Grigory Rasputin is a well-known and controversial figure in Russian history, debates about which have been going on for a century. His life is filled with a mass of inexplicable events and facts related to his closeness to the family of Emperor Nicholas II and his influence on the fate of the Russian Empire.
Some historians consider him an immoral charlatan and a swindler, while others are confident that Rasputin was a real seer and healer, which allowed him to gain influence over the royal family.Not a single tsar, commander, scientist, statesman in Rus' had such popularity, fame and influence as this semi-literate man from the Urals gained. His talent as a soothsayer and his mysterious death are still a matter of debate for historians. Who was Rasputin really?...
Speaking surname
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin really happened to live at the crossroads of historical roads and was destined to become a witness and participant in the tragic choice that was made at that time.
Grigory Rasputin was born on January 9 (21 according to the new style) in the village of Pokrovsky, Tyumen district, Tobolsk province. The ancestors of Grigory Efimovich came to Siberia among the first pioneers. For a long time they bore the surname Izosimov, named after the same Izosim who moved from the Vologda land beyond the Urals. The two sons of Nason Izosimov began to be called Rasputin - and, accordingly, their descendants. 
Here is how researcher A. Varlamov writes about the family of Grigory Rasputin: “The children of Anna and Efim Rasputin died one after another. First, in 1863, after living for several months, daughter Evdokia died, a year later another girl, also named Evdokia.
The third daughter was named Glykeria, but she lived only a few months. On August 17, 1867, son Andrei was born, who, like his sisters, turned out to be a non-tenant. Finally, in 1869, the fifth child, Gregory, was born. The name was given according to the calendar in honor of St. Gregory of Nyssa, famous for his sermons against fornication."
With a dream about God
Rasputin is often portrayed as almost a giant, a monster with iron health and the ability to eat glass and nails. In fact, Gregory grew up as a weak and sickly child.
Later, he wrote about his childhood in an autobiographical essay, which he called “The Life of an Experienced Wanderer”: “My whole life was illness. Medicine did not help me. Every spring I did not sleep for forty nights. It was as if I was sleeping like oblivion, and spent all my time.” .
At the same time, already in childhood, Gregory’s thoughts differed from the train of thought of the common man in the street. Grigory Efimovich himself writes about it this way:
“At the age of 15 in my village, when the sun was warm and the birds sang heavenly songs, I walked along the path and did not dare to walk in the middle of it... I dreamed of God... My soul longed for the distance... More than once, dreaming like this, I cried and did not know where the tears came from and why they were. I believed in the good, the kind, and I often sat with the old people, listening to their stories about the lives of saints, great deeds, great deeds.
The Power of Prayer
Gregory early realized the power of his prayer, which manifested itself in relation to both animals and people. This is how his daughter Matryona writes about this: “From my grandfather, I know about my father’s extraordinary ability to handle domestic animals. Standing next to a restive horse, he could, placing his hand on its neck, quietly say a few words, and the animal would immediately calm down. And when he watched the milking, the cow became completely docile. 
One day at dinner, my grandfather said that his horse was lame. Hearing this, the father silently rose from the table and went to the stable. The grandfather followed and saw his son stand for a few seconds near the horse in concentration, then go up to the back leg and put his palm on the hamstring. He stood with his head slightly thrown back, then, as if deciding that the healing had been accomplished, he stepped back, stroked the horse and said: “You feel better now.”
After that incident, my father became like a miracle worker veterinarian. Then he began to treat people too. "God helped."
Guilty without guilt
As for Gregory’s dissolute and sinful youth, accompanied by horse stealing and orgies, this is nothing more than later fabrications of newspapermen. Matryona Rasputina in her book claims that her father was so perspicacious from a young age that he “saw” the thefts of others several times and therefore for himself personally excluded the very possibility of theft: it seemed to him that others “see” it just as much as he does .
I looked through all the testimony about Rasputin that was given during the investigation in the Tobolsk Consistory. Not a single witness, even the most hostile to Rasputin (and there were many of them) accused him of theft or horse stealing. 
Colonel Dmitry Loman, Grigory Rasputin and Prince Mikhail Putyatin.
Nevertheless, Gregory still experienced injustice and human cruelty. One day he was unfairly accused of horse theft and was severely beaten, but the investigation soon found the culprits, who were sent to Eastern Siberia. All charges against Gregory were dropped.
Family life
No matter how many amorous stories are attributed to Rasputin, nevertheless, as Varlamov rightly notes, he had a beloved wife:
“Everyone who knew her spoke well of this woman. Rasputin married when he was eighteen years old. His wife was three years older than him, hard-working and patient. She gave birth to seven children, the first three of whom died.”
Grigory Efimovich met his betrothed at the dances that he loved so much. This is how his daughter Matryona writes about it: “Mom was tall and stately, she loved to dance no less than he did. Her name was Praskovya Fedorovna Dubrovina, Parasha... 
Rasputin with children (from left to right): Matryona, Varya, Mitya.
The beginning of them family life was happy. But then trouble came - the first-born lived only a few months. The boy's death affected his father even more than his mother. He took the loss of his son as a sign that he had been waiting for, but he could not have imagined that this sign would be so terrible.
He was haunted by one thought: the death of a child is a punishment for the fact that he thought so little about God. The father prayed. And prayers consoled the pain. A year later, the second son, Dmitry, was born, then - with an interval of two years - daughters Matryona and Varya. My father started building a new house - two-story, the largest in Pokrovsky..." 
Rasputin's house in Pokrovskoye
His family laughed at him. He didn't eat meat or sweets, I heard different voices, walked from Siberia to St. Petersburg and back, eating alms. In the spring, he had exacerbations - he did not sleep for many days in a row, sang songs, shook his fists at Satan and ran in the cold in only a shirt.
His prophecies consisted of calls to repentance “before trouble comes.” Sometimes, by pure coincidence, trouble happened the very next day (huts burned, livestock got sick, people died) - and the peasants began to believe that the blessed man had the gift of foresight. He gained followers... and followers.
This went on for about ten years. Rasputin learned about the Khlysty (sectarians who beat themselves with whips and suppressed lust through group sex), as well as the Skoptsy (preachers of castration) who separated from them. It is assumed that he adopted some of their teachings and more than once personally “delivered” pilgrims from sin in the bathhouse.
At the “divine” age of 33, Gregory begins to storm St. Petersburg. Having secured recommendations from provincial priests, he settles with the rector of the Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius, the future Stalinist patriarch. He, impressed by the exotic character, represents the “old man” (long years of wandering on foot gave the young Rasputin the appearance of an old man) strong of the world this. Thus began the path of the “man of God” to glory. 
Rasputin with his fans (mostly female fans).
Rasputin's first loud prophecy was the prediction of the death of our ships at Tsushima. Perhaps he got it from newspaper news reports that a squadron of old ships had sailed to meet the modern Japanese fleet without observing secrecy measures.
Ave, Caesar!
The last ruler of the House of Romanov was distinguished by lack of will and superstition: he considered himself Job, doomed to trials, and kept meaningless diaries, where he shed virtual tears, looking at how his country was going downhill.
The queen also lived in isolation from the real world and believed in the supernatural power of the “elders of the people.” Knowing this, her friend, the Montenegrin princess Milica, took outright scoundrels to the palace. The monarchs listened to the ravings of swindlers and schizophrenics with childish delight. The war with Japan, the revolution and the illness of the prince finally unbalanced the pendulum of the weak royal psyche. Everything was ready for Rasputin's appearance.
For a long time, only daughters were born in the Romanov family. To conceive a son, the queen resorted to the help of the French magician Philip. It was he, and not Rasputin, who was the first to take advantage of the spiritual naivety of the royal family.
The scale of the chaos that reigned in the minds of the last Russian monarchs (one of the most educated people of that time) can be judged by the fact that the queen felt safe thanks to a magic icon with a bell that supposedly rang when evil people approached. 
