve-year-old sister Tatiana wrote to her mother on 8 March 1910, after begging Alexandra to forgive her for doing something she did not like. "I hope our nurse will be nice to our friend now."[53] Alexandra eventually had Tyutcheva fired.[54]

Tyutcheva took her story to other members of the imperial family, who were scandalized by the reports. However, Rasputin's contacts with the children were by all accounts completely innocent.[55] Nicholas's sister, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, was horrified by Tyutcheva's story. Xenia wrote on 15 March 1910 that she could not understand "...the attitude of Alix and the children to that sinister Grigory (whom they consider to be almost a saint, when in fact he's only a khlyst!) He's always there, goes into the nursery, visits Olga and Tatiana while they are getting ready for bed, sits there talking to them and caressing them. They are careful to hide him from Sofia Ivanovna, and the children don't dare talk to her about him. It's all quite unbelievable and beyond understanding."[53]

Another of the nursery governesses claimed in the spring of 1910 that she was raped by Rasputin. Maria Ivanovna Vishnyakova had at first been a devotee of Rasputin, but later was disillusioned by him. Alexandra refused to believe Vishnyakova "and said that everything Rasputin does is holy". Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna was told that Vishnyakova's claim had been immediately investigated, but "they caught the young woman in bed with a Cossack of the Imperial Guard." Vishnyakova was dismissed from her post in 1913.[56]

It was whispered in society that Rasputin had seduced not only Alexandra but also the four grand duchesses.[57] Rasputin had released ardent letters written to him by the tsarina and the grand duchesses, which circulated throughout society and fueled the rumors. Pornographic cartoons also circulated that depicted Rasputin having sexual relations with the tsarina, with her four daughters, and Anna Vyrubova nude in the background.[58] Nicholas ordered Rasputin to leave Saint Petersburg for a time, much to Alexandra's displeasure, and Rasputin went on a pilgrimage to Palestine.[59]

Despite the scandal, the imperial family's association with Rasputin continued until his murder on 17 December 1916. "Our Friend is so contented with our girlies, says they have gone through heavy 'courses' for their age and their souls have much developed," Alexandra wrote to Nicholas on 6 December 1916.[60] In his memoirs, A. A. Mordvinov reported that the four grand duchesses appeared "cold and visibly terribly upset" by Rasputin's death and sat "huddled up closely together" on a sofa in one of their bedrooms on the night they received the news. Mordvinov reported that the young women were in a gloomy mood and seemed to sense the political upheaval that was about to be unleashed.[61] Rasputin was buried with an icon signed on its reverse side by the grand duchesses and their mother.[62]

Controversies

[edit]
Rasputin among admirers, 1914

The imperial family's belief in Rasputin's healing powers brought him considerable status and power at court.[63] Nicholas appointed Rasputin his lampadnik (lamplighter), charged with keeping the lamps lit before religious icons in the palace, which gained him regular access to the palace and imperial family.[64] By December 1906, Rasputin had become close enough to ask a special favor of the tsar: that he be permitted to change his surname to Rasputin-Noviy (Rasputin-New). Nicholas granted the request and the name change was speedily processed, suggesting that Rasputin already had the tsar's favor at that early date.[36] Rasputin used his position to full effect, accepting bribes and sexual favors from admirers[63] and working diligently to expand his influence.

Rasputin soon became a controversial figure; he was accused by his enemies of religious heresy and rape, was suspected of exerting undue political influence over the tsar, and was even rumored to be having an affair with the tsarina.[65] Opposition to Rasputin's influence grew within the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1907, the local clergy in Pokrovskoye denounced Rasputin as a heretic, and the Bishop of Tobolsk launched an inquest into his activities, accusing him of "spreading false, Khlyst-like doctrines".[66] In Saint Petersburg, Rasputin faced opposition from even more prominent critics, including Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin and the Okhrana, the tsar's secret police.[67] Having ordered an investigation into Rasputin's activities, Stolypin confronted Nicholas but did not succeed in reining in Rasputin's influence or exiling him from Saint Petersburg.[68]

Outside of the royal court, Rasputin preached that physical contact between him and others purified them; he engaged in drunken revels and extramarital affairs with a wide range of women from prostitutes to high-society ladies.[69][70] In 1909, Khioniya Berlatskaya, one of Rasputin's early supporters, accused him of rape. Betlatskaya sought aid from Theofan, who became convinced that Rasputin was a danger to the monarchy.[71] Rumors multiplied that Rasputin had assaulted female followers and behaved inappropriately on visits with the imperial family—and particularly with Nicholas's teenage daughters Olga and Tatiana.[72][73]

During this period, the First World War, the dissolution of feudalism, and a meddling government bureaucracy all contributed to Russia's rapid economic decline. Many laid the blame on Alexandra and Rasputin. One outspoken member of the Duma, far-right politician Vladimir Purishkevich, stated in November 1916 that he held the tsar's ministers had "been turned into marionettes, marionettes whose threads have been taken firmly in hand by Rasputin and the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna—the evil genius of Russia and the Tsarina... who has remained a German on the Russian throne and alien to the country and its people".[74] (The tsarina had been born a German princess.)

Failed assassination attempt

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On 12 July [O.S. 29 June] 1914, a 33-year-old peasant woman named Khioniya Guseva attempted to assassinate Rasputin by stabbing him in the stomach outside his home in Pokrovskoye.[75] Rasputin was seriously wounded, and for a time it was not clear if he would survive.[76] After surgery[77] and some time in a hospital in Tyumen,[78] he recovered.

Guseva was a follower of Iliodor, a former priest who had supported Rasputin before denouncing his sexual escapades and self-aggrandizement in December 1911.[79][80] A radical conservative and anti-semite, Iliodor had been part of a group of establishment figures who had attempted to drive a wedge between Rasputin and the imperial family in 1911. When this effort failed, Iliodor was banished from Saint Petersburg and was ultimately defrocked.[79][81] Guseva claimed to have acted alone, having read about Rasputin in the newspapers and believing him to be a "false prophet and even an Antichrist".[82] Both the police and Rasputin, however, believed that Iliodor had instigated the assassination attempt.[79] Iliodor fled the country before he could be questioned, and Guseva was found to be not responsible for her actions by reason of insanity.[79]

Death

[edit]
Basement of the Yusupov Palace on the Moika where Rasputin was murdered

A group of nobles led by Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and Prince Felix Yusupov decided that Rasputin's influence over Alexandra threatened the Russian Empire. They concocted a plan in December 1916 to kill Rasputin, apparently by luring him to the Yusupovs' Moika Palace.[83][84]

Rasputin was murdered during the early morning on 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916 at the home of Prince Yusupov. He died of three gunshot wounds, one of which was a close-range shot to his forehead. Little is certain about his death beyond this, and the circumstances of his death have been the subject of considerable speculation. According to Smith, "what really happened at the Yusupov home on 17 December will never be known".[85] The story that Yusupov recounted in his memoirs, however, has become the most frequently told version of events.[86]

