Rasputin
Created | Updated Mar 16, 2005
RASPUTIN - THE MAD (AND SMELLY) MONK
The Man HimselfWho Is This Rasputin Fella Then?
Grigori Rasputin was born in 1872 in Siberia. He is often referred to as "The Mad Monk", but he wasn't actually a monk, he was more like a Preacher (in the US bible-belt sense of the word).
So, Why Is He Famous?
Although he attended school, Rasputin never learned to read or write. When he came of age he joined a monastry, but his calling didn't last long and he soon discovered the pleasures of the opposite sex. At 19 he returned home, married and had 4 children.
This didn't suit him either, and he decided to try his luck travelling the globe as what we today refer to as a Faith Healer. He claimed to possess special powers that enabled him to heal the sick and survived off the donations of the people he had 'cured'. Now you see where the preacher reference fits in! He was also known to make a sly buck or two on the side as a Fortune Teller.
Whilst in St. Petersburg, Rasputin met the Tsar (Nicholas II) and his wife (Alexandra). Their only son, Alexei, suffered from Haemophilia, and during a particularly bad bleeding episode the Tsar called in Rasputin. Rasputin somehow managed to stop the bleeding, became a bit of a hero and started hanging around the Royal Court.
Rasputin's influence grew and grew, but hit a peak during World War I when the Tsar was at the front. In his absence, Nicholas II left his wife in charge of the Imperial Government. However, given that she was German and the Russians were at war with the Germans, the general public did not particularly like her or trust her with their affairs. Rasputin began to advise the Tsarina and it is believed that they began to have an affair.
The first person to suspect that all was not well with Rasputin was Peter Stolypin, Russia's newly appointed Prime Minister. He believed that Rasputin was evil and advised the Tsar to distance himself. Stolypin even supplied the Tsar with documented evidence of Rasputins various wild antics. The Tsar dismissed these misgivings as he did not want to upset his wife, who had grown to trust Rasputin (she believed that her son would remain healthy as long as Rasputin was around).
When he initially arrived in St. Petersburg, Rasputin built up quite a band of followers within the Russian Orthodox Church. However, as rumours began to circulate about the various (and numerous) women that Rasputin was seducing, these supporters began to turn on him and attempted to banish him. One by one, these opponents began to disappear, possibly by order of the Tsarina. Whilst the Russian populous began to believe that Rasputin had some form of hypnotic control of the Tsar and Tsarina, the Tsar himself was being pushed close to insanity by the constant rumours about Rasputin and his wife.
In 1915, the Tsar (on the advice of his wife) went off to the front to take direct command of his troops fighting the Germans. This left Alexandra (and Rasputin) in charge of the Imperial Government. Rasputin continued to advise the Tsarina and together they led Russia into the revolution that led to their downfall.
By now a group of aristocrats had decided that Rasputins influence had grown too great and that he needed to be disposed of if the Russian monarchy was to be saved.
The aristocrats, led by Nicholas II's cousin, used Rasputins much publicised love of women to lure him to his death. They promised to introduce to him to a beautiful woman, but instead a couple of them enticed him to a cellar where he was fed food and wine laced with cyanide. When they realised that this was having no effect, they fetched a gun and shot him, at point-blank range, in the head. "Definately dead now" they thought, and off they went to tell their co-conspirators the good news. However, they were sent back to make sure, and on entering the room Rasputin suddenly appeared to regain consiousness. Screaming, they fled the room. On returning with the rest of their gang, they discovered the body gone.
After a brief search, Rasputin was found crawling towards the castle gate in an attempt to escape. He was shot (again), stabbed and bludgeoned. This time he was truly dead. They bound his hands and feet (just in case!), and threw him through a hole in the ice into a frozen canal. And that was him done for.
Well, Not Quite
The following day, Rasputins body was discovered in the water. His ties had been broken and on post-mortem it was discovered that his lungs were full of water. Despite having been poisoned, shot, stabbed and bludgeoned, Rasputin had not actually died until he had been thrown into the frozen water. What a guy!
Okay, But Why Call Him Smelly?
Rasputin never bathed. He stank.