Nicky and Alix during their engagement (late 1890s)
The first meeting of the Tsar and Tsarina with Rasputin took place on November 1, 1905 at the palace over tea. He dissuaded the weak-willed monarchs from escaping to England (they say they were already packing their things), which, most likely, would have saved them from death and would have sent Russian history in a different direction.
The next time, he gave the Romanovs a miraculous icon (found from them after the execution), then allegedly healed Tsarevich Alexei, who had hemophilia, and eased the pain of Stolypin’s daughter, wounded by terrorists. The shaggy man forever captured the hearts and minds of the august couple.
The Emperor personally arranges for Gregory to change his dissonant surname to “New” (which, however, did not stick). Soon Rasputin-Novykh acquires another lever of influence at court - the young maid of honor Anna Vyrubova, who idolized the “elder” (a close friend of the queen - according to rumors, even too close, who slept with her in the same bed). He becomes the confessor of the Romanovs and comes to the Tsar at any time without an appointment for an audience. 
Please note that in all photographs Rasputin always holds one hand raised.
At court, Gregory was always “in character,” but outside the political scene he was completely transformed. Having bought himself a new house in Pokrovskoye, he took noble St. Petersburg fans there. There the “elder” put on expensive clothes, became self-satisfied, and gossiped about the king and nobles.
Every day he showed the queen (whom he called “mother”) miracles: he predicted the weather or exact time the king's return home. It was then that Rasputin made his most famous prediction: “As long as I live, the dynasty will live.”
The growing power of Rasputin did not suit the court. Cases were brought against him, but each time the “elder” very successfully left the capital, going either home to Pokrovskoye or on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
In 1911, the Synod spoke out against Rasputin. Bishop Hermogenes (who ten years ago expelled a certain Joseph Dzhugashvili from the theological seminary) tried to drive out the devil from Gregory and publicly beat him on the head with a cross. Rasputin was under police surveillance, which did not stop until his death. 
Rasputin, Bishop Hermogenes and Hieromonk Iliodor
Secret agents watched through the windows the most piquant scenes from the life of a man who would soon be called “the holy devil.” Once suppressed, rumors about Grishka’s sexual adventures began to swell with renewed vigor. The police recorded Rasputin's visits to baths in the company of prostitutes and wives of influential people.
Copies of the Tsarina’s tender letter to Rasputin circulated around St. Petersburg, from which it could be concluded that they were lovers. These stories were picked up by newspapers - and the word “Rasputin” became known throughout Europe.
Public health
People who believed in Rasputin's miracles believe that he himself, as well as his death, are mentioned in the Bible itself:
“And if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."(Mark 16-18).
Today no one doubts that Rasputin really had a beneficial effect on the physical condition of the prince and the mental stability of his mother. How did he do it? 
The queen at the bedside of the sick heir
Contemporaries noted that Rasputin’s speech was always incoherent; it was very difficult to follow his thoughts. Huge, with long arms, a tavern floorman's hairstyle and a spade beard, he often talked to himself and patted his thighs.
Without exception, all of Rasputin's interlocutors recognized his unusual look - deeply sunken gray eyes, as if glowing from within and fettering your will. Stolypin recalled that when he met Rasputin, he felt that they were trying to hypnotize him. 
Rasputin and the Tsarina drink tea
This certainly influenced the king and queen. However, it is difficult to explain the repeated relief of the royal children from pain. Rasputin's main healing weapon was prayer - and he could pray all night long.
One day in Belovezhskaya Pushcha the heir began to experience severe internal bleeding. Doctors told his parents that he would not survive. A telegram was sent to Rasputin asking him to heal Alexei from a distance. He quickly recovered, which greatly surprised the court doctors.
Kill the dragon
The man who called himself “little fly” and appointed officials by telephone call was illiterate. He learned to read and write only in St. Petersburg. He left behind only short notes filled with terrible scribbles.
Until the end of his life, Rasputin looked like a tramp, which repeatedly prevented him from “picking” prostitutes for daily orgies. The wanderer quickly forgot about a healthy lifestyle - he drank and drunkenly called ministers with various “petitions”, failure to fulfill which was career suicide.
Rasputin did not save money, either starving or throwing it left and right. He seriously influenced foreign policy country, twice persuading Nicholas not to start a war in the Balkans (inspiring the Tsar that the Germans are a dangerous force, and the “brothers,” i.e., the Slavs, are pigs). 
Facsimile of Rasputin's letter with a request for some of his protégés
When First world war However, it began, Rasputin expressed a desire to come to the front to bless the soldiers. The commander of the troops, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, promised to hang him on the nearest tree.
In response, Rasputin gave birth to another prophecy that Russia would not win the war until an autocrat (who had a military education, but showed himself to be an incompetent strategist) stood at the head of the army. The king, of course, led the army. With consequences known to history.
Politicians actively criticized the Tsarina, the “German spy,” not forgetting Rasputin. It was then that the image of a “gray eminence” was created, resolving all state issues, although in fact Rasputin’s power was far from absolute. German zeppelins scattered leaflets over the trenches, where the Kaiser leaned on the people, and Nicholas II on Rasputin’s genitals. The priests also did not lag behind. It was announced that the murder of Grishka is a good thing, for which “forty sins will be removed.”
On July 29, 1914, the mentally ill Khionia Guseva stabbed Rasputin in the stomach, shouting: “ I killed the Antichrist! Witnesses said that from the blow " Grishka's guts came out" The wound was fatal, but Rasputin pulled out. According to his daughter’s recollections, he had changed since then - he began to get tired quickly and took opium for pain. 
PrinceFelixFeliksovich Yusupov (1887-1967), killer of Rasputin.
Rasputin's death is even more mysterious than his life. The scenery of this drama is well known: on the night of December 17, 1916, Prince Felix Yusupov, Grand Duke Dmitry Romanov (rumored to be Yusupov's lover) and deputy Purishkevich invited Rasputin to the Yusupov Palace. There he was offered cakes and wine, generously flavored with cyanide. This supposedly had no effect on Rasputin.
“Plan B” was put into action: Yusupov shot Rasputin in the back with a revolver. While the conspirators were preparing to get rid of the body, he suddenly came to life, tore the shoulder strap off Yusupov’s shoulder and ran into the street. Purishkevich was not taken aback - with three shots he finally knocked down the “old man”, after which he only clanked his teeth and wheezed.
To be sure, he was beaten again, tied with a curtain and thrown into an ice hole in the Neva. The water that killed Rasputin's older brother and sister also took the life of the fatal man - but not immediately. An examination of the body, recovered three days later, showed the presence of water in the lungs (the autopsy report has not been preserved). This indicated that Grishka was alive and simply choked. 
Rasputin's corpse
The queen was furious, but at the insistence of Nicholas II, the murderers escaped punishment. The people praised them as deliverers from " dark forces" Rasputin was called everything: a demon, a German spy or the empress’s lover, but the Romanovs were faithful to him to the end: the most odious figure in Russia was buried in Tsarskoye Selo.
Two months later the February revolution broke out. Rasputin's prediction about the fall of the monarchy came true. On March 4, 1917, Kerensky ordered the body to be dug up and burned.
The exhumation took place at night, and according to the testimony of the exhumers, the burning corpse tried to rise. This was the final touch to the legend of Rasputin’s superstrength (it is believed that the person being cremated can move due to the contraction of the tendons in the fire, and therefore the latter should be cut). 
The act of burning Rasputin's body
« Who are you, Mr. Rasputin?- such a question could have been asked by British and German intelligence at the beginning of the 20th century. A clever werewolf or a simple-minded man? Rebel saint or sexual psychopath? To cast a shadow on a person, it is enough just to correctly illuminate his life.
It is reasonable to assume that the true appearance of the royal favorite was distorted beyond recognition by “black PR”. And minus the incriminating evidence, an ordinary man appears before us - an illiterate, but very cunning schizophrenic, who achieved fame only thanks to lucky coincidence circumstances and the obsession of the heads of the Romanov dynasty with religious metaphysics.