The wooden Bolshoy Petrovsky Bridge from which Rasputin's body was thrown into the Malaya Nevka River

According to Yusupov's account, Rasputin was invited to his palace shortly after midnight and ushered into the basement. Yusupov offered tea and cakes which had been laced with cyanide. After initially refusing the cakes, Rasputin began to eat them and, to Yusupov's surprise, appeared unaffected by the poison.[87] Rasputin then asked for some Madeira wine (which had also been poisoned) and drank three glasses, but still showed no sign of distress.[n 2] At around 2:30 am, Yusupov excused himself to go upstairs, where his fellow conspirators were waiting. He took a revolver from Pavlovich, then returned to the basement and told Rasputin that he had "better look at the crucifix and say a prayer", referring to a crucifix in the room, then shot him once in the chest. The conspirators then drove to Rasputin's apartment, with Sukhotin wearing Rasputin's coat and hat in an attempt to make it look as though Rasputin had returned home that night.[88] Upon returning to his palace, Yusupov went back to the basement to ensure that Rasputin was dead.[89] Suddenly, Rasputin leaped up and attacked Yusupov, who freed himself with some effort and fled upstairs. Rasputin followed Yusupov into the palace's courtyard, where Purishkevich shot him. He collapsed into a snowbank. The conspirators then wrapped his body in cloth, drove it to the Petrovsky Bridge and dropped it into the Little Nevka river.[90]

In an unsubstantiated claim, Grand Duchess Tatiana, who was earlier alleged to have been raped by Rasputin, was present at the site of Rasputin's murder, "disguised as a lieutenant of the Chevaliers-Gardes, so that she could revenge herself on Rasputin who had tried to violate her". Maurice Paléologue, the French ambassador to Russia, wrote that Tatiana had supposedly witnessed Rasputin's castration, but he doubted the credibility of the rumor.[91]

In a modern analysis of Rasputin's death, published on the 100th anniversary of the event, Dr Carolyn Harris of the University of Toronto notes that the actual circumstances were less dramatic than Yusupov's account.[92] Rasputin's daughter recorded that her father abstained from sweet food and would not have eaten the supposedly poisoned cakes.[93][92] An autopsy account by the official surgeon involved has no record of poisoning or drowning, but records death by a single bullet fired into the head at close range.[92]

Aftermath

[edit]

News of Rasputin's murder spread quickly, even before his body was found. According to Smith, Purishkevich spoke openly about the murder to two soldiers and to a policeman who was investigating reports of shots shortly after the event, but urged them not to tell anyone else.[94] An investigation was launched the next morning.[95] The Stock Exchange Gazette ran a report of Rasputin's death "after a party in one of the most aristocratic homes in the center of the city" on the afternoon of 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916.

Rasputin's corpse on the ground with a bullet wound visible in his forehead

After two workmen discovered blood on the railing of the Petrovsky Bridge and a boot on the ice below, police began searching the area.[96] Rasputin's body was found under the river ice on 1 January (O.S. 19 December), approximately 200 meters downstream from the bridge.[97] Dmitry Kosorotov, the city's senior autopsy surgeon, examined the body. Kosorotov's report was lost, but he later stated that Rasputin's body had shown signs of severe trauma, including three gunshot wounds (one at close range to the forehead), a slice wound to his left side, and other injuries, many of which Kosorotov felt had been sustained post-mortem.[98] Kosorotov found a single bullet in Rasputin's body but stated that it was too badly deformed and of a type too widely used to trace. He found no evidence that Rasputin had been poisoned.[99] According to both Smith and Fuhrmann, Kosorotov found no water in Rasputin's lungs and reports that Rasputin had been thrown into the water alive were incorrect.[100][101] Some later accounts claimed that Rasputin's penis had been severed, but Kosorotov found his genitals intact.[99]

Rasputin was buried on 2 January (O.S. 21 December) at a small church that Vyrubova had been building at Tsarskoye Selo. The funeral was attended only by the imperial family and a few of their intimates. Rasputin's wife, mistress, and children were not invited,[102] although his daughters met with the imperial family at Vyrubova's home later that day.[103] The imperial family planned to build a church over Rasputin's grave site.[62] However, his body was exhumed and burned by a detachment of soldiers on the orders of Alexander Kerensky shortly after Nicholas abdicated the throne in March 1917,[102] so that his grave would not become a rallying point for supporters of the old regime.[104]

Prominent children

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Rasputin with his daughter Maria (rightmost), in his St. Petersburg apartment, 1911

Maria Rasputin

[edit]

Rasputin's daughter, Maria Rasputin (born Matryona Rasputina; 1898–1977), emigrated to France after the October Revolution and then to the United States. There, she worked as a dancer and then a lion tamer in a circus.[105]

[edit]
Further information: Grigori Rasputin in popular culture

See also

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  • Archimandrite Photius – Influential and reactionary Russian priest and mystic
  • Faith healing – Prayer and gestures perceived to bring divine intervention in physical healing
  • "Rasputin" – Boney M. single from 1978

Notes

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References

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Bibliography

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Grigori Rasputin

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from Grokipedia
Grigori Efimovich Rasputin (c. 1869 – 30 December 1916) was a Russian peasant from Siberia who, lacking formal education or monastic vows, positioned himself as a starets—a wandering holy man—and gained extraordinary access to the imperial family of Tsar Nicholas II through claims of spiritual insight and success in easing the suffering of the hemophiliac heir, Alexei Nikolaevich Romanov. Born into rural poverty in Pokrovskoye on the Tura River, Rasputin experienced a religious awakening in the early 1890s, prompting pilgrimages to holy sites and immersion in Orthodox mysticism, which he later leveraged to cultivate a reputation for piety amid Russia's fin-de-siècle fascination with starets figures. By 1905, introduced via aristocratic circles, he met the tsarina Alexandra, whose desperation over Alexei's condition—exacerbated by ineffective medical interventions—made her receptive to Rasputin's calming presence and prayers, which coincided with temporary remissions in the boy's bleeding episodes, interpreted by the family as divine intervention rather than coincidental or psychosomatic effects. Rasputin's defining characteristic was his unorthodox blend of devout faith and personal failings, including heavy drinking and liaisons with women, which fueled scandals and pamphlets accusing him of debauchery and Khlyst-like sect rituals—allegations often amplified by political rivals and later memoirs of dubious veracity, such as those of his assassin , yet rooted in verifiable episodes of and moral lapses that clashed with his self-proclaimed holiness. His influence extended to advising on court appointments and war-related decisions during , not through hypnotic control or direct policy dictation as myths suggest, but via trusted telegrams that reflected the tsarina's own conservative instincts, thereby symbolizing the Romanovs' detachment from competent governance and eroding elite support for the . This proximity to power, amid military failures and domestic unrest, branded him a baleful force, culminating in his murder on 30 December 1916 by a of nobles who shot him multiple times before dumping his body in the Neva River, an act confirmed by evidence of gunshot wounds as the primary rather than exaggerated tales of resistance or superhuman endurance. Rasputin's legacy endures as a cautionary emblem of how personal and perceived can destabilize fragile institutions, with modern scholarship emphasizing primary documents over sensationalized narratives to reveal a man whose real sway arose from the tsarina's vulnerabilities, not mastery.

