Grigori Rasputin was born on the 21st of January 1869 and is most well known for being the notorious ‘healer’ closely tied with the fall of the romanov dynasty.
He was born into a peasant village in Siberia and had an apparent ‘religious conversion experience’ after visiting a monastery in 1897. After travelling to St Petersburg sometime between 1903 and 1905, he captivated some people of influence and became a notable member of society himself. He became acquainted with the Tsar and Tsarina in November 1905.
Rasputin and the Romanovs
From the end of 1906, Rasputin was called to the Imperial Court to try to heal Nicholas II’s son Alexei, who was suffering from haemophilia. The Tsarina was fully convinced of Rasputin’s ‘powers’ and thought that he truly could heal her only son, however, to the rest of court and the general public he was a very divisive figure. Some people thought he was holy, mystic, or a prophet, while others thought he was a scam, or worse, a cursed figure who was actually hurting Alexei. Either way, he had undeniable influence and the favour of the Romanovs.
The first world war
Rasputin was most powerful during the first world war. In 1915, Nicholas II decided that he needed to lead his troops in person, and so left the court in the charge of the Tsarina. However, the combination of the fact that the Tsarina was a woman and so many would not defer to her, despite her crown, and the fact that the Tsarina was somewhat enamoured with Rasputin for ‘saving’ her son, meant the Rasputin started to gain an exceptional amount of influence and power at court.
Rasputin’s controversy and the discrediting of the Romanovs
In addition to the aforementioned divided in public opinion of him, there also started to be many damning tales attached to Rasputin. There were rumours of him assaulting female members of the court and behaving inappropriately with the tsar’s teenage daughters, also of him accepting bribes and sexual favours from his admirers. Some even went as far as to damn him of heresy. Whether these rumours are true or not, it does not change the fact that , by 1914/1915 Rasputin was intricately intertwined with the Romanovs and so, the controversy that was attached to him was also associated with the Romanovs, which meant that they were being discredited by association, and public opinion of them fell.
The death of Rasputin
By December 1916, the Imperial Court had had enough of Rasputin. A group of nobles, led by Prince Felix, devised a plan to assassinate him. All that can be confirmed about the events of this plot is that Rasputin died in the early morning on the 30th of December 1916 from the three gunshot wounds he had sustained, one of which was a close range shot to the forehead.
However, there is a story that was recounted by Prince Felix later on in his memoires which described the night’s event as follows.
Rasputin was invited to the palace on the promise of engaging in some form of scandalous fun. When he arrived, Felix offered him some tea and cakes which had been laced with cyanide. Rasputin proceeded to eat the cakes and, much to the surprise of Felix, appeared entirely unaffected. Rasputin then asked for some wine, which had also been poisoned, drank three glasses, and was totally fine. Felix then excused himself to where the other conspirators were hiding, took one of their revolvers, then returned to Rasputin and shot him in the chest. The conspirators then returned to Rasputin’s home to make it look like he made it home alive, then returned to where they’d left the body. Upon returning, Rasputin stood up and attacked Felix. Felix freed himself and ran out across the courtyard, chased by Rasputin. Throughout the chase Rasputin was shot again, and continued running, and then one more time in the head where he finally collapsed. The conspirators then rolled Rasputin’s body up in a cloth and dropped it into a river.