Attempts at canonization
Since the 1990s, radical-monarchist Orthodox circles have repeatedly proposed canonizing Rasputin as a holy martyr.
The ideas were rejected by the Synodal Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church and criticized by Patriarch Alexy II: " There is no reason to raise the question of the canonization of Grigory Rasputin, whose dubious morality and promiscuity cast a shadow on the august family of Tsar Nicholas II and his family".
Despite this, over the past ten years, religious admirers of Grigory Rasputin have published at least two akathists to him, and also painted about a dozen icons. 
Curious facts
Rasputin supposedly had an older brother, Dmitry (who caught a cold while swimming and died of pneumonia) and a sister, Maria (who suffered from epilepsy and drowned in the river). He named his children after them. Grishka named his third daughter Varvara.
Bonch-Bruevich knew Rasputin well.
The Yusupov family originates from the nephew of the Prophet Mohammed. Irony of fate: a distant relative of the founder of Islam killed a man who called himself an Orthodox saint.
After the overthrow of the Romanovs, Rasputin’s activities were investigated by a special commission, of which the poet Blok was a member. The investigation was never completed.
Rasputin's daughter Matryona managed to emigrate to France and then to the USA. There she worked as a dancer and tiger trainer. She died in 1977.
The remaining family members were dispossessed and exiled to camps, where their trace was lost.
Today the church does not recognize the holiness of Rasputin, pointing out his dubious morality.
Yusupov successfully sued MGM over the film about Rasputin. After this incident, films began to put a warning about fiction: “all coincidences are accidental.”
Dates and last name
Historians cannot accurately determine not only the day, but even the year of birth of Grigory Rasputin. Some argue that 1, 10 or January 23, while others are sure that he was born July 29. With the year of birth it is even more complicated. There are options:
- 1864;
- 1865;
- 1871;
- 1872
Everyone calls the village of Pokrovskoye in the Tyumen province the place of birth of Gregory. He was born into an ordinary peasant family and was sick a lot as a child. Interesting fact - real name Rasputin, according to documents Grigory bore the surname New. He received his nickname because of his dissolute lifestyle. 
Supernatural abilities
Gregory became famous throughout almost all of Tsarist Russia thanks to his supernatural abilities. Rasputin regularly predicted the future. He was able to predict the defeat of the Russian army in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, tried to influence the events preceding the First World War, but was unable to because he was being treated for a serious wound. But he sent a telegram to the king:
“There is a terrible cloud over Russia: there is trouble, there is a lot of grief, there is no light, there is a sea of tears, and there is no measure, but blood? What will I say? There are no words, but indescribable horror. I know that everyone wants war from you, and the faithful, not knowing that it is for the sake of death. God’s punishment is severe when He blocks the way... You are the king, the father of the people... do not allow the insane to triumph and destroy themselves and the people... Everything is drowning in the great blood... Gregory.”
In addition to the gift of prediction Grigory Rasputin was a famous healer. The queen gave him complete carte blanche to treat her son. He managed to save him and was included in the royal family as the main healer, and then as an adviser.
The dissolute life of Rasputin
Grigory changed his last name to a nickname, since he was better known by it. All of Tsarist Russia gossiped about his evening festivities, a sea of alcohol and numerous orgies. There is evidence that Rasputin was a member of the Khlyst sect, which preached the principle of “ If you don’t sin, you won’t repent, if you don’t repent, God won’t forgive, God won’t forgive, you won’t be closer to him, He won’t see your soul." Therefore, he combined prayer with sexual intercourse. Gregory allegedly assured women that by having sex with him, they would be cleansed of all sins. 
Those around the royal family constantly tried to convey to them that Gregory was an ordinary charlatan who drinks a lot, cheats and regularly changes women, despite the fact that he is married. However, Grigory Rasputin managed to convince the tsar that this was all slander.
Murder of Rasputin
The death of Grigory Rasputin is shrouded in no less mystery than his life. Historians are confident that the conspiracy against the seer was led by the heir to the largest fortune in Russia, the husband of the emperor’s niece, Prince Felix Yusupov. However, in recent years, a version has emerged that British intelligence was involved in the murder of Rasputin, but this version has no official confirmation.
| strana.ru
Witnesses claim that Grigory Rasputin was invited to visit by Felix Yusupov, allegedly to introduce him to the emperor’s niece. Many delicious dishes and sweets were served on the table, which contained potassium cyanide, however, the poison had no effect on Gregory. Noticing this, the killers shot at Rasputin several times, but the bullets could not kill him.
The healer tried to escape from the palace, but was shot in the head at point-blank range. Even after this, Grigory tried to get up, so they tied him up, put him in a bag and threw him into the hole. The autopsy showed that Rasputin continued to fight for life, even being at the bottom of the ice hole, but was unable to untangle the bag.
December 30 (17) marks 100 years since the murder of Grigory Rasputin. His very identity and the circumstances of this event are still the subject of controversy and discussion.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the murder of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, but to this day controversy about his identity continues. For some, he is “a holy devil, a libertine, a whip, the evil genius of a weak king, a sign of a lost kingdom.” For others - an innocently slandered, holy elder, martyr, close friend of the Royal Family. Apparently, the time has come to move away from controversy and sine ira et cura - “without anger or partiality” - to explore the Rasputin phenomenon, relying on reliable sources. But at the same time, one should remember the words of the famous historian A.S. Lappo-Danilevsky about the source as a product of psychological activity, a mirror of someone else's animation. And above all, we must not forget the famous Cartesian “Question everything,” especially the numerous myths about Rasputin and the Royal Family.
The first myth is about a weak, weak-willed Tsar, henpecked by the German Queen, who tolerated a depraved man in his house at the suggestion of his exalted wife. There is no need to elaborate on how this gossip worked in the fateful days of February 1917. And let us note that it was developed and carried by the inhabitants of high society salons, those who beat the Tsar in the back, and then, when he left the throne, became confused, became cowardly and either ran away, or obediently went to the Bolshevik slaughter, or intrigued in the rear of the white armies, as no time in St. Petersburg salons, so that later in exile he could engage in “wit on the stairs,” or rather, in Parisian attics.
Let us also not forget that the Germans made full use of this gossip during the war, scattering disgusting caricatures of Rasputin and Royal Family.
So the source of information is dubious and biased. And now - on the merits.
Was the holy Emperor Nicholas a man of weak will, who spent 23 years at the gunpoint of terrorists? Was this the Tsar who, by his will, moved the center of economic and political development from the West of the country to the East, the builder of Port Arthur, Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway? Was this the Emperor who overcame the difficult revolution of 1905, during which the country rapidly modernized and progressed, despite powerful revolutionary and centrifugal currents? Was this the Tsar who took responsibility for the army in the most difficult days of destruction in 1915 and stopped the collapse, preventing large-scale military defeat and a German breakthrough to Kyiv, Moscow and Petrograd? Finally, what we know about February 1917 also does not give us any reason to consider him a man of weak will. The sovereign did everything to suppress the rebellion; another thing is that all his orders were sabotaged.
And secondly, the myth that the Tsar knew everything about Rasputin, but tolerated him for the sake of the life of his heir, Tsarevich Alexei. Then it turns out that for the sake of his son’s life the Emperor sacrificed his principles. But how can we reconcile with this the fact that in 1915-1916 the Tsar took the Tsarevich to the front, despite his severe hemophiliac disease? So, he was able to risk even the health of his son for the sake of his upbringing and defense of the Fatherland? The level of moral purity and spiritual purity of the Sovereign would not have allowed him to tolerate such a person as the newspaper Rasputin, if he considered the accusations against him to be justified. So, I didn’t count. And he had his reasons for that.