Origins and Early Life

Birth and Family Background

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was born in 1869 in the remote Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, situated along the Tura River in the of the , to a of peasants engaged in subsistence farming and . His father, Yefim Yakovlevich Rasputin (1841–1916), served as a farmer, coachman, and occasional church elder, reflecting the multifaceted roles common in isolated rural communities. His mother, Anna Vasilievna Parshukova (1839–1906), shared this peasant heritage, with the couple maintaining a household shaped by Orthodox Christian practices and local folk customs amid Siberia's severe winters and limited infrastructure. The family's existence exemplified the hardships of pre-revolutionary Russian peasantry, including reliance on horse-drawn transport for trade and vulnerability to and crop failure, with few surviving records from the era underscoring the opacity of such backgrounds. Rasputin had multiple siblings, most of whom perished young, positioning him as the primary surviving child and heir to the family labor. This early environment, devoid of formal and steeped in communal , laid the groundwork for his later self-taught religious pursuits.

Youth and Early Influences

Grigori Rasputin grew up in the isolated Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, where he performed typical duties such as farming, cart-driving, and assisting his father, Yefim, who worked as a local farmer and courier. The harsh climate and remote location fostered a rugged, self-reliant lifestyle among villagers, with limited access to education or external influences; Rasputin, like most in the community, remained illiterate into his early adulthood. Local archival records indicate that Rasputin's youth was marked by unruly behavior, including heavy drinking, brawling, and petty thefts, which contributed to his nickname "Rasputin," derived from the Russian word for "dissolute" or "debauched." He faced accusations of around 1886 but avoided conviction, possibly through community ties or lack of evidence; such incidents reflect the informal justice and folk customs prevalent in rural , where personal reputation often hinged on endurance and charisma rather than moral rectitude. In 1887, at approximately age 18, Rasputin married Praskovya Fyodorovna Dubrovina, a local , establishing a family that eventually included seven children, though only three— (born 1895), Maria (1898), and Varvara (1900)—reached adulthood amid high rates common in the region. This union introduced domestic responsibilities but did little to curb his wandering tendencies or licentious reputation, influenced by the permissive aspects of social norms and traditional Orthodox . These early experiences in Pokrovskoye's insular, Orthodox Christian milieu—characterized by communal labor, seasonal hardships, and rudimentary folk spirituality—formed the foundational influences on Rasputin, embedding a pragmatic attuned to and frailty rather than doctrinal or intellectual pursuits. Accounts of his , drawn from village memories and limited records, vary in detail but consistently portray a figure shaped by raw realism over refined .

Spiritual Development

Pilgrimages and Religious Awakening

In the early 1890s, after a youth marked by drinking and brawling, Rasputin underwent a that led him to adopt the life of a strannik, or wandering holy man, abandoning his family temporarily to seek spiritual purification through pilgrimage. His initial journey took him approximately 1,200 kilometers on foot to the St. Nicholas Monastery at Verkhoturye in the around 1892, where he spent several months under the influence of the ascetic elder Makary, known for his reputed visions and direct rapport with the divine. There, Rasputin learned basic literacy and immersed himself in monastic routines, experiencing what contemporaries described as an intense spiritual awakening that convinced him of his calling to preach and divine . Following this transformative stay, Rasputin embarked on years of itinerant travel across , visiting revered Orthodox sites including the on and other laurels, where he engaged in prayer, fasting, and discussions with monks that deepened his emphasis on ecstatic as a path to salvation. By around 1893, he extended his wanderings internationally, undertaking a grueling to in —a distance exceeding 3,000 kilometers—joining the peninsula's monastic communities to study hesychastic prayer and ascetic discipline central to . These experiences, documented in his later autobiographical notes, reinforced his belief in personal as a gateway to grace, shaping a theology that blended Orthodox with folk . Rasputin's pilgrimages culminated in a 1911 journey to with a group of Russian pilgrims, where he visited the and other biblical sites, reporting visions that affirmed his self-perceived apostolic role. Empirical accounts from fellow travelers note his charismatic preaching during these trips, which attracted followers but also drew skepticism from clerical authorities wary of his unordained status and unconventional practices. Collectively, these odysseys marked his shift from illiterate peasant to self-proclaimed , prioritizing experiential faith over formal theology, though later critics attributed his zeal partly to psychological factors like post-conversion mania rather than purely divine intervention.

Formation of Mystical Beliefs

Rasputin's mystical beliefs coalesced in his late twenties, rooted in the folk Orthodox traditions of Siberian peasant life and intensified by a reported transformative in 1897 to the St. Nicholas Monastery in Verkhoturye, approximately 450 kilometers from his native Pokrovskoye. There, he studied under the (spiritual elder) Makary, learning basic and while immersing himself in ascetic practices and contemplative , which he later described as fostering direct, unmediated communion with the divine. This period marked his shift from a reportedly dissolute youth—marked by alcohol consumption and petty conflicts—to self-identification as a strannik (wandering pilgrim), emphasizing personal repentance, endurance of suffering as a path to holiness, and intuitive through rather than medical intervention. Contemporary accounts and later investigations portray his worldview as an idiosyncratic blend of canonical Russian Orthodoxy with vernacular , prioritizing inner spiritual ecstasy over ecclesiastical hierarchy or ritual formalism. He advocated that true piety involved overcoming sin through experiential trials, drawing on biblical motifs of and redemption, though without doctrinal innovation or as defined by Orthodox authorities. Allegations of affiliation with the Khlysty sect—a clandestine group practicing ritual and ecstatic "sinning to achieve grace"—surfaced in elite circles and sensationalist reports, but multiple official probes, including those by the in 1910 and 1914, uncovered no evidence of membership or adoption of their tenets, attributing such claims to anti-Rasputin amid his rising influence. Historians concur that his beliefs remained within the bounds of popular , albeit amplified by charismatic self-assurance and anecdotal claims of visionary insights, such as prophetic dreams or divine mandates, which he used to legitimize his role as a spiritual intercessor. Subsequent wanderings to sites like and Kiev Pechersk Lavra in the early 1900s further refined his convictions, exposing him to broader monastic traditions that reinforced his emphasis on pomazannik (anointed one) status—interpreting personal trials as signs of divine election for healing and counsel. Empirical assessments of his "mystical" efficacy, however, rest on subjective testimonies rather than verifiable mechanisms, with any perceived successes likely attributable to effects, hypnotic suggestion, or natural remission in treated ailments, as no controlled evidence supports supernatural agency. This formative phase thus established Rasputin as a self-taught mystic whose appeal derived from authentic fervor rather than esoteric esotericism, setting the stage for his later integrations into aristocratic religious networks.

