Grigori Rasputin remains a mystery figure to this day. We should carefully examine the facts about the man who was famous for serving as Tsar Nicholas II’s spiritual guide. His life came to an end in 1916 with the murder of Tsar Nicholas’ family and the collapse of the Russian Empire. Read on to learn more about Grigori Rasputin.
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BIOGRAPHY OF GRIGORI RASPUTIN
- Full name: Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin
- Born: January 22, 1869 – December 16, 1916 (age 47)
- Religion: Christian
- Height: 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m)
- Spouse: Praskovia Fedorovna Dubrovina (1889 – 1916)
- Children: Maria Rasputin (daughter), Dmitri Rasputin (son), and Varvara Rasputin (children)
- Parents: Anna Rasputin and Efim Rasputin (mother)
- Siblings of Maria Rasputin: Andrei Rasputin, Dmitri Rasputin, Evdokiya Rasputina, and Glikeriya Rasputina
YOUNG GRIGORI RASPUTIN
Grigori Rasputin was born into a lowly peasant family in Siberia in 1869. His full name was Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin. He had a brief period of schooling during his youth, but he was labeled as illiterate. From a young age, people in his town associated him with magical undertones and believed he possessed evil abilities.
Rasputin spent his teenage years attending the Verkhoture Clergy School, studying to be a priest. However, he never completed his education because, at the age of 19, he married Proskovia Fyodorovna. They had three children, but two of them passed away at a young age. In his twenties, he abandoned his small family and embarked on a spiritual quest to Greece and the Middle East.
NEAR THE EMPIRE
By chance, Rasputin found himself in St. Petersburg in 1903. He had already gained a reputation as a spiritual and medical expert. In 1905, he met Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, who were searching for a physician to help their ailing son, Alexis. The imperial family believed that Rasputin had the ability to cure Alexis’ hemophilia.
From 1906 to 1914, several influential individuals, including politicians and journalists, took advantage of Rasputin’s proximity to the empire to undermine tsarist power. Rasputin’s inappropriate behavior while in an advisory position became well-known in society.
Rasputin predicted the fall of the Russian Empire when the country entered World War I. Indeed, the situation of the empire began to deteriorate when Nicholas II took command of the Russian fleet in 1915, while his wife was responsible for affairs at home.
THE STORY OF GRIGORI RASPUTIN’S DEATH
On December 29, 1916, a rebel faction invited Rasputin to their palace and served him a cyanide-laced supper. This was meant to be his downfall. Rasputin was offered poison, but he simply drank it and continued as usual. While intoxicated, Rasputin was shot, and his body was then thrown into the Neva River, wrapped in a carpet. Three days later, Rasputin’s corpse was discovered.
Rasputin’s prediction was further supported when he wrote to Tsar Nicholas II, predicting that both the Russian people and rebels within the government would kill the entire royal family. Fif
teen months later, a group of Russian Revolution supporters assassinated Tsar Nicholas and his family, fulfilling the prophecy of the royal family’s demise.