And they were rooted in the fact that the accusations against Rasputin to a large extent came from very dubious and dark sources and from dark persons. Here is one of the main accusers of Rasputin - Hieromonk Iliodor (Trufanov), an inveterate religious adventurer, stripped of his hair for actions of a sectarian nature, who published abroad an openly slanderous book "The Holy Devil", where, for the amusement of American and other readers, he mixed not only Rasputin, but and the Royal Family. It is characteristic that before its publication he offered the Empress the book... to buy it, but so that everyone knew about it. According to the reasoned opinion of Oleg Platonov, the famous information cynic A. Amphiteatrov, author of the play “The Deceitful Lords,” had a hand in compiling this book. It was Iliodor and Amfitheatrov who stood at the origins of the “Hollywood” version of Rasputin: a depraved man who bewitched everyone, including the Tsar and Tsarina - unfortunately, the most famous and most sought after by society.
An interesting story is the reports on the surveillance of Rasputin by external guards, analyzed by Platonov. When the Ministry of Internal Affairs was headed by Stolypin, the reports were calm, impartial, and incriminating evidence could not be extracted from them. The extracts are supported by authentic reports. On the contrary, when the ministry was run by Khvostov and Beletsky, well-known adventurers, the genuine reports of the agents disappeared somewhere, they were replaced by rather general and irresponsible statements without names, without verification of compromising “facts”.
By the way, the opinion of General P.G. about Rasputin is typical. Kurlov, director of the police department, comrade minister of internal affairs: “This time I was struck only by Rasputin’s serious acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures and theological issues. He behaved with restraint and not only did not show a shadow of boasting, but did not say a single word about his relationship with the Royal Family. Likewise, I did not notice any signs of hypnotic power in him and, leaving after this conversation, I could not help but say to myself that most of the rumors circulating about his influence on those around him belonged to the field of gossip, to which Petersburg is always so susceptible.
Need I say that the attempt to convict Rasputin of the scandal in the Moscow restaurant “Yar” failed miserably? As a result of this provocation, Freemason Dzhunkovsky, who had put together a fake, was dismissed in disgrace, which fell apart after a thorough check.
And finally last fact: The Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry, charged with investigating the crimes of the tsarist regime, found NOTHING in Rasputin’s activities that could be presented to the revolutionary public. The cases about Khlystyism, and about bribes, and about carousing and debauchery, and about German money, fell apart completely. In general, a paradoxical situation arises in Rasputinia: dozens of anti-Rasputin testimonies, the authors of which had never seen Rasputin (for example, Rasputin’s ardent enemy Sukhomlinov writes: “I saw Rasputin once, walking around the station.” Nevertheless, he was unshakably convinced that it was Rasputin who was the reason for his resignation from the War Ministry, and not the decision of the Tsar and not his own mediocrity); dozens of anti-Rasputin articles, where the lack of details shocking the public is exceeded only by dishonesty in relation to the facts. Huge compromising evidence, but at its core there is nothing. Much ado about nothing.
Ask: but was there something? After all, it cannot be that all accusations of immorality are unfounded, and from different sides. Let us, dear readers, stand on legal ground, which for some reason is not always loved and respected in our country. There is a presumption of innocence, and a person can only be found criminal or guilty of anything by a decision of a court - secular or ecclesiastical. Regarding G.E. There were two investigations against Rasputin. And both ended with his perfect acquittal.
However, it may be objected that Rasputin was also condemned by very authoritative bishops known for their spiritual life, such as Bishops Feofan (Bistrov), Hermogenes (Golubev). This is true, but even holiness does not mean sinlessness and infallibility. For example, even such holy bishops as St. Epiphanius of Cyprus allowed themselves to be drawn into the work of St. John Chrysostom. Naturally, we are not comparing G.E. Rasputin with the ecumenical teacher John Chrysostom, we only strive to show that the flow of slander and public condemnation can affect even the most worthy. The fact itself is indicative that in 1912, Bishop Hermogenes came to G.E. Rasputin, together with the aforementioned Iliodor (Trufanov), and he, in front of the eyes of Bishop Hermogenes... beat Rasputin with a cross. It is also significant that most of the bishops did not support the Sovereign and the Empire in the fateful days of February and March 1917, and no one from the episcopate visited the Royal Family in their captivity - neither in St. Petersburg, nor in Tobolsk, nor in Yekaterinburg.
However, I feel that the meticulous reader is not appeased: there is no smoke without fire. Something happened?! Was. Gossip and the hunt for Rasputin. The first large-scale “black PR” campaign in Russian history. Is it a coincidence that in the distant Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, in the homeland of Rasputin, on June 29, 1914, on the day of the assassination attempt on him by the ardent admirer of Hieromonk Iliodor Khionia Guseva, the capital correspondent Duvidzon turned out to be at the scene of the crime, accurately reproducing in his publications the slanderous testimony of the accused, with whom, by the way, he was deprived of the opportunity to communicate?
And it’s clear that everyone was not interested in Rasputin himself. His closeness to the Royal Family was important. They aimed at him and shot at the Emperor and Empress. And successfully.
Third myth: Rasputin ruled Russia. On his recommendation, ministers, chief prosecutors, and ruling bishops were allegedly appointed and replaced. Meanwhile, the famous historian A.N. Bokhanov cites a very revealing fact: Rasputin tried to protect his son from mobilization during the war, but was met with a polite refusal from Emperor Nicholas. To his request, the Tsar replied that now every man must defend his Fatherland. The most that Grigory Efimovich managed to achieve was to send his son to the ambulance train.
And if we wash Rasputin from Hollywood makeup, then a very interesting face will appear.
Not very literate, but very well-read, an intelligent Siberian man who stands up for the people, taking the needs of his fellow villagers and ordinary Russian people in general to heart. His authentic notes give the impression of a balanced, circumstantial, sober, pious man. The image of a man faithful to Orthodoxy, faithful to Russia and the Tsar emerges. Rasputin's peasant "pacifism" is characteristic, a sober understanding that war brings death and destruction, immeasurable suffering to the people. According to Count Witte, in 1912 during the Balkan War, when serious tension arose between Russia and Austria-Hungary and the Emperor was about to announce mobilization, Rasputin, during a personal meeting, begged him on his knees not to do this and thereby contributed to the fact that Russia was granted two more years of peace.
The telegram he sent to the Tsar in July 1914, before the outbreak of the First World War, is very indicative: “Dear friend, I’ll tell you again, there’s a threatening cloud in Russia, there’s trouble, there’s a lot of darkness and there’s no light. There are so many words and no measure, but blood? What can I say? There are no words, indescribable horror. I know that everyone wants war from You, even the faithful, not knowing that it is for the sake of death. God's punishment is severe, when the mind is gone, this is the beginning of the end. You are the King, father of the people, do not allow the insane to triumph and destroy themselves and the people. They will defeat Germany, but what about Russia? To think so truly was nothing more bitter than the sufferer, all drowning in blood, death, endless sadness. Gregory."
If we leave aside spelling errors and folk-poetic style, this is a text that would do honor to the most profound analyst. It accurately reflects the state of a society obsessed with jingoism and mischief (remember the famous Cadet-Milyukov “Give me the Dardanelles!”) - a “sea of words”, for which you will have to pay with seas of blood, the insanity of the elite coming to the end. This is also a prediction that Germany will be defeated, but without Russia, which will drown in blood, apparently in its own. This is the providence of the revolution - “the beginning of the end.”
For this, he was hated by “jingoistic circles,” primarily the cadets, largely imbued with Masonic influence. The war for them was the prologue to the revolution. Rasputin clearly interfered with them. In many ways. Therefore, they decided to remove it.
In the second half of 1916, provocative rumors began to spread that the Tsar, under the influence of the German Empress, was preparing to conclude a separate peace and that Rasputin was allegedly inciting Alexandra Feodorovna to do so. It's hard to think of anything more absurd. Firstly, Emperor Nicholas did not work for almost two years on the reconstruction, reorganization and rearmament of the army in order to give up everything and surrender. By early 1917, everything was ready for a large-scale spring-summer offensive in agreement with the Allies. The army had everything - from the latest airplanes and submarines to warm uniforms in the style of the 17th century: the famous “budennovka” were originally called “bogatyrki” and were manufactured just in time for the onset of 1917. As for ammunition, all of Russia fought with them for another four years. Civil War. Secondly, it was not in the character of Emperor Nicholas ΙΙ to change his word and betray, moreover, it was pointless. If the 1917 campaign had been successful, Russia would have received all the fruits of victory, including the east of Asia Minor, the Dardanelles, Galicia, etc. And it would become the first power in the world. In the case of a separate peace, in the best case, its war-ravaged lands and after the defeat of the allies in the west would collide with the same Germany. Thirdly, Rasputin did not engage in anti-war agitation during the war: he did not approve of entering the war, but believed: having entered, we must complete the matter and win.