Entry into Elite Circles

Arrival in St. Petersburg

Grigori Rasputin's early St. Petersburg period spanned ca. 1903–1907, with no single arrival moment; sources conflict on the exact year of his initial visit (1903, 1904, or 1905), and contemporaries later disagreed on when he became prominently known. This phase occurred during a period of religious wandering that followed his pilgrimages to holy sites across . His presence in the capital aligned with heightened elite fascination with , esoteric , and wandering startsy (holy elders) who embodied ascetic piety and prophetic insight. Rasputin, appearing as an unkempt Siberian peasant with piercing blue eyes and a reputation for fervent , initially drew curiosity rather than widespread acclaim. His physical presence and behavior facilitated early access: repetitive, non-alarming movements enabled lingering in salons, monasteries, and eventual peripheral palace visits without formal credentials. Upon arrival, Rasputin sought out ecclesiastical circles, encountering figures such as Bishop Hermogen of , who engaged with his claims of spiritual gifts derived from Orthodox asceticism. He also came into contact with Archimandrite Theophan (Bystrov), inspector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, whose early endorsement stemmed from observations of Rasputin's scriptural knowledge and intense demeanor during discussions on , , and . These interactions positioned Rasputin within a niche of reform-minded and experimenting with poustinia (hermit-like) traditions, though his origins and unconventional manner elicited mixed responses—admiration from some for authenticity, from others for lacking formal theological training. His contradictory traits, blending piety with drinking and vulgar speech, were noted early but did not bar entry, often perceived as authentic by supporters and scandalous by critics. Rasputin's initial stays lasted only a few months, after which he returned to his native Pokrovskoye village, having forged preliminary ties that would draw him back more permanently in subsequent years. During this early period, he avoided direct imperial access but benefited from the capital's atmosphere of spiritual seeking, where reports of his gaze and admonitions against moral laxity circulated among select salons. No verified healings or prophecies from this period survive scrutiny beyond anecdotal endorsements by sympathetic clerics, underscoring that his entry relied more on personal than documented miracles.

Initial Patronage and Connections

Rasputin first traveled to St. Petersburg ca. 1903–1905, arriving with a reputation as a pious wanderer from Siberian monasteries such as Verkhoturye. There, he encountered Theophan Bystrov, inspector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, who was initially impressed by Rasputin's apparent spiritual depth and lack of formal education, viewing him as an authentic or elder. Theophan, along with Makary Nevsky, provided early endorsement, facilitating Rasputin's access to religious and aristocratic salons between 1905 and 1908, where his charismatic preaching on and drew followers from elite society. A key early patron was Militza Ivanovna Lochtina, a who sought Rasputin after hearing of his healing abilities; following a reported cure of her ailments, she hosted him at her home in the Peski district and promoted him among Petersburg's devout circles. These connections extended through figures like the Montenegrin Grand Duchesses Militsa and Nikolaevna, who mediated introductions to court intimates, including , to Empress , in 1908. Vyrubova's father, Vladimir Taneev, , further bolstered Rasputin's standing by offering logistical support. By November 1, 1905, these networks culminated in Rasputin's first documented meeting with , as noted in the sovereign's diary, arranged likely through Theophan's recommendation or the grand duchesses' influence. This patronage, rooted in Rasputin's perceived mystical authenticity amid Russia's fin-de-siècle religious fervor, positioned him as a spiritual advisor to the , though early supporters like Theophan later withdrew backing amid emerging scandals.

Role as Healer to the Heir

Alexei's Hemophilia and Rasputin's Interventions

Tsarevich , the only son of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina , was born on August 12, 1904, and exhibited symptoms of hemophilia shortly after birth. At six weeks of age, he suffered uncontrolled bleeding from a injury, and by early 1905, imperial physicians had diagnosed him with hemophilia, a hereditary bleeding disorder that impairs blood clotting. Genetic analysis of Romanov remains confirms Alexei had hemophilia B, a deficiency milder than hemophilia A, inherited via his mother , a carrier descended from . Grigori Rasputin first gained the family's attention as a potential healer around 1905–1906, following recommendations from figures like , though records of his initial involvement with Alexei's condition are sparse due to imperial secrecy. His major role with Alexei began after further bleeding episodes in 1907–1908. One early episode occurred in spring , when Alexei developed severe bruising and bleeding after a minor injury; Rasputin reportedly prayed over the boy or sent calming messages to , after which the hemorrhage subsided, earning him initial trust despite no medical training. Such interventions typically involved prayer, , or telegrams urging faith over medical interference, aligning with Rasputin's self-proclaimed spiritual authority rather than any documented pharmacological or surgical method. The most notable case unfolded during the 1912 Spala hunting retreat in Poland, where on , eight-year-old Alexei injured his groin jumping into a , triggering a thigh hemorrhage that swelled massively and caused excruciating , with physicians warning of imminent death from . On October 5, Rasputin dispatched a telegram to stating, "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much," after which Alexei's bleeding unexpectedly halted the following day, allowing gradual recovery. Empirical explanations for these outcomes emphasize Rasputin's indirect influence rather than healing. Contemporary treatments often included aspirin for pain, which exacerbates by inhibiting platelet function—a fact unknown at the time but later recognized as counterproductive for hemophiliacs. Rasputin consistently advised against excessive interventions, promoting rest and reduced anxiety, which likely minimized iatrogenic harm and stress-induced clotting disruptions; his calming presence may have lowered family hysteria, indirectly stabilizing Alexei's condition through psychosomatic pathways. No evidence supports claims of , herbs, or powers, and hemophilia remained incurable, with Alexei experiencing recurrent episodes until his execution in 1918. These events, while not miraculous, solidified Rasputin's perceived indispensability to the desperate parents, amplifying his influence amid the absence of effective therapies.

