NEW YORK, BRONX (ORDO News) — Grigori Efimovich Rasputin is a rather interesting old man for Russia, who gained his fame because by chance he became close to eminent persons, and subsequently to the family of representatives of the Romanov dynasty ruling during his life.
In his religious views, he was closer to Orthodoxy, although he could not relate to its canonical instructions in its entirety, since he was a real elder, more holy fool than dean. Even during his lifetime, his activities were surrounded by many mystifications and a variety of interpretations. He is considered a seer and healer, although it is impossible to say anything definitive about how this happened and what its significance was in practice.
Early years of Rasputin’s life
Grigori Rasputin was probably born on January 20, 1869 in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye. For many years, Siberia was the place where all Russian criminals and people disliked by the government were sent. It was very difficult to survive in the Siberian climate while doing hard work.
Gregory was the eighth child of his parents, but he grew up without brothers and sisters – they all died during childbirth or in early childhood. While still very young, Rasputin claimed that angels appeared to him in a dream and told him that he would be able to see the future.
Gregory could tell about his neighbors what no one could know; he healed sick horses without touching them. Gradually, people in the village began to talk about his mystical gift.
Some believed that Rasputin was touched by God, while others believed that he could be connected with the devil. The latter was more likely to be true, since in his youth Rasputin behaved… dissolutely.
Rasputin’s youth
At the age of 28 he got married and had four children. However, Rasputin was not a decent family man: he cheated on his wife and drank a lot.
One day he stole a horse, but instead of repenting, he hid from punishment in a local monastery and stayed there for several months.
The monks convinced him to “find God” and take the path of goodness, and a man named Macarius became his mentor. Then Rasputin left his family and decided to become a monk to preach Christianity while traveling through Russian villages.
Historians believe that Rasputin, spending a lot of time walking through the Siberian forest and preaching, encountered a cult called the Khlysty.
The Khlysty sect is an offshoot of the Russian Orthodox Church, and many of its members used to hold Sunday mass in the forest. They believed that salvation could only be achieved through cleansing from sin.
At purification ceremonies, they strangled each other until they lost consciousness, spun, danced, worked themselves into a frenzy, and then fell to the ground. After this, mass orgies began.
When Rasputin returned to his village to his wife and children, he became a completely different person: his eyes looked with frightening power, and his divine visions became brighter than ever.
Rasputin used the basement of his house as a meeting place for the Khlysty, where he continued to organize “cleansing” orgies.
Rasputin in St. Petersburg
One day, Rasputin stated that the Virgin Mary appeared to him and told him to go to St. Petersburg to help the royal family.
The idea that the royal family could need the help of a peasant from Siberia was completely insane. So, how did a man like Grigori Rasputin get into the royal palace?
It turned out that Rasputin’s mentor Macarius was a former religious adviser to the Romanovs. Gregory used Macarius’s connections to meet noble people of that time.
Macarius even sent a letter of recommendation to one of his friends in St. Petersburg, in which he asked to accept Rasputin for a while.
On his way to the city, Rasputin met Bishop Hermogenes and a priest named Sergei Trufanov, better known as Iliodor. The clergy were shocked by the appearance of Rasputin: he was disheveled and smelled terrible.
But as soon as Hermogenes and Iliodorus witnessed Gregory’s healing abilities, they called him a saint.
Later, he became friends with princesses Milica and Anastasia of Montenegro, who managed to marry into the Romanov family.
They were both passionate about mysticism and the occult. They were often treated as outcasts by the aristocracy, so they contacted Rasputin and took him under their wing. So the life of Grigori Rasputin took a new turn.
Rasputin and the royal family
This was ideal timing for Rasputin because Tsarina Alexandra Romanova had just lost her confessor, Philip. She believed that he helped her and Tsar Nicholas conceived their only son and heir. On his deathbed, Philip declared that very soon another Saint would take his place.
Almost immediately after the death of Philip, Militsa and Anastasia introduced Rasputin to the Tsar and Tsarina. When Alexandra heard stories about Rasputin’s miraculous abilities, she knew she wanted him to help Tsarevich Alexei.