However, for some reason they decided to accuse Rasputin of Germanophilism, receiving money from the Germans, seeking a separate peace, and kill him. An amazing tandem was formed for the murder: the Black Hundred leader Germanophile Purishkevich and the effeminate Anglophile “gay” Prince F.F. Yusupov, who after the murder of Rasputin suffered a purely symbolic punishment. Purishkevich left behind a diary, Yusupov - memoirs. But there is still an investigative matter. And so it turns out amazing picture: the evidence of Purishkevich and Yusupov coincides in detail with each other, but sharply diverges from the investigation materials.
Firstly, in the description of the clothes. Purishkevich and Yusupov unanimously say that Rasputin was dressed in boots, untucked velvet trousers, and a cream-colored silk shirt embroidered with silks. The prosecutor of the judicial chamber S.V. Zavadsky testifies: the murdered man was dressed in a blue silk shirt embroidered with golden ears of corn. On his arm was a gold bracelet with the royal monogram, on his neck was a gold cross, and although the bracelet and cross were bright and memorable details, the killers did not say a word about it. Although they all say that Rasputin sat with them for two whole hours, drank poisoned sweet wine, and ate cakes stuffed with potassium cyanide. I just want to ask: what idiot instructed these would-be murderers? An 8th grade student knows from a chemistry course that potassium cyanide is neutralized by glucose. But that’s not even the point: after two hours, only a blind man could have failed to notice what color shirt their victim was wearing. Or there was no sitting in the basement for two hours. At least, the kind that Yusupov and Purishkevich write about.
An even more significant discrepancy between the memoirs and the materials of the investigative case is how Grigory Efimovich was killed. Purishkevich saw that Rasputin received three gunshot wounds: Yusupov shot him in the chest, in the area of the heart, after which more than half an hour passed, and the dead man seemed to come to life, rushed into the yard, where Purishkevich shot him in the back and, as it “seemed” to him, hit the victim in the head. Yusupov, according to him, did not see how Purishkevich shot in the yard; he only confirms that he killed Rasputin in the dining room with a shot in the chest, in the area of the heart.
But the original investigation documents completely exclude a shot in the heart; they say that Grigory Efimovich was killed with three fatal shots - to the liver (in the stomach), in the kidneys (in the back) and in the brain (in the head). The fatal wounds of Father Gregory are also mentioned by Julia Den, who knew about them from conversations with the Empress and A.A. Vyrubova in Tsarskoe Selo: “Grigory Efimovich was wounded in the face and side, he had a bullet hole on his back.” Forensic experts argued that with the very first wound - in the liver - a person can live no more than 20 minutes, therefore, there could not have been a time period of half an hour to an hour, after which the killed person “resurrected” and rushed to run, as there was no time at all a shot in the heart area in the dining room, which was unanimously claimed by both participants in the murder.
Let us present the conclusion of the forensic expert Professor D.N. Kosorotova: “During the autopsy, very numerous injuries were found, many of which were inflicted posthumously. The entire right side of the head was crushed and flattened due to the bruise of the corpse when it fell from the bridge. Death resulted from heavy bleeding due to a gunshot wound to the stomach. The shot was fired, in my opinion, almost point-blank, from left to right, through the stomach and liver, with the latter being fragmented in the right half. The bleeding was very profuse. The corpse also had a gunshot wound in the back, in the area of the spine, with a crushed right kidney, and another point-blank wound in the forehead, probably already dying or deceased. The chest organs were intact and were examined superficially, but there were no signs of death by drowning. The lungs were not distended, and there was no water or foamy fluid in the airways. Rasputin was thrown into the water already dead.”
The testimony of Professor Kosorotov shows that Grigory Efimovich bled for a long time and painfully, but Yusupov and Purishkevich did not say a word about this colossal blood loss. There were few traces of blood, according to their memoirs.
So, the ends don't meet. Moreover, we see an obvious conspiracy between Purishkevich and Yusupov, an obviously false conspiracy. Why did they take the blame upon themselves, why did they strive so hard to become killers? Do you want a loop? Apparently they were promised (and kept) that nothing serious would happen to them. Who are the real killers?
They were British intelligence agents, officer Oswald Rayner, a friend of Yusupov, and Dr. Lazovert. This is convincingly evidenced by the materials collected in the book by British intelligence officer Richard Cullen, “Rasputin. Torture and his murder". Numerous injuries on the body, including lacerations, prove that Rasputin was tortured for a long time before his death, apparently to extract a confession in the failed separate negotiations, and not having achieved this, he was shot. Yusupov and Purishkevich were supposed to play the role of cover. Cullen was forced to admit the inconsistency of the accusations against Rasputin. Yes, it is unlikely that the British themselves believed in them... It is no coincidence that in 1919 Rainer received an order as a reward - it is unknown for what merits, and before his death in 1961 he destroyed all his papers.
Did the Emperor know the names of the real killers? Apparently - yes. The British Ambassador Sir George Buchanan recalled that shortly after the murder of Rasputin, Nicholas II told him during an audience that a young Englishman, Yusupov’s friend from university, was involved in this. True, the Tsar did not call him by name. This explains why Yusupov and Purishkevich were not seriously punished: the Tsar understood their camouflage role, although perhaps they should have been punished much more severely for their complicity. But it probably seemed unfair to the Tsar to punish accomplices without punishing the real murderers. But he could not punish them: an investigation against them and a corresponding sentence would ultimately mean the collapse of the anti-German coalition. Because all connections with the British Embassy, with Sir George Buchanan, who almost openly worked against his country’s ally - the Russian Tsar, would have been revealed. Therefore, the Emperor had to grit his teeth and endure this atrocity against the person closest to his family. All for the sake of victory.
But it was no longer possible. Purishkevich proudly declared: “We fired the first shot of the Revolution.” Indeed, the murder of Rasputin had a number of meanings. For the Tsar: “We can do anything. Even slander and kill the person closest to you. Leave yourself before you are overthrown and killed.” For the aristocracy and “educated society”: “A dog’s death for a dog.” It is no coincidence that Yusupov told the policeman that he... just shot the dog. And later, over Rasputin’s grave they wrote in German: “Wo ist Hund begraben” - “This is where the dog is buried.” But “tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are.” It is no coincidence that Iliodor, back in 1912, allowed himself to make statements like “The dog has lain down on the throne.” He was arrested and put under house arrest, but he... fled abroad to write libels against the Tsar and his family.
For the part of the people loyal to the Tsar: “We saw you under the bridge...” For those who hesitate: “Look, the Tsar did not protect a man from the people. And he didn’t even really punish him for it.” In other words: “There is no power - it’s our time, our will.” And from here there are a few steps until February 1917. It all started with Bloody Sunday, when, thanks to Gapon, the people's faith in the Tsar was shot. It ended with a shot at the peasant Rasputin. In both cases, they shot at the living moral connection between the Tsar and the people.
But the question is: why did the British need all this? The answer is simple: precisely because Russia was on the verge of victory. Allies too. By the end of 1916, the question of America's entry into the war was resolved. And Russia was not needed. An undesirable competitor with whom one must share the spoils. Including straits. And the British Empire, the mistress of the seas, could not allow this. This means we need to get Russia out of the war. It is advisable not immediately, but gradually, so that it fulfills its function completely. But she was not allowed to the victory feast. As a result of the revolution, the first shot of which was, in the words of the narrow-minded Purishkevich, “a shot at Rasputin.”