Methods, Outcomes, and Empirical Assessments

Rasputin's methods for addressing Alexei's hemophilia episodes relied on spiritual and suggestive practices, eschewing conventional medical interventions. He typically invoked , sometimes laying hands on the boy while entering a trance-like state to reassure him and the family, or dispatched telegrams beseeching divine aid when absent. These actions aimed to instill calm and , potentially influencing Alexei psychologically; Rasputin also reportedly urged restraint from aggressive treatments and specifically opposed aspirin administration, recognizing—intuitively or through folk knowledge—its potential to prolong bleeding. Documented outcomes include several instances of apparent stabilization following his involvement, beginning around after his initial integration into the . A prominent case occurred in October 1912 at the Spala hunting lodge, where Alexei, aged eight, sustained a injury from jumping into a on September 5, leading to severe internal hemorrhage that resisted medical efforts and brought him near ; Rasputin's telegram on October 5, affirming "The Little One will not die" through God's mercy, preceded the bleeding's subsidence after over two weeks of crisis. Accounts from family members, such as Grand Duchess Olga, describe similar in-person episodes where Rasputin's bedside prayers correlated with halted bleeding, fostering the parents' conviction in his efficacy. Yet, these did not eradicate the condition; Alexei endured recurrent hemorrhages, mobility limitations, and dependency on support until his execution in 1918. Empirical evaluations, informed by modern , reject explanations for these episodes, attributing successes to non-mystical factors rather than Rasputin's purported powers. Hemophilia A, confirmed via genetic inheritance from Alexandra's lineage, features spontaneous remissions in joint and soft-tissue bleeds, which could align coincidentally with interventions; Rasputin's discouragement of aspirin—prescribed for pain but acting as an antiplatelet agent that impairs clotting—likely averted iatrogenic worsening, as early 20th-century physicians routinely overlooked this risk. Psychological mechanisms, including hypnotic suggestion from Rasputin's charismatic demeanor, may have reduced Alexei's and vascular stress, indirectly aiding , though no controlled substantiates curative for hemophilia. Historians and medical analysts view Rasputin as an opportunistic figure without verifiable healing talents, with family testimonials amplified by desperation and propaganda; alternative diagnoses like platelet disorders have been proposed to explain recoveries sans mysticism, but DNA confirmation from Romanov remains upholds classic hemophilia. Overall, outcomes reflect episodic disease variability and prudent avoidance of counterproductive therapies, not empirical validation of .

Relationships with the Imperial Family

Bond with Tsarina Alexandra

The bond between Grigori Rasputin and Tsarina Feodorovna developed primarily from her perception of him as a spiritually gifted intermediary capable of aiding her son Alexei's health crises, evolving into a profound emotional and advisory reliance by 1907. , deeply pious and influenced by Orthodox mysticism, first encountered Rasputin in November 1905 through intermediaries like , viewing his peasant simplicity and hypnotic demeanor as signs of divine favor. This trust intensified as Rasputin provided comfort during Alexei's episodes, leading to address him as "" in family correspondence and summon him repeatedly to the . By 1914, their relationship manifested in extensive private correspondence, with Alexandra writing effusive letters expressing spiritual dependence, such as "How weary I am without you. I only rest my soul when you, the representative of , are near me" in one missive from that period. Rasputin reciprocated with telegrams offering moral guidance, often urging prayer and humility amid wartime strains, which Alexandra interpreted as prophetic insight; she consulted him on personal matters and even political appointments during Tsar Nicholas II's absences at the front from onward. This epistolary intimacy reflected Alexandra's isolation as a German-born consort facing suspicion, positioning Rasputin as a confessor-like figure whose counsel she prioritized over aristocratic advisors. Contemporary rumors propagated by opponents, including nobles and monarchist critics, alleged a sexual , citing the affectionate tone of letters and Rasputin's access to the palace; however, no —such as eyewitness accounts or physical corroboration—supports this, and the couple's devout Lutheran-Orthodox renders it improbable. Historians attribute such claims to political smear campaigns exploiting Alexandra's German heritage and Rasputin's unorthodox behavior to undermine the , with letters' language better explained by era-specific religious fervor rather than . The bond's intensity fueled public scandal, eroding the Romanovs' legitimacy by , as leaked documents portrayed Alexandra's devotion as obsessive influence-peddling.

Interactions with Tsar Nicholas II and the Children

Rasputin's relationship with Tsar developed gradually following his introduction to the imperial family around 1908, facilitated by court figures such as Grand Duchess Militza Nikolaevna and . Initial encounters at Tsarskoe Selo involved 2–3 invitations to the , where engaged Rasputin in discussions on peasant life and Orthodox piety, valuing these as a counterpoint to aristocratic influences. Despite soliciting mixed assessments—such as one advisor describing Rasputin as a "cunning muzhik" with suggestive power— permitted ongoing access, primarily to accommodate Alexandra's reliance on him for Alexei's health rather than personal affinity. Correspondence between Rasputin and intensified from 1914, with Rasputin offering counsel on state matters, including a July plea against entering war with and , warning that victory would come at the cost of destroying itself. In 1916, Rasputin penned a prophetic letter foretelling his death before January 1, 1917, advising that by nobles (rather than peasants) would doom the Romanov dynasty within two years—a prediction realized with the family's execution in July 1918. responded sparingly to such missives, reflecting a pragmatic tolerance over deep trust. Interactions with the Tsar's daughters—Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia—transpired during Rasputin's palace visits, where he acted as a spiritual guide, leading prayers and sharing folk tales. Contemporary accounts portray these encounters as innocent, with the younger Maria and Anastasia displaying affection toward "Father Grigory" as a familial figure, while older sisters Olga and Tatiana maintained greater reserve amid growing court scrutiny. No evidence supports claims of impropriety; rather, the visits aligned with Rasputin's role in bolstering family morale through religious counsel.

Personal Conduct and Scandals

Lifestyle and Daily Habits

Rasputin's lifestyle in St. Petersburg blended professed religious piety with indulgences that set him apart from traditional Orthodox ascetics, as he rejected the severe common among while emphasizing personal spiritual experience over monastic discipline. Born into Siberian life, he initially exhibited licentious behavior—earning his "Rasputin," meaning "debauched one"—before a religious awakening around 1897 prompted pilgrimages to holy sites like Verkhoturye Monastery, where he adopted habits of wandering prayer and communal worship but without vows of or . Upon arriving in the capital in , his routine centered on receiving pilgrims and supplicants in rented apartments on streets like Gorokhovaya, where he conducted informal prayer circles, offered counsel, and performed laying-on-of-hands healings, often lasting hours into the evening. Days typically involved visits to the imperial family or their residences for sessions with Alexei, interspersed with meals of simple peasant fare like bread, cabbage, and tea, though he increasingly accepted gifts of wine and food from admirers. Personal habits reflected a deliberate rejection of urban refinement; Rasputin bathed infrequently, once claiming a six-year hiatus to preserve bodily "vitality," resulting in an and appearance contemporaries described as grubby, with matted hair, untrimmed beard, and threadbare clothing stained from travel. He consumed alcohol regularly, favoring heavy Crimean —up to two bottles nightly by some accounts—along with , viewing moderate intoxication as compatible with spiritual ecstasy rather than vice. Reports of nightly debauchery, including carousing in taverns, brothels, and private parties until dawn, proliferated among St. Petersburg's elite, who depicted him as a habitual philanderer preaching "sin to achieve redemption"—a doctrine echoing Khlyst sect practices he publicly denied affiliation with. These accounts, however, derive largely from police surveillance logs and diaries of aristocratic foes like , whose bias against Rasputin as an uncouth influencer of the throne inflated perceptions of excess; forensic and contemporary evidence, including his daughter's memoirs, suggests while he engaged in extramarital relations and hosted mixed-gender gatherings, the scale of orgiastic indulgence was mythologized post-assassination to discredit the Romanovs.