The prince was born with hemophilia, a disease that prevents blood from clotting. This meant that even a small scratch on the prince’s body could lead to large blood loss.
Of course, the queen did not tell Rasputin about the illness at the first meeting: it was a secret. Alexandra thought for a long time whether she could trust this peasant from Siberia.
But one day, when Alexei fell and cut his knee, and the bleeding could not be stopped, Rasputin appeared at the royal palace demanding to see the boy. He said that he had a vision from God – without him the prince would die.
He most likely learned this information from the Montenegrin sisters, but the royal family and servants were impressed by how quickly he came to the rescue.
Rasputin was allowed to see the prince. As soon as he entered the chambers, he ordered the doctors to leave so that he could heal the prince without anyone else using his magical powers. Almost immediately, Alexei’s wound stopped bleeding – this was enough to convince Alexandra of Rasputin’s sanctity.
Modern scientists and historians believe that the reason for this was not magic, but that Rasputin forbade doctors to give the boy aspirin, which thins the blood and aggravates hemophilia.
Within a few months, Rasputin became a frequent guest at the palace of the Romanov family. It is believed that he began giving the king drugs such as opium, morphine and cocaine, claiming that they would help with his ailments.
The Tsarina suffered from migraines and anxiety, Rasputin also helped her relieve pain and relax.
Rasputin called Alexandra and Nikolai “mom” and “dad,” read bedtime stories to their children, and said evening prayers with them.
This worries the nanny very much because the older daughters were at the age of puberty. However, the Tsarina trusted Rasputin so much that she refused to listen to any concerns about him.
It was clear that Rasputin could get away with almost anything.
Personal life
Grigori Rasputin was married since 1900 to the peasant woman Praskovya Dubrovina. She bore him three children: two daughters – Matryona and Varvara – and a son, Dimitri. From the moment Rasputin moved to St. Petersburg, they began to live separately, which did not bother Praskovya. Sometimes Grigori came to see his family and was actively involved in the education of the children.
In St. Petersburg, he gained fame as a womanizer; fans followed him in droves. Rasputin’s biography shows that he had amazing charisma and could unravel the secrets of any young lady. For petitioners who particularly liked there was a separate office where private conversations were held. It is interesting that the first charge of whipping against Rasputin was filed due to the fact that he was allegedly caught leaving a bathhouse wet, and several women followed the man of God out of there. The accusation was never proven and the case was closed.
However, later Rasputin was repeatedly noticed in the company of several ladies; it was believed that the royal favorite organized orgies and himself took an active part in them. He was even credited with an affair with the empress, since their relationship was close, but given that Alexandra Feodorovna was a woman of exceptional morality, these rumors were most likely mere speculation and had no basis.
There is a well-known story when Rasputin, in a drunken stupor, boasted of his relationship with the empress, while he demonstrated his large reproductive organ (which is now kept in one of the museums as an exhibit) as an argument, but she considered this to be slander from ill-wishers, and Gregory was not punished.
Cult of Rasputin
Rasputin lived in an apartment in St. Petersburg, where his followers came to meet him. All these women gathered around the table with Rasputin sitting at the head.
He sat in silence, but after a while he suddenly began to mutter something. The women immediately fell silent, hoping to understand what he was trying to say.
Grigori took pieces of paper and desperately wrote down his thoughts. For some crazy reason, this really attracted his fans, they even considered him a second Christ, and at the end of the party they gave themselves to him in the bedroom.
One of his students, Olga Lokhtina, believed in him so much that she left her husband and children to live in his apartment. She forced everyone to refer to him as “God”.
It is known that Rasputin hired prostitutes almost every day and brought them to the bathhouse. However, he still smelled disgusting – they did not wash in the bathhouse. He took the girl to a separate room, beat her with a leather belt, literally knocking the sin of promiscuity out of her soul, and then had sex with her.
There were many rumors about Grigori Rasputin. Witnesses described how Rasputin emerged from the bathhouse holding his head and shouting that he had seen the devil and that angels and demons were fighting for his soul.
It is obvious that he not only “treated” his charges with drugs, but he himself was addicted to them.