It turned out... The Kafkaesque paradox succeeded - to defeat both Germany and Russia. At the Versailles Conference there were flags of all the victorious countries. Even Uruguayan. There was no Russian one.
As Pushkin perspicaciously wrote:
Everyone in the world has enemies,
But save us from friends, God.
The purpose of this publication is not at all to prepare for the canonization of Rasputin. There is no need to go from one extreme to another. Serious and painstaking work is needed to find out the truth and wash Rasputin of Hollywood makeup. And restoration of historical justice. Vitally important in this case, for we are talking about the honor of the holy Royal Passion-Bearers. Again, we repeat: tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are. The murder of Rasputin, first moral and then physical, served as a prologue to the collapse of the empire and the villainous murder of the Royal Family. This should be especially remembered now, when some gentlemen, neglecting the lessons of history, through gossip and “black PR” want to destroy Orthodox Church and the Russian state.
Even his enemies admitted this. See the preface by Mikhail Koltsov to the collection “Renunciation” (L., 1927).
Den Yu.A. The real Queen. M., 1998. pp. 74-79.Platonov O.A. Death of Rasputin. pp. 307-308.
Richard Callen. Rasputin. His tortures and murder. London, 2009.
A Russian peasant who became famous for his “prophecies” and “healings” and had unlimited influence on the imperial family, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was born on January 21 (January 9, old style) 1869 in the Ural village of Pokrovsky, Tyumen district, Tobolsk province (now located in the Tyumen region ). In memory of St. Gregory of Nyssa, the baby was baptized with the name Gregory. Father, Efim Rasputin, was a driver and was a village headman, mother - Anna Parshukova.
Grigory grew up as a sickly child. He did not receive an education, since there was no parochial school in the village, and remained illiterate for the rest of his life - he wrote and read with great difficulty.
He began to work early, at first he helped herd cattle, went with his father as a carrier, then participated in agricultural work, helping to harvest the crops.
In 1893 (according to other sources in 1892) Gregory
Rasputin began to wander to holy places. At first, the matter was limited to the nearest Siberian monasteries, and then he began to wander throughout Russia, mastering its European part.
Rasputin later made a pilgrimage to the Greek monastery of Athos (Athos) and to Jerusalem. He made all these journeys on foot. After his travels, Rasputin invariably returned home for sowing and harvesting. Upon returning to his native village, Rasputin led the life of an “old man,” but far from traditional asceticism. Rasputin's religious views were distinguished by great originality and did not coincide in everything with canonical Orthodoxy.
In his native places he gained a reputation as a seer and healer. According to numerous testimonies from contemporaries, Rasputin indeed, to a certain extent, possessed the gift of healing. He successfully dealt with various nervous disorders, relieved tics, stopped bleeding, easily relieved headaches, and drove away insomnia. There is evidence that he had extraordinary powers of suggestion.
In 1903, Grigory Rasputin visited St. Petersburg for the first time, and in 1905 he settled there and soon attracted everyone's attention. The rumor about the "holy elder" who prophesies and heals the sick quickly reached the very high society. IN short time Rasputin became fashionable and famous person in the capital and began to enter high society drawing rooms. Grand Duchesses Anastasia and Militsa Nikolaevna introduced him to the royal family. The first meeting with Rasputin took place in early November 1905 and left the imperial couple very pleasant impression. Then such meetings began to happen regularly.
The rapprochement between Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with Rasputin was of a deeply spiritual nature; in him they saw an old man who continued the traditions of Holy Rus', wise in spiritual experience, and capable of giving good advice. He gained even greater trust from the royal family by providing assistance to the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei, who was ill with hemophilia (incoagulability of blood).
At the request of the royal family, Rasputin was given a different surname - Novy - by a special decree. According to legend, this word was one of the first words that the heir Alexei uttered when he began to speak. Seeing Rasputin, the baby shouted: “New! New!”
Taking advantage of his access to the Tsar, Rasputin approached him with requests, including commercial ones. Receiving money for this from interested people, Rasputin immediately distributed part of it to the poor and peasants. He did not have clear political views, but firmly believed in the connection between the people and the monarch and the inadmissibility of war. In 1912 he opposed Russia's entry into the Balkan Wars.
There were many rumors in the St. Petersburg world about Rasputin and his influence on the government. Around 1910, an organized press campaign began against Grigory Rasputin. He was accused of horse stealing, belonging to the Khlysty sect, debauchery, and drunkenness. Nicholas II expelled Rasputin several times, but then returned him to the capital at the insistence of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
In 1914, Rasputin was wounded by a religious fanatic.
Opponents of Rasputin prove that the influence of the “old man” on Russian foreign and domestic policy was almost all-encompassing. During the First World War, every appointment in the highest echelon of government services, as well as at the top of the church, passed through the hands of Grigory Rasputin. The Empress consulted with him on all issues, and then persistently sought from her husband the government decisions she needed.
Authors who sympathize with Rasputin believe that he did not provide any significant influence on the foreign and domestic policy of the empire, as well as on personnel appointments in the government, and that his influence related mainly to the spiritual sphere, as well as to his miraculous abilities to alleviate the suffering of the crown prince.
In court circles, the “elder” continued to be hated, considered guilty of the decline in the authority of the monarchy. A conspiracy against Rasputin matured in the imperial entourage. Among the conspirators were Felix Yusupov (husband of the imperial niece), Vladimir Purishkevich (State Duma deputy) and Grand Duke Dmitry (cousin of Nicholas II).
On the night of December 30 (December 17, old style) 1916, Grigory Rasputin was invited to visit by Prince Yusupov, who served him poisoned wine. The poison did not work, and then the conspirators shot Rasputin and threw his body under the ice in a tributary of the Neva. When Rasputin's body was discovered a few days later, it turned out that he was still trying to breathe in the water and even freed one hand from the ropes.
At the insistence of the empress, Rasputin's body was buried near the chapel of the imperial palace in Tsarskoe Selo. After February Revolution In 1917, the body was dug up and burned at the stake.
The trial of the murderers, whose act was approved even by those around the emperor, did not take place.
Grigory Rasputin was married to Praskovya (Paraskeva) Dubrovina. The couple had three children: a son, Dmitry (1895-1933), and two daughters, Matryona (1898-1977) and Varvara (1900-1925). Dmitry was exiled to the north in 1930, where he died of dysentery. Both daughters of Rasputin studied in St. Petersburg (Petrograd) at the gymnasium. Varvara died in 1925 from typhus. In 1917, Matryona married officer Boris Solovyov (1893-1926). The couple had two daughters. The family emigrated first to Prague, then to Berlin and Paris. After the death of her husband, Matryona (who called herself Maria abroad) performed in dance cabarets. Later she moved to the USA, where she began working as a tamer in a circus. After she was injured by a bear, she left this profession.
She died in Los Angeles (USA).
Matryona wrote memoirs about Grigory Rasputin in French and German, published in Paris in 1925 and 1926, as well as short notes about her father in Russian in the emigrant magazine Illustrated Russia (1932).
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
The biography of Grigory Rasputin interests people to this day. There is hardly a Russian person who has never heard of this famous person, which left a significant mark in the last years of the Russian Empire. Many fiction books, studies, dissertations and simply abstracts were written based on the life of this man, who had outstanding, downright extraordinary data, physical and spiritual.
In the article:
Grigory Rasputin's childhood
The patronymic of this legendary personality is Efimovich, and Grigory was born in the family of an ordinary Russian peasant from Pokrovskoe village, which is still located in the former Tobolsk province. He was born in the sixty-ninth year of the nineteenth century, at a time when popular movements were already beginning to gain strength, and the kings felt how the hitherto resigned people were raising their heads, protesting against the tyranny of tyrants.