Allegations of Debauchery and Responses

Surveillance by the , the Tsarist , documented Rasputin's lifestyle in St. Petersburg from January 1915 onward, recording instances of heavy drinking, late-night partying, and interactions with women that fueled perceptions of impropriety. On 26 January 1915, he hosted a gathering with wine, , and dancing attended by men and women until late hours; on 12 1915, he arrived home at 4:30 a.m. with six drunken companions, continuing the revelry; and on 12 May 1915, he brought a prostitute to his apartment, who was later escorted out by his servant. Similar observations included an , Varvarova, spending the night of 25-26 November 1915 in his rooms, and on 3 November 1915, kissing a female petitioner after asking her to undress. These reports, based on external monitoring rather than , indicate habitual alcohol consumption and casual associations with women, though they lack direct evidence of coerced or widespread sexual acts. Broader allegations portrayed Rasputin as a who hypnotized or coerced aristocratic women into debauchery, including claims of orgies, ritualistic excesses, and affairs with court ladies to consolidate influence. Such stories proliferated in scandal sheets and memoirs by critics like former associate Iliodor (Trufanov), who in 1912 accused him of leading "khlyst-like" sects involving group sinning for redemption, and Bishop Hermogen, who in 1911 denounced his "seductions" before being exiled. These narratives often originated from nobility opposed to his sway over Alexandra, amplified during amid political instability; for instance, rumors in 1915 linked him to Villa Rode restaurant scandals, though unverified. Rasputin responded to accusations by framing his conduct as a deliberate embrace of to achieve greater or to minister to the fallen, echoing fringe Orthodox interpretations of spiritual struggle over ascetic purity; he once told investigators that experiencing vice allowed him to counsel sinners effectively. The imperial family dismissed the claims as slander from jealous elites, with viewing him as a pious whose personal flaws were irrelevant to his healing gifts for Alexei. Historians assessing primary evidence, including Okhrana logs and contemporary letters, conclude the debauchery was overstated for purposes by assassins and exiles like Prince Yusupov, whose self-serving accounts invented extremes like public exposures or superhuman endurance in vice. Douglas Smith, in his analysis of archival materials, notes Rasputin's documented drinking and flirtations but attributes lurid tales—such as mass orgies or affairs with —to fabricated post-1916 narratives lacking corroboration, driven by motives to justify his and discredit the Romanovs. No forensic or eyewitness records substantiate sexual misconduct with the or imperial children, and Okhrana files, while highlighting lapses, show no pattern of systemic predation beyond what might be expected of a rural mystic adapting to urban temptations. Critics' sources, often from disgruntled or aristocrats with access to printing presses, exhibit bias toward exaggeration to provoke intervention against his influence, contrasting with the more restrained surveillance data.

Political Entanglements and Opposition

Influence on Appointments and Decisions

Rasputin's political influence intensified after Tsar Nicholas II departed for army headquarters in on September 5, 1915, leaving Tsarina to manage domestic affairs amid wartime pressures. Alexandra frequently consulted Rasputin, who responded with telegrams and letters recommending the removal of ministers perceived as obstructive and the elevation of compliant figures, thereby inserting himself into the patronage system of the imperial court. One verified instance occurred in the appointment of as acting Minister of the Interior on September 16, 1916, within Boris Stürmer's cabinet. Rasputin initially proposed Protopopov—a deputy with no prior administrative experience—to , who lobbied persistently despite warnings from advisors about Protopopov's mental instability and lack of qualifications for handling internal security during food shortages and unrest. Protopopov's tenure exacerbated policing failures, as he prioritized mystical pursuits over effective governance. Rasputin similarly endorsed Stürmer's premiership on February 3, 1916, after the dismissal of , favoring Stürmer for his pliancy toward Alexandra's German heritage and aversion to reforms. This pattern extended to other reshuffles, including the ousting of Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov in July 1916, replaced by figures less inclined to seek parliamentary support, contributing to eight cabinet changes between 1915 and 1916 that undermined administrative continuity. While Rasputin's endorsements carried weight through Alexandra's advocacy—evidenced by surviving correspondence—Nicholas exercised ultimate power, rejecting some nominees. Empirical assessments, drawing from diaries and official records, indicate his sway was episodic rather than systemic, amplifying existing autocratic dysfunctions like ministerial but not originating them; exaggerated narratives of total control often stem from post-revolutionary polemics rather than primary documentation.

Clashes with Nobility, Church, and Critics

Rasputin's perceived sway over ministerial appointments alienated segments of the , who resented a Siberian peasant's interference in elite governance. By 1915, amid wartime instability, he reportedly endorsed figures like Boris Stürmer for the premiership in July 1916, a choice decried for Stürmer's pro-German leanings and administrative ineptitude, exacerbating perceptions of royal favoritism toward unqualified allies. Nobles such as viewed Rasputin's nocturnal revels and rumored liaisons with aristocratic women as corrosive to court decorum, fueling conspiracies that culminated in his murder on December 30, 1916. This opposition stemmed from fears that his unrefined presence—marked by public drunkenness and boasts of imperial access—eroded the monarchy's prestige among the upper classes. Ecclesiastical authorities clashed with Rasputin over his unorthodox mysticism and lack of formal clerical standing, branding him a potential heretic tied to sectarian groups like the . In 1911, Bishop Hermogen of and Iliodor () confronted him directly, leading to Hermogen's defrocking and exile after accusing Rasputin of undue imperial influence and moral laxity; Iliodor later published exposés detailing Rasputin's alleged deceptions. Bishop Theophan of , initially a , turned critic by 1910, decrying Rasputin's "dark forces" in letters to allies and attempting to curtail his St. Petersburg activities through Synod channels, though royal intervention thwarted formal excommunication. The Holy Synod's reluctance to act decisively reflected internal divisions, but repeated petitions highlighted concerns over his predatory behavior toward female parishioners and subversion of Orthodox hierarchy via court leverage. Political critics, including Duma deputies, amplified attacks on Rasputin as a symbol of autocratic decay, portraying him as a German agent undermining the . On November 19, 1916, delivered a fiery address lambasting Rasputin's hold over , declaring, "The gang which is destroying ... is headed by that fat-bellied Rasputin," and linking him to ministerial rotations that prioritized loyalty over competence. , prior to his 1911 assassination, sought police inquiries into Rasputin's finances and seductions, viewing him as a security risk; these efforts were quashed by imperial protection. Satirical press like the St. Petersburg Gazette ran caricatures and leaks of his telegrams, while opposition pamphlets from onward accused him of treasonous counsel against mobilization, though such claims often blended verifiable indiscretions with wartime hysteria. These broadsides, echoed in aristocratic salons, intensified calls for his removal to restore governmental integrity.