Two old acquaintances of Gregory, Hermogenes and Iliodor, did not like the fact that Rasputin was shouting about demons in public, because they were the ones who brought him into St. Petersburg society.
Hermogenes and Iliodor accused Rasputin that his healing powers came from the devil, and not from God. They beat him as badly as he beat the prostitutes in the bathhouse. However, Rasputin went to the queen for protection.
Hermogenes and Iliodorus were accused of attempted murder and sent into exile. At the same time, Rasputin decided that he needed a break from St. Petersburg and visited his native village in Siberia.
Failed attempt to assassinate Rasputin
The biography of Grigori Rasputin records several attempts on his life.
It turned out that Iliodor really tried to kill Rasputin. He was convinced that Gregory was the Antichrist, so he hired a disfigured prostitute named Khionia Guseva to kill him. She went to his village and one day began to wait for Rasputin near his house.
That day, Rasputin received a telegram and left the house to send a response to it by mail. Then he noticed the woman. He decided that she looked like the perfect “convert” and went over to give alms and preach the gospel to her.
When he got close enough, the woman stabbed him in the stomach several times, but Rasputin miraculously survived.
On the same day, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated and the First World War began. But Rasputin was not there to give advice to the Tsar and Tsarina – instead he was in a hospital in Siberia. Hearing the news of the coming war, Rasputin wrote a letter to the Tsar in which he begged him not to participate in it.
But the tsar did not want to listen to Rasputin. For the first time during Nicholas’s reign, the people supported him. The Tsar left the royal palace and went to fight side by side with Russian soldiers.
Alexandra was left to rule alone, and after Rasputin returned, she made him her advisor. For two years, Rasputin personally appointed ministers and, one might say, led the country.
Millions of Russian men died in the war. People struggled to find work, and the cost of bread was constantly rising. In addition, the queen trusted the madman. The Russian people had no choice but revolution.
What was Rasputin famous for?
Despite the attitude of the nobility towards his activities, Grigori Efimovich undoubtedly had an extraordinary character and the ability to influence the minds of people. Rasputin’s biography has repeatedly noted his commitment to the state; he was even considered one of the main enemies of the British, who sought to extend their influence over the emperor.
The old man had a slovenly appearance, always walked without combing his hair, and wore the same black shirt. He changed his appearance only on holidays. His famous unbridled drinking sessions were the result of permissiveness. Since Grigori did not receive a proper education, he still remained at the heart of a peasant son, on whom a lot of money and opportunities fell. However, Rasputin himself justified himself by saying that it was necessary to beg for forgiveness for those sins that already exist.
The fact is that he was under continuous surveillance, which did not find any real evidence of the orgies of the royal favorite. There is a version that all the outrages were carried out by Gregory’s doubles, sent by ill-wishers with the aim of denigrating the elder in the eyes of the royal family. What is known for certain is that he did not know the limits of libations, and he himself admitted this sin to himself. In addition, he was unrestrained in his speeches, he could reprimand any person with the last words, regardless of age, gender, origin and title. He was greedy for money, took bribes for patronage before the empress.
There are figurative references to him as a chameleon. This is what Princess Olga wrote. And indeed, Rasputin could change dramatically. Either he is an uncouth lout, a drinker who can hardly put two words together, or he is a prophet and a man of God, reading sermons amazing in their depth and giving valuable instructions.
Historians have come to the conclusion that Rasputin suffered from a schizophrenic disorder, his behavior clearly indicated this. True, in most cases Nikolai did not listen to his words. But, as time has shown, some of his recommendations and warnings came true exactly.
Predictions
The first mention of a fulfilled prediction in the biography of Grigori Rasputin occurs in 1911. Then the elder tried to dissuade the emperor from starting the First World War, but to no avail. Rasputin later warned Nicholas that if his death came at the hands of peasants like himself, then Russia would not be affected by the changes. And if Gregory’s death occurs at the hands of the nobles, then great grief will befall the country. In addition, if a person of the royal family takes part in the murder, then the monarchy will come to an end. And so it happened, the death of the elder occurred at the hands of representatives of the aristocracy with the participation of Grand Duke Dmitry.After this, a revolution came almost immediately and the autocracy was overthrown.