Rasputin Grigory Efimovich
He was born a frail and weak child, but survived, unlike his sisters and brothers, who left this world at the age of less than a year. They baptized him the morning after his birth and named him Gregory, which means awake. Because of his health, he could not indulge in children's games with his peers, who did not accept him as equals. As a result, the boy withdrew into himself, became unsociable, and began to show a craving for solitude and reflection alone with himself. Like many elders, saints and other miracle workers, for example, it was at the age of childhood, because of his rejection, that he felt a craving for religion and found peace of mind in it.
At the same time, Gregory did not forget about earthly activities: he helped his father, tended cattle, mowed hay, planted and harvested crops, and, like everyone else, went to carts. But due to his health, he quickly got tired and weakened. Therefore, his fellow villagers considered him flawed and not like them, although the boy tried to be useful to the family.
At the age of fourteen, Gregory was struck by a serious illness, from which he fell ill and almost died. The family was already preparing to bury their only son, when suddenly the teenager’s condition improved, and soon he completely recovered, amazing those around him. According to Rasputin, he was healed by the Mother of God, appearing to him in a dream. After his illness, he became even more religious and immersed himself in the study of theological texts. There was no school in the village, but he had such a thirst for knowledge that he got information from everywhere. Even without knowing how to read, he learned many prayers by heart, memorizing them by ear.
The son of an illiterate peasant, who never attended class and never read the alphabet, he had an amazing gift of insight, which determined his entire future fate. Who could have imagined that even after a century and a half, people would remember how Grigory Rasputin once lived, whose biography would become the basis for many scientific works and works of art - from the cartoon "Anastasia", where he is depicted as a demonic villain, to comics, books and films? This was a truly extraordinary person.
Rasputin Grigory Efimovich - biography of adults
Grigory Rasputin and Iliodor
At the age of eighteen, which in modern times means entering adulthood, Gregory made a pilgrimage to many monasteries and temples. He did not take monastic vows and vows, but made many useful acquaintances with priests, pilgrims, representatives of the white and black clergy of all ranks. This helped him a lot in the future.
Years later, already in adulthood, Grigory Rasputin arrived in the capital. This happened in the third year of the twentieth century, in St. Petersburg, where the doors of the imperial palace were opened to a wanderer with amazing abilities. Just arriving in the city on the banks of the Neva, Gregory did not have a penny to his name. Looking for help, he came to Bishop Sergius, who was the rector of the Theological Academy. He took him to the right person- Archbishop Feofan, spiritual mentor of the entire royal family. He had heard a lot about Rasputin’s prophetic gift, since rumors had already spread throughout the vast country.
Colonel Dmitry Loman, Grigory Rasputin and Prince Mikhail Putyatin
Rasputin made acquaintance with the royal family during difficult times for the Russian Empire. Revolutionary movements such as “Narodnaya Volya” gained considerable influence, reaching all segments of the population. Workers went on strike every now and then. They demanded tough decisions and strong-willed actions from the tsar, and Nicholas II, who was gentle in character, feeling enormous pressure, became confused. This is probably why a simple peasant from Siberia was able to make such an impression on the tsar that he talked with him for hours. Being the so-called “holy elder,” Grigory Rasputin had an incredible influence on the entire imperial family, but especially on the Empress, Alexandra Feodorovna, who trusted her newly-minted spiritual mentor in everything.
Many historians believe that the main factor in acquiring such influence was the completely successful treatment of the heir to the throne Alexei Nikolaevich, the empress’s beloved only son. He was seriously ill with hemophilia, a rare hereditary disease characterized by chronic bleeding and poor blood clotting. Rasputin somehow calmed the boy down. The Prophet eased his pain, and it seemed that he was recovering as much as possible with folk remedies.
So simple peasant son became a confidant of the emperor himself, his personal adviser and a person with enormous influence on the fate of the entire country. Rasputin Grigory Efimovich, whose biography amazes with the dizziness of his rise, has been and remains the subject of controversy. To this day, people's opinions on him vary wildly. Some believe that Gregory was a man of amazing spiritual strength, patient and intelligent, who only wanted the best for Russia. Others call him Grishka and say that he was a greedy self-lover, indulging in debauchery, who, taking advantage of the indecision of Nicholas II, only pushed the empire towards destruction.
Be that as it may, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, whose biography begins in a remote village, even without school, in mature years lived in the emperor's palace. No one could be appointed to the post without a preliminary meeting with Rasputin. Possessing amazing insight, this “man of God” could open the king’s eyes to the secret thoughts of the courtiers, the true essence of a person, advise him to bring someone closer or dissuade him from rewarding him. He participated in all palace affairs, having eyes and ears everywhere.
Attempts on Rasputin and his death
Before committing the murder of Rasputin, who was interfering with their plans, his opponents tried in every possible way to denigrate Gregory in the eyes of the emperor. Rasputin was accused of witchcraft, drunkenness, debauchery, embezzlement and theft. Gossip and slander had no result: Nicholas II continued to unconditionally trust his adviser.
As a result, a conspiracy of the great princes arose who wanted to remove the old man who was interfering with them from the political arena. Acting State Councilor Vladimir Purishevich, Prince and, in the future, Commander-in-Chief of the military forces of the Russian Empire, Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr., as well as Prince Felix Yusupov, seriously set out to destroy Rasputin. The conspiracy was made on top level, but in the end everything did not go smoothly.
Khionia Guseva
The first time they sent a shooter to Grigory - Khionia Guseva. The elder received a serious wound and was on the verge of life and death. At this time, left without an adviser, who in every possible way dissuaded him from participating in the war, Nicholas II declared general mobilization and announced the beginning of the war. When Rasputin began to recover, the emperor continued to consult with him, take an interest in Rasputin's opinion on his actions and trust the seer.
This did not suit the great conspiratorial princes at all. They were determined to see the matter through to completion. For this purpose, Rasputin was invited to the palace of Prince Yusupov, where potassium cyanide, a deadly poison, was mixed into his food and drink, which, however, did not kill the old man. Then he was shot - but even with bullets in his back, Rasputin continued to fiercely fight for his life. He ran out into the street in an attempt to escape from the killers pursuing him. However, his wounds quickly weakened him and the chase was not long. They threw Grigory onto the pavement and began to beat him severely. Then he, almost beaten to death and having lost a lot of blood, was thrown from the Petrovsky Bridge into the Neva. Even in ice water the elder and prophet Grigory Rasputin lived for several more hours before death finally took him.
This man was distinguished by truly titanic fortitude and a thirst for life, but by the will of the great princes he was sentenced. Nicholas II, left without an adviser and assistant, was overthrown just two and a half months later. Almost when Rasputin’s life ended, the history of the House of Romanov, which ruled Russia for several centuries, also ended.
Rasputin's terrible predictions
A little earlier we called this old man a seer. It is indeed believed that the Siberian peasant had the gift of seeing the future. Rasputin's predictions made him famous throughout Russia and eventually brought him to the imperial palace. So what did he prophesy?
The most famous prophecies of Grigory Rasputin include the prediction of the catastrophic year 17, the brutal destruction of the royal family, the horrors of the war between the whites and the reds that engulfed Russia. In their "Pious Reflections" Rasputin wrote that, hugging one of the royal children, he felt them as dead - and this terrible insight caused him the deepest horror. He also said that if he was killed by people in whom imperial blood flows, the entire house of Russian rulers would not last even two years, they would all be killed for the shed blood of the elder.
Skeptical people say that Rasputin's prophecies are too much like. Perhaps this is so. But the quatrains themselves indicate the appearance on Russian soil of such a person as Rasputin. It is likely that the elder could have been influenced by familiarization with.
Rasputin's predictions are perhaps one of the most significant prophecies made in the twentieth century. Despite the fact that many of them came true, there are also those that were not confirmed. For example, the coming of the Antichrist and the Apocalypse in two thousand and thirteen. Therefore, we can confidently say that not all of the visions of the prophetic elder were accurate.
Rasputin's predictions about Russia
Regarding our days, Gregory left almost no prophecies. In any case, as unambiguous as about the twentieth century in which he lived. Rasputin's predictions about Russia have a disturbing message: many temptations, probable death if the country succumbs Antichrist temptations and will lose his way.
