The Mystery and Death of Rasputin

In 1916, the bloated, castrated body of a man was dragged from the freezing waters of the Neva River in St. Petersburg. Almost beyond recognition, it was later identified as that of the most notorious monk in history. He was viewed by many as a superhuman force of evil at the heart of the monarchy. Hundreds of thousands of people died because of the incompetence of the government and the ministry—a ministry heavily influenced by Rasputin. In the upper reaches of society, it was widely believed that this man was truly the source of all of Russia's problems. To his enemies, Grigory Rasputin was the incarnation of evil, and he destroyed anyone who dared to cross his path to power. Implicated in murder, corruption, and the eventual destruction and execution of the Romanov royal family, Rasputin was instrumental in wiping out the 300-year-old dynasty and changing the history of Russia forever.

Early Life in Siberia 

In a remote village in deepest Siberia, everyone knew Grigory Efimovich. As a teenager, his shameless exploits had earned him a reputation as a thief, a drunkard, and a womanizer. His name comes from the Russian word rasputin, which means dissolute. He obviously spent many of his childhood years getting drunk and getting up to no good. By the time he was in his teens, he was a sort of terror, leading a gang of toughs in the village who were so disruptive that the priest would even pay them to stay away from Sunday worship.

Member of a Heretical Cult

Unwelcome in the Orthodox Church, Rasputin began to search for an alternative path to God. He showed tremendous interest, curiosity, and a deep sense of spirituality which others witnessed, putting him on the way to becoming an important figure in the religious scene of Russia at the time. Rasputin was never an ordained priest, and he didn't become a monk, although on occasion he claimed to or pretended to be one.

He discovered a heretical cult, likely the Khlysti (known as the flagellants), who believed that only after a man had sinned greatly could he truly be repentant and pleasing to God. They believed that Christ was embodied in ordinary peasant people. The Khlysti rituals consisted of meeting in secret places—forest glades or cellars—where they would whip, dance, twirl, stamp, and chant themselves into an ecstatic frenzy (radyinia), and then engage in group sex and orgies. The purpose of this was to indulge in the flesh in order to be purified, repent, and abstain once again.

Despite his involvement in the cult, Rasputin married a local girl and started a family, but he was not destined to play the doting father for long, soon embarking on a wandering pilgrimage that built his mystical reputation.

The Road to St. Petersburg and His Appearance

From the very beginning, Rasputin showed that he had something like second sight, alongside hypnotic, powerful eyes that seemed to be the center of his personality. Assuming the role of holy man and healer, he set about corrupting countless God-fearing women by convincing them that sin was necessary to reach Christ and that he could be their medium.

In 1903, Rasputin arrived in St. Petersburg with an appearance far from regal. He was a shaggy figure with a sable coat thrown over peasant boots and a blouse, smelling somewhat like a goat. He had long, greasy black hair and a thick black beard (which people joked was covered in last week's dinner). He parted his hair in the middle and combed it over his forehead to hide a bump, which critics liked to compare to a devil's horn. He was repulsive-looking, and his eyes were often described as those of a maniac.

Ties to the Royal Family and the Tsarevich's Health 

In the early 20th century, Russia suffered massive domestic disorder and the constant threat of foreign invasion. Both the church and the monarchy were looking for genuine spiritual types from the common people to provide divine authority. Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra lived a life of opulence, but their lives were overshadowed by a dark cloud: the heir to the throne, Alexei, suffered from hemophilia, an agonizing and incurable blood disorder. The Empress, who felt guilty for bringing the disease into the Romanov family, was desperate to save her son.

In November 1906, Rasputin was summoned to the royal palace at Tsarskoe Selo to see if his mystical healing ability could help. He was able to stop the Tsarevich's bleeding on several occasions, whether through hypnotism, a calming presence, or comforting the hysterical mother. An incident in 1912 cemented his position: after a severe fall caused internal bleeding, a desperate Empress wired Rasputin in Siberia, and he replied by telegram: "God has heard your prayers and seen your tears. The little one will not die." The next morning, the bleeding stopped, sealing Rasputin's place in                                                                                          the royal palace forever.

Power and Decadence in the Capital

With the Empress's protection secure, Rasputin abused every rule in the holy book. He would go straight from praying at the Tsarevich's bedside to visiting a local brothel, boasting as much about his prowess as a lover as his mystical powers. He took immense pleasure in insulting his social superiors, including forcing aristocratic women to submit to his advances and humiliations.

From about 1912, he acted as the Empress's confidante and confessor. He became a powerful "fixer" who could make or unmake bishops, advance ministers, and even appoint or dismiss prime ministers. When Prime Minister Peter Stolypin compiled a massive file of evidence proving Rasputin's corruption and manipulation of the Tsar and Tsarina, Nicholas saw it was true, but Alexandra dismissed it as persecution of a saint. Shortly after, Stolypin was shot and killed at the opera.

World War I and Rasputin's Fall 

When Russia went to war with Germany, the situation deteriorated rapidly. The Tsar left the capital to take personal command of the army at the front, leaving Alexandra in charge of the government with Rasputin as her advisor. Rasputin's influence over ministerial appointments led to catastrophic failures: soldiers at the front lacked weapons, ammunition, and winter clothing, leading to millions of casualties.

Rumours, crude cartoons, and scandalous allegations flooded the St. Petersburg newspapers, portraying Rasputin and the Empress as the center of a pro-German treasonous bloc. Realizing the state was collapsing, a group of aristocrats, high-ranking officials, and members of the inner circle decided that Rasputin had to be eliminated.

The Assassination of Rasputin

In the early hours of a December night in 1916, Rasputin was lured to the palace of Prince Yusupov under the guise of a secret tryst. There, he was given cakes and wine laced with cyanide, but the poison appeared to have no effect on him. An impatient Yusupov retrieved a pistol and shot him twice in the chest.

Believing him dead, the conspirators left him, but Rasputin miraculously revived, staggered out into the courtyard, and was shot again. Convinced he was the incarnation of the devil, his attackers beat him with a rubber truncheon, castrated him, and dumped his body into the freezing river.

Within three months of his murder, the Tsar lost his throne, and the royal family was imprisoned and eventually executed. Rasputin's body was later exhumed and burned by revolutionaries as the ultimate symbol of the fall of the Russian imperial government.

• Do you believe historical figures like Rasputin genuinely possessed supernatural abilities, or was it purely a mastery of manipulation and psychology?
• What is the most fascinating (or unsettling) aspect of how religion and political power have intertwined throughout history?
• Which historical figure do you think is the most misunderstood of all time? Share your thoughts below!