Grigori Efimovich predicted the invasion of Nazi Germany. He said that 25 years after his death, black power would come to Russia and bring great grief. People will eat a small piece of bread that will fit in the palm of their hand (this is about the siege of Leningrad). And even the renaming of St. Petersburg was mentioned by Rasputin in his predictions. The elder foretold that after the city changed its name, a horde of wicked people would come and the country would become a red pit.
An interesting fact from the biography of Grigori Rasputin: he also foresaw the American landing on the Moon. He said: “But our people will be there earlier.” Our Yurka will be the first in the sky.” The prediction of the death of Hiroshima and Nagasaki became terrible. Grigori said that he saw two cities burning and the people in it were burning alive. “God will not have mercy on the Japs.”
In addition, he talked about how people would stop loving each other. Moral decay will reach the point where selfishness and denial of family values will become the main thing. Humanity will give birth to monsters that will have a human appearance, but will not be born from a woman (probably about cloning). He warned about the terrible consequences of giving birth to people without a soul in this way, and drew attention to the environment and the abundance of diseases in the future. According to him, it is at this time that a new Messiah will appear on Earth to help humanity preserve itself.
Myths about the seer
Rasputin was one of the most controversial personalities close to the tsars and emperors in the entire history of Russia. There are a lot of stories associated with it, some of which were recognized as myths, but are very tenacious in memory. We will present the most popular of them.
1. Rasputin’s love affair with the Empress
Many seriously believed that Rasputin had a strong influence on the imperial family solely due to the fact that he had an intimate relationship with the wife of Nicholas II.
Of course, he made an impression on her, but Rasputin was able to influence the views of the sovereign himself only by helping to find a solution to some political issues. The queen really blindly trusted Rasputin and at the end of his life she could no longer resolve a single issue without his advice, but there is no convincing evidence that the Siberian elder was more than a friend to her.
The persistence of the myth is quite explainable by the peculiarities of human psychology, thanks to which the genre of “scandals, intrigues, investigations” exists – including where there is neither one nor the other, nor the third. So Boney M inserted the line “lover of the Russian Queen” in order to decorate their hit. It’s more piquant.
2. Passion for black magic
Rumors about Rasputin’s magical rituals circulated actively both during his life and after his death. Many believed that it was witchcraft that helped him convert many people into his passionate fans. Grigori Efimovich really had extraordinary abilities, but he mostly used them to heal the sick through prayer.
But the facts of healing have been convincingly described so many times that even if half of them are untrue or embellished, there is still no doubt about the elder’s fantastic healing skills.
3. Holy origin of the healer
Many did not share the position of Rasputin’s opponents, considering him not a charlatan, but a saint. Let’s attribute this to excessive religiosity, the need for a cult and for someone to carry out and personify this cult. History knows many examples of the deification of people who were in fact ordinary earthly personalities, albeit outstanding and extremely non-standard ones.
4. Bribery
Grigori Rasputin, of course, took money from rich people, and he took it according to a scheme that would not be considered non-corrupt: for his recommendation to appoint a specific gentleman to a particular position. So, there is an opinion that the elder received about 100,000 rubles for the appointment of Nikolai Dobrovolsky as legal and judicial minister.
But since Grigori Efimovich was not an official, he could not take advantage of his official position. So is this corruption then?
But this is one side of the coin. The second highlights the issue from a completely different angle. Let us give the floor to historian Lev Lurie: “Of course, Rasputin was not a bribe-taker. He was on other business. He was an artist. He will collect money and then distribute it. He (needs money to) drink Madeira, some girls – but these are very small expenses” (“Historical Rhyme”, Fontanka TV channel).
This thesis is confirmed by the fact that the elder’s family did not find untold wealth after his death (rather, his assistants became rich), his children were forced to earn their bread on their own, and the fate of all of them was not very good.
Death of Rasputin
Soon after returning from Siberia, Rasputin’s health began to deteriorate, and he was no longer able to heal people. He wrote in his diary that he would die soon and had already come to terms with it. He also predicted that with his death, the entire royal family would die.