Basically, Rasputin's prophecies about the future of Russia are as follows, if you make a dry summary of the facts: if Russia manages to avoid all temptations, it will take a significant place in the world. If not, then only death, decay and ashes await her. Like the other powers of Europe, if they are seduced by the gifts of the Antichrist and lose their moral values.
There is no doubt that, being an extremely religious man, deeply religious, Rasputin was under the enormous influence Bible prophecies. In his speeches there were very often references to Christian motives- in particular, to the Apocalypse. For Rasputin, the decline of moral values, the rejection of Orthodox virtues, atheism, and the impending triumph of science were harbingers of the onset of bad times for the church. He was right: after the overthrow of the tsarist government, the Bolsheviks oppressed the church for a long time, denying religion as a necessary component of people's lives.
Grigory Rasputin is one of the most mysterious and mystical personalities in Russian. Some consider him a prophet who was able to save him from the revolution, while others accuse him of quackery and immorality.
He was born in a remote peasant village, and spent the last years of his life surrounded by the royal family, who idolized him and considered him a holy man.
We bring to your attention the main events of it, as well as the most interesting facts from his life.
Brief biography of Rasputin
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was born on January 21, 1869 in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province. He grew up in a simple family and saw with his own eyes all the hardships and sorrows of peasant life.
His mother's name was Anna Vasilyevna, and his father's name was Efim Yakovlevich - he worked as a coachman.
Childhood and youth
Rasputin’s biography was marked from birth, because little Grisha was his parents’ only child who managed to survive. Before him, three children were born into the Rasputin family, but they all died in infancy.
Gregory led a rather secluded life and had little contact with his peers. The reason for this was poor health, because of which he was teased and avoided communicating with him.
While still a child, Rasputin began to show a keen interest in religion, which would accompany him throughout his biography.
WITH early childhood he liked to be close to his father and help him with the housework.
Since there was no school in the village in which Rasputin grew up, Grisha did not receive any education, however, like other children.
One day, at the age of 14, he became so ill that he was close to death. But suddenly, in some miraculous way, his health improved and he completely recovered.
It seemed to the boy that he owed his healing to Mother of God. It was from this moment in his biography that the young man began in different ways study the Holy Scriptures and memorize prayers.
Pilgrimage
Soon the teenager discovered that he had a prophetic gift, which in the future would make him famous and radically influence both his own life and, in many ways, the life of the Russian Empire.
Upon turning 18, Grigory Rasputin decides to make a pilgrimage to the Verkhoturye Monastery. Then he, without stopping, continues his wanderings, as a result of which he visits Mount Athos in Greece and Jerusalem.
During this period of his biography, Rasputin met various monks and representatives of the clergy.
The Royal Family and Rasputin
The life of Grigory Rasputin changed radically when, at the age of 35, he visited.
At first he experienced serious financial difficulties. But since during his wanderings he managed to meet various spiritual figures, Gregory was provided with support through the church.
Thus, Bishop Sergius not only helped him financially, but also introduced him to Archbishop Feofan, who was the confessor of the royal family. At that point in time, many had already heard about the insightful gift of an unusual wanderer named Gregory.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was not going through the most better times. In the state, peasant strikes occurred in one place after another, accompanied by attempts to overthrow the current government.
Added to all this Russo-Japanese War ended, which was made possible thanks to special diplomatic qualities.
It was during this period that Rasputin met and made a strong impression on him. This event becomes a turning point in the biography of Grigory Rasputin.
Soon the emperor himself is looking for an opportunity to talk with the wanderer on different topics. When Grigory Efimovich met Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, he endeared her to himself even more than her royal husband.
It is worth noting that such a close relationship with the royal family was also explained by the fact that Rasputin participated in the treatment of their son Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia.
The doctors could not do anything to help the unfortunate boy, but the old man somehow miraculously managed to treat him and have a beneficial effect on him. Because of this, the empress idolized and defended her “savior” in every possible way, considering him a man sent from above.
This is not surprising, because how else can a mother react to a situation when her only son is severely suffering from attacks of illness, and the doctors cannot do anything. As soon as the wondrous old man took the sick Alexei in his arms, he immediately calmed down.
The Royal Family and Rasputin According to historians and biographers of the tsar, Nicholas 2 repeatedly consulted with Rasputin on various political issues. Many government officials knew about this, and therefore Rasputin was simply hated.
After all, not a single minister or adviser could influence the emperor’s opinion the way an illiterate man who came from the outback could do.
Thus, Grigory Rasputin took part in all state affairs. It is also worth noting that during this period of his biography he did everything possible to prevent Russia from being drawn into the First World War.
As a result of this, he made himself many powerful enemies from among the officials and nobility.
Conspiracy and murder of Rasputin
So, a conspiracy was drawn up against Rasputin. Initially, they wanted to politically destroy him through various accusations.
He was accused of endless drunkenness, dissolute behavior, magic and other sins. However, the imperial couple did not take this information seriously and continued to trust him completely.
When this idea was not successful, they decided to literally destroy it. Prince Felix Yusupov, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr. and Vladimir Purishkevich, who held the post of state councilor.
First unsuccessful attempt The murder was carried out by Khionia Guseva. The woman pierced Rasputin’s stomach with a knife, but he still survived, although the wound was really serious.
At that moment, when he was lying in the hospital, the emperor decided to participate in the military conflict. However, Nicholas 2 still completely trusted “his friend” and consulted with him on the correctness of certain actions. This aroused hatred even more among the king's opponents.
Every day the situation became tense, and a group of conspirators decided to kill Grigory Rasputin at any cost. On December 29, 1916, they invited him to the palace of Prince Yusupov, under the pretext of meeting a beauty who was looking for a meeting with him.
The elder was led into the basement, assured that the lady herself would now join them. Rasputin, not suspecting anything, calmly went downstairs. There he saw a table set with delicious treats and his favorite wine - Madeira.
While waiting, he was offered to try cakes that had been previously poisoned with potassium cyanide. However, after he ate them, for some unknown reason the poison had no effect.
This brought supernatural horror to the conspirators. Time was extremely limited, so after some deliberation they decided to shoot Rasputin with a pistol.
He was shot several times in the back, but this time he did not die, and was even able to run out into the street. There he was shot several more times, after which the killers began beating and kicking him.
The victim's body was then wrapped in a carpet and thrown into the river. Below you can see Rasputin's body recovered from the river.
An interesting fact is that medical examination proved that even being in icy water, after poisoned cakes and many point-blank shots, Rasputin was still alive for several hours.
Personal life of Rasputin
The personal life of Grigory Rasputin, like, in fact, his entire biography, is shrouded in many secrets. What is known for certain is that his wife was a certain Praskovya Dubrovina, who bore him daughters Matryona and Varvara, as well as a son, Dmitry.
Rasputin with his children In the 30s of the 20th century, the Soviet authorities arrested them and sent them to special settlements in the North. Their further fate unknown except for Matryona, who in the future managed to escape to France.
Predictions of Grigory Rasputin
At the end of his life, Rasputin made several predictions about the fate of Emperor Nicholas II and the future of Russia. In them, he prophesied that Russia would face several revolutions and that the emperor and his entire family would be killed.
In addition to this, the elder foresaw the creation Soviet Union and its subsequent collapse. Rasputin also predicted Russia's victory over Germany in the great war and its transformation into a powerful state.
He also spoke about our days. For example, Rasputin argued that the beginning of the 21st century would be accompanied by terrorism, which would begin to flourish in the West.
He also prophesied that in the future, Islamic fundamentalism, known today as Wahhabism, would be formed.
Photo of Rasputin
The widow of Grigory Rasputin Paraskeva Feodorovna with her son Dmitry and his wife. The housekeeper is standing behind. 
Accurate recreation of the murder site of Grigory Rasputin 
Rasputin's killers (from left to right): Dmitry Romanov, Felix Yusupov, Vladimir Purishkevich
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