Facts about Rasputin

No details of his birth date exist; he was probably born in January 1869, although he gave different birth dates at various stages of his life.

There is also uncertainty about his real name. Some studies state that his probable surname may have been Nowych, but also that this surname may have been adopted by him only with the approval of Nicholas II, as Rasputin was associated negatively.

Rasputin did not attend school and helped his father occasionally in the wagon business, transporting goods and people. He was known for his penchant for alcohol, tobacco, and women, as well as brawling in the local tavern and stealing. He was even called a horse thief.

A spiritual transformation began to take place in Rasputin. It is not known what caused it, whether the fact that his six-month-old first-born son died or the fact that he was severely battered while trying to steal horses.

He began to visit various monasteries and hermitages and made pilgrimages to holy places not only in Russia. In 1893 he traveled to what is now Greece, to the Orthodox center on Mount Athos, where he listened to the monks' theological discussions. He memorized the passages of Scripture and the writings of the Fathers of the Church, having never read them himself because he was semi-illiterate. However, the monastic life he experienced there discouraged him from remaining in the order.

He was recognized as a monk, clairvoyant and an exorcist, although he did not take vows. Today he would probably also be considered a bioenergy therapist because he healed people - as he claimed.

He developed a peculiar style of being and speaking, characteristic of the "Old Monk," which convinced simple people. He made an impression of an experienced monk teaching spiritual life and asceticism. He did not eat meat or sweets. The so-called "old age" was strongly inscribed in the Eastern tradition and was a solid spiritual movement in Russia in the 19th century.

That was when the so-called "Rasputin circle" was formed, which initially grouped people from Rasputin's native village, calling themselves "brothers and sisters." Later, people outside the local community began to join this circle.

The accusations went to the governor and the Orthodox authorities, who did not find any irregularities in Rasputin's activities. He continued to participate in the religious practices of the Orthodox Church and led an exemplary family life, although administrative and Orthodox authorities harassed him.

He traveled to St. Petersburg, and there, thanks to Archimandrite Chrysant (guardian of monasteries within a given diocese), he met with the rector of the Theological Academy and Archimandrite Theophanes, who offered him an apartment in his monastery cell. 
In discussions with the clergy, Rasputin delighted his interlocutors with simplicity, depth and sincerity of faith. Soon, however, unflattering opinions about him reached St. Petersburg, depicting him as an impostor and debauchee. He was advised to leave the city for a while.

Accompanied by them, he made several pilgrimages to Verkhoturia, to the grave of one of the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church, Simeon Verkhotursky.

The Tsar's family was then going through a difficult time, both in national governance and family troubles. Tsar Nicholas II's only son, Alexei, was suffering from hemophilia. Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna was doing everything she could to cure her son.

He was allowed to be around the Tsar and his family without hindrance. After a few months, he gained considerable influence in Russian political affairs - among other things, he led to the resignation of a relative of the Tsar from a high-ranking military commander.

During one stay in his native village, an attempt on his life took place. One of the members of the former "Rasputin circle," Chionia Guseva, seduced and abandoned by Rasputin, broke into his home and stabbed him in the stomach. Although the wound was severe, Rasputin recovered quickly. It is believed that someone from religious circles may have been behind the assassination attempt.

Rasputin warned the Tsar against entering the conflict, even threatening the dynasty's fall if he, as the court's "prophet," were to die. It was not difficult to predict, knowing at least a little about Russia's international and internal situation.

Since Nicholas II spent all his time outside St. Petersburg, at the headquarters of the Russian military command in Mogilev, Rasputin, through Tsarina Alexandra, gained decisive influence over the staffing of positions in the Russian government. That is when he earned many enemies in court who plotted against him.

The Tsar suffered defeats at the front, and the situation in the country was very unstable, so there was increasing talk of the need to remove the Tsar from power. Monarchists defending Nicholas II blamed this situation on Rasputin and Tsarina Alexandra, who completely succumbed to the will of the alleged prophet.

The young monarchists headed by Prince Felix Yusupov lured Rasputin to Yusupov's palace, where he was treated to potassium cyanide-poisoned wine and cake.

Rasputin had some supernatural strength because not only under the effect of the poison and with his chest shot through, but he was also able to throw himself at Yusupov and choke him.

Violently pushed away by the prince, Rasputin escaped into the courtyard, and there were more shots fired at him, after which he fell. To be sure, the prince crushed his skull with a club. The conspirators tied up the fallen Rasputin and took him to the Neva, where Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich personally drowned him. It happened on December 30, 1916.

An examination of the corpse revealed that the victim was still alive when thrown into the water. Rasputin's right hand was freed from its bonds, and water was present in his lungs.

The perpetrators of the murder were quickly discovered, and they wanted to punish them severely, but this was opposed by the distant family of Tsar Nicholas II, for whom the murder of Rasputin was a patriotic act. As a result, the participants in the conspiracy were merely removed from the city.

Doubts were sown by the inconsistent testimony of the assassins and the lack of traces of poison in the victim's body. A British agent made the decisive shot to the head - the trace of this shot was visible in the post-mortem photo.

The Tsar's family attended, and the Tsarina placed an icon signed by all the funeral attendees in the coffin before closing it.

The ashes were scattered to the wind.

Shortly before his death, Rasputin wrote a letter to Tsar Nicholas II in which he announced that "no member of the Tsar's family would outlive him by more than two years." It turned out that less than three months after his death, the Tsar was forced to abdicate, and eighteen months later, the Romanov family was exterminated. Georgy Rasputin's ominous prophecy came true on July 17, 1918.

Among his female admirers were bohemians, court ladies and aristocrats. He never had enough of women and enchanted everyone he interacted with. In St. Petersburg, he had a circle of admirers, fanatical women unreservedly devoted to him and blindly in love. This fact is astonishing because he was not a handsome man. He had a face covered with wrinkles and did not care about hygiene.

There were times when queues lined up to wash the feet of the holy man. It was rumored that he was unusually generously endowed by nature. He also had his ways of attracting women, telling them they had to sin to be saved. And on top of that, you have to sin with him for him to get salvation too.

There, he managed to convince Tsarina Alexandra and gain her trust.