Rasputin believed that God was going to make him a sacrifice to save the Russian people, just as Jesus Christ died for the whole world.
At this time, in parliament, one of the politicians directly called Rasputin a dark force. He is threatened to personally deal with the elder if that man was not removed from power.
One of Rasputin’s ill-wishers was the husband of Tsarina Alexandra’s niece Felix Yusupov. He had heard a lot about Rasputin’s reputation and decided to take advantage of his love for women to kill him.
Yusupov was married to one of the most beautiful women in St. Petersburg. There were rumors that Yusupov was bisexual and that the couple often invited other people to share their bed.
Felix approached Rasputin, declaring that his wife had gone too far in her sexual escapades and that she needed to be healed of her demons.
Together with two comrades, Felix took Rasputin to his house. They set a table in the basement dining room, where they planned to hold a “healing ceremony.” Rasputin was given wine and a treat; he had no idea that all the food and drinks were laced with cyanide.
Yusupov could not believe that Rasputin did not fall dead. He began to rumor believes that Gregory really had demonic powers, and the poison would not be enough to kill him.
Then Felix took the revolver and pointed it at Rasputin. The monk simply stood still, looking forward. He did not beg for mercy and showed no signs of fear. Yusupov shot Rasputin.
Some time after the murder, Yusupov began to experience a feeling of anxiety. Together with the doctor, he went down to the basement and bent down to check Rasputin’s heartbeat. At the same moment, Rasputin opened his eyes and rushed at Yusupov. The doctor fainted on the spot.
Yusupov managed to break free and run upstairs to tell his friends that Rasputin had returned to life. They rushed to the basement, but Rasputin was no longer there – he crawled out into the courtyard along the basement stairs and ran. Yusupov fired again, this time the shot was fatal.
The conspirators placed Rasputin’s body in the trunk of a car and drove it to the river, where they pushed him into a hole in the ice. When the body was found, the monk’s arms were raised, as if he was pressing them to the ice, trying to get out. Rasputin was buried in Tsarskoe Selo.
After the revolution, his grave was opened and his remains were burned. This is how the story and biography of Grigori Rasputin ended.
However, even before this, Rasputin’s legendary reproductive organ was cut off, which is now kept in the Knyazkin Museum of Erotica in St. Petersburg.
Soon after Rasputin’s death, his prophecy actually came true. The entire Romanov family was executed during the Bolshevik Revolution, and Russia was changed forever.
Grigori Rasputin. Secrets of the house on Gorokhovaya Street
History is a series of events, facts, people that flash as if in a kaleidoscope, replacing each other. But nothing disappears without a trace, and even pavement stones and house walls are capable of preserving the memory of significant events and extraordinary and strong personalities.
House No. 64 on Gorokhovaya Street is a typical apartment building for St. Petersburg, of which many appeared in the city at the beginning of the 20th century. However, Grigori Rasputin once lived in one of the apartments on the second floor – a mysterious and mystical personality, whose aura still influences the fate of the residents of this house, and the spirit of the “holy elder” never left the walls of the last place of his life.
“Holy Elder”, Charlatan or Victim of Intrigue
Many books and articles have been written about Grigori Rasputin, but his secret has not been solved to this day. Even the date of birth of this man is unclear, although it is reliably known that he came from the village of Pokrovskoye, Tyumen province.
The “Siberian Elder” appeared in St. Petersburg in 1903, by 1904 he was able to charm secular society and gain fame as a “man of God,” and in 1905 he met the emperor himself.
Rumors began to quickly spread throughout the city about Rasputin’s influence on the royal family, especially on the empress, about the healing gift of this man and his ability to clairvoyance. They whispered about the “holy elder” in secular salons and taverns, some with admiration and some with hatred.
Over the course of several years, Rasputin has become such a popular personality that the thought of his supernatural abilities inevitably comes to mind. Moreover, a riotous lifestyle and drunken orgies only increased the fame of this unusual person. What is there worth only talking about Rasputin’s intimate relationship with the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna herself. And many were sure that Nicholas II did not make a single important decision without consulting Gregory.