Assassination and Death

The Yusupov Conspiracy and Attempted Poisoning

In early November 1916, Prince initiated a conspiracy to assassinate Grigori Rasputin, motivated by perceptions of the starets's undue influence over Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra, which conspirators believed undermined Russia's war effort against . Yusupov enlisted Dmitri Pavlovich, a cousin of the tsar, and , a far-right deputy known for public denunciations of Rasputin as a threat to the . The plot crystallized after Rasputin's advocacy for peace with alarmed British interests, though direct involvement remains speculative and unproven. The conspirators selected Yusupov's residence in Petrograd for the act, planning to administer via cakes and laced by army physician Stanislaus de Lazovert, who procured the poison under . On the evening of December 29, 1916 (December 16 Old Style), Yusupov lured Rasputin to the palace under the of introducing him to his wife, Princess Irina, though she was absent to avoid witnesses. Rasputin arrived around 11 p.m., and over the next hour, he consumed several cyanide-laced pastries and glasses of wine without apparent effect, continuing to converse and demand more. Yusupov's memoir recounts Rasputin's resilience with dramatic flair, claiming the starets showed no signs of despite doses sufficient to kill multiple men, attributing it to fortitude or prior exposure building tolerance. However, the official by pathologist Dmitri Kosorotov found no traces of in Rasputin's , casting doubt on the poisoning's occurrence or efficacy, possibly due to improper preparation, Rasputin's aversion to sweets neutralizing the dose in the cakes, or fabrication to embellish the narrative. Low gastric acidity in Rasputin could have further inactivated the , as the poison requires acidic conditions to release lethal gas. Purishkevich later boasted of the failed attempt to comrades outside, confirming the conspirators' intent but highlighting the method's failure, prompting escalation to firearms.

Execution and Forensic Evidence

After the cyanide-laced food and wine failed to kill Rasputin—later confirmed by the absence of any poison in his system during —Yusupov retrieved a and shot him once in the chest or abdomen at close range in the of the around 2:00 a.m. on December 30, 1916 (Old Style). Rasputin collapsed but soon recovered enough to attack Yusupov, knocking over a table and fleeing toward the courtyard while firing a return shot that wounded Yusupov's butler. Yusupov alerted the other conspirators, including Dmitry Pavlovich and ; Purishkevich then shot Rasputin multiple times in the back and head as he staggered outside, with some accounts attributing the final forehead shot to British agent Oswald Rayner using a Webley .455 , based on ballistic of the entry wound's markings. The group beat the still-moving Rasputin with a rubber truncheon and an iron bar, possibly mutilating his genitals in the process, before binding his hands and feet and wrapping him in a fur coat. They drove his body to the Bolshoi Petrovsky Bridge over the frozen Malaya Nevka River and dumped it through a pre-cut hole in the ice around 4:00–5:00 a.m. Rasputin's body surfaced the next day, December 31, after a worker noticed it under the ice; it was recovered by police and identified by his right eye's peculiar stare and possessions. An conducted that evening by Dmitry Kosorotov at Chesme Hospital revealed three gunshot entry wounds—one penetrating the liver from the right , one the left from the back, and a contact to the (or occiput in some reports)—along with an exit , contusions from blunt force, and bloody foam in the airways indicating drowning, though the bullets alone were likely fatal. No traces of cyanide or other poisons were detected in Rasputin's stomach contents, undermining claims of effective poisoning and suggesting the potassium cyanide may have been improperly prepared, insufficiently dosed, neutralized by sugar in the cakes and wine (forming cyanohydrins), or minimally consumed due to Rasputin's aversion to sweets. Kosorotov's full report was lost amid revolutionary chaos, but his contemporary statements and later reviews confirm the gunshot wounds as the primary cause, with drowning as a secondary factor after submersion while incapacitated but possibly conscious. Claims of superhuman resilience, such as surviving massive poison doses or multiple shots due to physiological anomalies, lack empirical support and stem from conspirators' embellished memoirs rather than forensic data.

Aftermath and Public Reactions

Rasputin's corpse was recovered from the River on 1 1917 (New Style), bound and showing evidence of prolonged struggle, prompting immediate rumors of resilience among witnesses. An conducted by Dmitry Kosorotov determined drowning as the primary cause of death, with three bullet wounds and no traces of absorption, though these findings fueled further speculation rather than dispelling myths. Tsarina Alexandra reacted with profound grief, preserving Rasputin's blood-stained shirt as a relic and pleading with Tsar Nicholas II to return from the front, viewing the loss as a divine blow to the dynasty's stability. Nicholas publicly denounced the killing as a criminal act but imposed lenient punishments on the conspirators: was exiled to his family's estate in Province, Dmitri Pavlovich was dispatched to the Persian front amid wartime needs, and faced no formal penalty due to his status. This measured response reflected Nicholas's ambivalence, as private accounts suggest he was not deeply mournful, yet it failed to alter the imperial couple's governance or restore public confidence in the monarchy. Public reactions in Petrograd were polarized yet predominantly celebratory among urban elites and the middle classes, with crowds kissing in the streets, lighting candles at the Kazan Cathedral, and openly approving phrases like "a dog's death for a dog" in market queues. Peasants and rural followers, however, mourned Rasputin as a holy man persecuted by aristocratic intrigue, contrasting sharply with the nobility's relief at the removal of a perceived corrupting influence. Rumors proliferated, including claims of Rasputin's survival or involvement of imperial daughters, amplifying disorder in the war-weary capital. A modest funeral service was held on 2 January 1917 at a chapel in , attended solely by the imperial family and select retainers after initial clerical refusal; Rasputin was interred in the imperial park, but revolutionaries exhumed and cremated the remains in March 1917 to prevent it becoming a pilgrimage site. The assassination, intended by conspirators to avert collapse, instead underscored the regime's frailty, hastening the less than two months later without prompting substantive reforms.