However, if you believe the documents and not the rumors, the emperor very rarely met with the “holy elder,” unlike his wife, who gratefully accepted Rasputin’s help (and, as they said, very effective) in treating the hemophiliac Tsarevich Alexei.
True, Grigori Efimovich often wrote to the emperor. And the surviving notes do not correspond so much to the image of the dark, semi-literate “Siberian peasant” that either he was not one, or the letters were also falsified.
“Star Chamber”
This is what the city called the five-room apartment of Grigori Rasputin, which he had been renting since 1914 in a house on Gorokhovaya Street. Here he wrote notes to the king and received visitors, of whom there were many. Ladies of high society were ready to wait for hours in the courtyard until the “holy elder” decided to receive them, and the flow of people wishing to see this unusual man did not dry up. Some hoped for a cure, some wanted to find out their fate, and others hoped that the “royal favorite” would put in a good word for them with the emperor and contribute to their career.
Whoever Grigori Rasputin really was, he certainly wasn’t a “saint.” The elder took a lot of money for treatment and prediction, for the promise of support and protection, and even then the most incredible rumors were circulating about his wealth. It is difficult to judge how truthful they are, but the “man of God” did not constrain himself in his means – he had enough for both a comfortable life in a prestigious area and for dissolute revelries in which his high-society fans took part.
From his apartment in a house on Gorokhovaya on December 16, 1916, Grigori Rasputin went to the Yusupov Palace on the Moika at the invitation of its owner, Prince Felix Feliksovich. And he never returned to Gorokhovaya. He was killed by those who did not like Rasputin’s influence on the emperor, which may have been greatly exaggerated by rumors. The conspirators needed not only a hefty portion of potassium cyanide, but also four shots almost point-blank to send this unusual man to the next world.
Spirit of the “holy elder”
Currently, the apartment that once belonged to Grigori Rasputin is an ordinary communal apartment. However, the residents of the house are still convinced that the ghost of the old man still lives on the second floor, sometimes appearing as a foggy figure in a dark corridor or unexpectedly touching one of the inhabitants of the house. However, Rasputin’s spirit does not bring any harm to the residents; rather, quite the opposite.
The artist Alexander Dumchenko now lives in one of the rooms that once belonged to Grigori. Having bought this unusual living space, Alexander rummaged through everything in search of the elder’s hiding places and treasures, even tore off the floor boards. But he didn’t find anything, but, according to him, he saw the ghost of Rasputin in a red shirt and was so impressed that he began to draw his portraits and icons, which, according to the artist, have magical healing powers. This brings him considerable income, as well as the gift of clairvoyance, which, according to Dumchenko, was passed on to him by the “holy elder.”
Thanks to rumors about a ghostly entity living in the apartment on Gorokhovaya, the house became popular with tourists. Letters addressed to Rasputin even arrive here. It is interesting that if during their lifetime it was mainly women who turned to the “man of God” for help, now representatives of the stronger sex are writing in the hope that the spirit of Rasputin will help them regain their masculine strength.
Achievements and legacy of a historical figure
In addition to his preaching activities, Rasputin, whose biography is very rich, actively participated in the political life of Russia, influencing the opinion of Nicholas II. He is credited with convincing the Emperor to withdraw from the Balkan War, which changed the timing of the outbreak of World War I, and other political decisions of the Tsar.
The thinker and politician left behind two books, “The Life of an Experienced Wanderer” (1907) and “My Thoughts and Reflections” (1915), and more than a hundred political, spiritual, historical predictions and prophecies are also attributed to his authorship.
Interesting Facts
- There are many secrets and mysteries in the biography of Rasputin. For example, it is not known exactly when he was born. Questions arise not only from the date and month of birth, but also from the year. There are several options. Some believe that he was born in winter, in the month of January. Others – in the summer, July 29. Information about the year of Rasputin’s birth is also extremely contradictory. The following versions are put forward: 1864 or 1865, and 1871 or 1872.
1. Brutal murder
As unusual and amazing as Rasputin’s life was, his death was just as crazy. A group of conspirators – all from high-ranking families – under the leadership of Prince Felix Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich decided to put an end to Rasputin’s influence over the Tsarina, the Tsar and the entire Russian government. On December 30, 1916, they lured him to a late dinner, promising sex with Felix Yusupov’s wife (and the old man, unlike Felix, was eager for women). At dinner they tried to poison him with potassium cyanide, mixing the poison into cakes and wine. There was so much poison that Rasputin should have died on the spot, but it seemed that it had no effect on this man… Felix Yusupov got tired of waiting and shot Rasputin in the back – he fell. But the shot only provoked Rasputin – he rushed at Yusupov, trying to strangle him and saying: “Bad boy.” His rich noble friends came to the aid of the prince: they shot at Rasputin several more times. He managed to get up and run out into the street, but they caught up with him and beat him with sticks, and then, as if this was not enough, they castrated him (!). Then they wrapped the body in a carpet and threw it into the hole – but after autopsy of the found corpse, it turned out that he got into the water while still alive and tried to get out, but became hypothermic and drowned.
2. Numerous attempts on life
This was the last, but not the first attempt on Rasputin’s life, it’s just that the previous ones were unsuccessful. So, in 1914, Rasputin was visiting his native village of Pokrovskoye near Tobolsk and one day a woman rushed at him right on the street with a dagger and shouting: “I killed the Antichrist!” She really almost succeeded: the blow to the stomach was strong, just a little more – and she could have gutted Rasputin like a fish. However, he managed to grab the shaft lying on the ground and hit the woman on the head. The attacker’s name was Khionia Kuzminichnaya Guseva and she was under the strong religious influence of the Black Hundred hieromonk Iliodor. Iliodor (what a gift) was a strong opponent of Rasputin and threatened to kill him many times, declaring that he had already prepared 120 bombs for this purpose. He did not use these bombs, but – it happened – he ran after Rasputin with an ax, threatening to emasculate him. However, not Iliodor alone! There was also such a holy man named Mitya the Blessed – so he also attacked Rasputin, trying to tear him into pieces.
3. The story of Rasputin’s severed genitals
Even after his death, Rasputin continued to influence the minds of people – at least some part of his body. Rasputin’s severed 30cm penis was rumored to have been found by a lady and kept in a safe place, and later “resurfaced” in Paris as a fetish for a group of Russian aristocratic women who used it as a sex amulet. Rasputin’s daughter, Matryona, heard about this and demanded that the sacred be returned to her. It is said that she kept her father’s genitals as a great treasure until her death in 1977. Then Matryona Grigorievna’s things were sold and later a certain man named Michael Augustin tried to sell the dried “Rasputin’s penis” at auction, but it turned out that it was a sea cucumber. Then, already in 2004, the head of the prostate research center at the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Igor Knyazkin, opened the Museum of Erotica named after. Rasputin. So, he claims that among the museum’s exhibits there is a jar with the preserved genital organ of the “mad monk”, purchased from a certain French collector.
4. Predicting your own death
Rasputin cemented his reputation as an all-knowing seer when he predicted his own doom. Shortly before the murder, he wrote a will with terrible prophecies and sent it to Tsar Nicholas. In particular, it says: “If hired killers, Russian peasants, my brothers kill me, then you, Russian Tsar, have no one to fear. Stay on the throne and reign. And you, Russian Tsar, do not worry about your children. They will rule Russia for hundreds of years more. If the boyars and nobles kill me, and they shed my blood, then their hands will remain stained with my blood, and for twenty-five years they will not be able to wash their hands. They will leave Russia. Brothers will rebel against brothers and will kill each other, and for twenty-five years there will be no nobility in the country.”