Legacy and Reappraisals

Propagation of Myths in Soviet and Western Narratives

In the , Bolshevik propagandists and official historiography amplified preexisting rumors of Rasputin's debauchery and undue influence to depict him as emblematic of Tsarist Russia's systemic corruption and irrationality, thereby rationalizing the 1917 Revolution as an inevitable purge of feudal backwardness. This portrayal framed Rasputin not merely as a personal advisor but as a symptom of autocratic decay, where a mystic's sway over illustrated the monarchy's detachment from proletarian realities and vulnerability to obscurantism. Soviet media, including films like the 1928 German-Soviet co-production Rasputin, reinforced this by presenting him as a manipulative force hastening imperial collapse, aligning with Marxist-Leninist narratives that prioritized class struggle over individual agency. Such depictions, disseminated through state-controlled literature and education from the onward, served to delegitimize the Romanovs while suppressing monarchist counter-narratives, though internal inconsistencies emerged, as evidenced by the decade-long of Elem Klimov's Agony (filmed 1975, released 1985), which humanized Rasputin's religious motivations and was criticized for insufficiently condemning the old regime. Western narratives, by contrast, propagated Rasputin myths primarily through commercial entertainment and émigré sensationalism, transforming fragmented pre-revolutionary gossip into a durable of the exotic, hyper-sexualized "" whose alleged hypnotic control symbolized Russia's perceived . Prince Felix Yusupov's 1927 memoir Lost Splendor (including chapters on Rasputin) exaggerated the details—claiming immunity to , multiple survivable gunshots, and superhuman endurance—to craft a heroic tale, which sold over 100,000 copies in its first year and directly influenced early Hollywood productions like MGM's (), starring and grossing significantly amid public fascination with Bolshevik-era intrigue. These accounts, echoed in British and American press during (e.g., reports in of amplifying unverified orgies and German espionage links), detached Rasputin from verifiable evidence—such as police records limiting his role to sporadic health interventions for Alexei—and instead emphasized lurid tropes for market appeal, persisting in mid-20th-century films like (1966) and Boney M.'s 1978 hit "Rasputin," which falsely asserted he "loved the queen" and orchestrated court seductions. Both Soviet and Western propagations selectively ignored primary sources, such as Rasputin's own 1914 correspondence advocating patriotic war efforts or court diaries documenting his exclusion from core policy decisions, prioritizing ideological utility or narrative drama over causal analysis of the Romanovs' downfall, which stemmed more from and economic strains than one man's counsel. Soviet accounts, shaped by on truth, exhibited systematic anti-monarchist distortion, while , driven by profit and Russophobic stereotypes, favored unverifiable anecdotes from biased exiles like Yusupov, whose credibility was undermined by his admitted fabrications for literary effect. Modern evaluations, drawing on declassified archives, reveal these myths as politically expedient distortions rather than empirical .

Modern Historical Evaluations and Debunkings

In the decades following the Soviet era, historians such as Douglas Smith have systematically reevaluated Rasputin's role by consulting primary sources including police reports, court documents, and correspondence, concluding that portrayals of him as a malevolent puppet master controlling the Romanov dynasty were largely fabricated by political opponents to delegitimize the monarchy. Smith's analysis reveals that while Rasputin advised Tsarina Alexandra on ministerial appointments during World War I—particularly after 1915, when Tsar Nicholas II assumed personal command of the army—his recommendations were often ignored or overridden, with Nicholas retaining ultimate decision-making authority on matters like the dismissal of Prime Minister Ivan Goremykin in January 1916. This limited sway stemmed from Alexandra's reliance on Rasputin's spiritual counsel amid her son Alexei's hemophilia crises, rather than any hypnotic or occult domination, a notion unsupported by eyewitness accounts or medical evidence. Claims of Rasputin's supernatural healing abilities, central to his "" image, have been attributed by modern scholars to psychological reassurance and coincidence rather than ; for instance, Alexei's recoveries after Rasputin's prayers in 1912 and 1914 aligned with natural remission patterns of the disease, as documented in royal physician records, without of Rasputin administering treatments beyond verbal comfort. Allegations of rampant debauchery, including orgies at the imperial court and an affair with , originate from forged diaries and sensationalized memoirs by figures like Prince Felix Yusupov, whose self-serving accounts post-assassination amplified rumors to portray Rasputin as a degenerate justifying the . Archival confirms Rasputin engaged in extramarital relations and visited brothels in St. Petersburg around 1913–1915, but these were sporadic and typical of itinerant pilgrims, not the systematic corruption depicted in propaganda; police surveillance files note no involvement with royalty or state secrets. The narrative of Rasputin's assassination as proof of superhuman endurance—surviving poison, bullets, and beatings—has been debunked through forensic reexaminations of the 1916 autopsy, which indicate death by drowning after initial gunshot wounds to the chest and forehead, with the alleged potassium cyanide either absent, ineffective due to improper preparation, or not ingested, as Yusupov's confectionery poison test yielded no toxicology confirmation. Historians emphasize that such myths, propagated in Soviet historiography to symbolize tsarist decay and echoed in Western popular culture, served anti-monarchist agendas; for example, Bolshevik narratives post-1917 exaggerated Rasputin's influence to explain the regime's collapse without addressing structural failures like military defeats in 1915. Another persistent sensational claim involves an object purported to be Rasputin's preserved penis, displayed in a private museum in St. Petersburg and promoted by its founder, urologist Igor Knyazkin, though widely regarded as dubious by historians, with no credible peer-reviewed DNA testing or scientific verification confirming its authenticity. Contemporary evaluations, drawing on declassified Okhrana (secret police) dossiers, portray Rasputin as a devout if flawed peasant starets whose charisma exploited elite anxieties, but whose actual impact on policy was marginal compared to wartime mismanagement and public discontent.

Family and Descendants

Marriage and Children

Rasputin married Praskovya Fyodorovna Dubrovina, a fellow peasant from Pokrovskoye, in February 1887. The couple resided primarily in the Siberian village, where Praskovya managed the household and family affairs while Rasputin pursued pilgrimages and later his activities in St. Petersburg. She outlived her husband, remaining in Pokrovskoye amid the family's hardships following his death. Together, they had seven children, though only three survived to adulthood: son , born in 1895, and daughters Maria (also known as Matryona), born in 1898, and Varvara, born in 1900. The surviving children occasionally accompanied Rasputin to the capital, where Maria and Varvara interacted with the imperial family through intermediaries like . , the only son, remained more closely tied to the family home and later faced persecution under Soviet rule.

Notable Offspring and Their Lives

Grigori Rasputin and his wife Praskovya Fyodorovna had seven children, but only three—, Matryona (later known as Maria), and Varvara—survived to adulthood. These offspring faced significant hardships following their father's assassination in 1916 and the subsequent , which led to persecution of the family due to Rasputin's association with the Romanov court. Dmitry Rasputin, born in 1895, remained in Russia after the revolution, living initially with his mother in Pokrovskoye. He was arrested multiple times by Soviet authorities, including in 1930 on charges of anti-Soviet agitation, and died in 1933 from dysentery while in the village of Atkarsk. Varvara Rasputina, born in 1900, also stayed in initially but succumbed to in a hospital in 1925 at age 25. Matryona Rasputina, born on March 27, 1898, in Pokrovskoye, was the most prominent of Rasputin's surviving children. She fled in 1924 with her husband, Boris Soloviev, a officer, first settling in before moving to and eventually the . In exile, she worked as a dancer and tamer in circuses, including the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, leveraging her skills to support herself. Matryona authored three memoirs defending her father's reputation against prevailing myths, including Rasputin: The Man Behind the Myth (1929), and had two daughters with Soloviev before divorcing him; she later remarried Gregory Bernadsky without further children. She died on September 27, 1977, in .

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