5. He was illiterate… and wasn’t even a monk
Somehow Rasputin managed to spend several years in a rural school, and then a couple of years in a monastery, without ever learning to read. It’s true: the man who practically “ruled” the Russian government in 1914 and 1915, while the Tsar was missing at the front and the Tsarina was completely under the influence of the “elder,” was indeed illiterate. We, of course, understand that the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province, was hardly a hotbed of science and culture, but you had to be a very self-confident person to hang around at the very top with such baggage. By the way, Rasputin, in fact, was not a monk either: there is unverified information that for two years he was a novice at the Verkhoturye Nikolaevsky Monastery, but left it at the age of 19 and went to wander around Mother Russia and “help people “
6. Altruism and bribery
Leaving his personal life aside, we can say that Rasputin was a fighter for social justice of his time. In 1914 he spoke out against the war. He also advocated equal rights for everyone (including Jews, which was then extremely unpopular, to say the least), for supporting the poor, and against the death penalty. There were several cases when Rasputin protected people from the Jewish business community from state persecution. For example, in 1913 in Kyiv there was such a high-profile trial, accompanied by an anti-Semitic campaign – the Beilis case, when the Jew Menachem Mendel Beilis was accused of the ritual murder of a 12-year-old student of the Kiev-Sophia Theological School. Rasputin acted on the side of the defense. Beilis was acquitted. However, Rasputin would not be himself if he did not know how to obtain material benefits even from his beliefs.
7. Russian sex machine
The song of the group “Boney M” about Rasputin does not lie: this man really was the “Russian sex machine” and a tireless womanizer. There were rumors that he was having a sexual relationship with the queen, but this seems unlikely given her extreme prudishness. This woman even ordered the bathtub to be covered when not in use, so that this item would not embarrass anyone. But it seems that she was practically the only aristocrat in St. Petersburg who did not succumb to Rasputin’s insane sexual charisma. He actually had a lot of fans – they gathered in crowds on the street in front of his house and waited for him to come out to them. Sometimes they waited for several days just to look at the “holy elder” and give him their gifts. He invited selected lucky women to his place for a private conversation. It looks like the sofa in his office has seen so much in its time,
8. Indecent behavior in society
Most historians are inclined to believe that Rasputin did not have a sexual relationship with Tsarina Alexandra, but this did not stop him from boasting and saying that he actually had. One day Rasputin was in a restaurant with a large crowd of people and, as was his custom, began to boast about the strong influence he had over the Tsar and Tsarina, and about the fact that he had slept with an “old woman.” People at the neighboring tables became interested and asked if he was really the same Rasputin. In response, he stood up and pulled down his pants, exposing his huge 30-centimeter penis for everyone to see – apparently, this was enough proof. When such rumors were conveyed to the queen, she refused to believe them and claimed that these were the tricks of some impostor running around the city posing as Grigori Efimovich.
9. The Terrible Military Advisor
Grand Duke Nicholas, uncle of Nicholas II, was an enemy of Rasputin and resented his influence over the Tsarina. It just so happened that Tsar Nicholas was not a particularly strong man and often succumbed to pressure from his wife. It went so far that the Grand Duke threatened to hang Rasputin. This is why in 1915 Rasputin advised Nicholas II to remove Grand Duke Nicholas from his post as commander of the Russian army. In fact, he, taking advantage of his position as a “holy man,” predicted that Russia would not win the war until the Tsar himself led the troops – and the Tsar was not ready for this task. This decision was decisive. The Russian army numbered more than a million people, and Europe was already in the fire of the First World War. Yet the tsar followed Rasputin’s advice and took command of the army himself. He left the government of the country to the queen, and she practically handed over the reins of power to Rasputin, trusting him completely. An extremely short-sighted step, I must say. It was the problems associated with the war and economic problems that led to the growing popularity of Bolshevik sentiments in Russia.
10. A unique interpretation of sin and atonement
Rasputin’s ideas about sin and redemption are quite unusual. He said that sin brings a person closer to God, and he himself successfully put this philosophy into practice every day. That is, the best way to be saved is to be in a constant state of sin. The more drunkenness and sexual orgies, the better, and after pleasure you just go and ask God for forgiveness, and the ideal situation is when you constantly ask for forgiveness for your sins. According to Rasputin’s perverted philosophy, a woman who enters into a relationship with a “holy man” takes on part of his holiness and is thus purified. So sex with him is a holy, godly thing. And this philosophy worked great! They say that Rasputin also had a habit of leading women into the forest, where they danced naked, burned incense, and then had an orgy.
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News agencies contributed to this report, edited and published by ORDO News editors.
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