RASPUTIN, GRIGORY YEFIMOVICH

(1869–1916), mystic and holy man who befriended Nicholas II and attained considerable power in late Imperial Russia.

Born at Pokrovskoye, Siberia, January 10, 1869, Rasputin was the son of Yefim, a prosperous, literate peasant. Young Grigory was alternately moody and mystical, drunken and rakish. Marriage did not settle him, but a pilgrimage to Verkhoture Monastery, as punishment for vandalism (1885), was decisive. The hermit Makary persuaded Grigory to become a strannik (wanderer, religious pilgrim). Rasputin also met the khlysty (flagellants, Pentecostalists); though not a member (as often charged), he embraced some of their ideas.

Rasputin's captivating personality, his eyes, and a memory for biblical passages made him a local religious authority. Grigory never held a formal position in the Church, but people recognized him as a starets (elder, wise counselor). His spiritual gifts apparently included healing. Although of

medium height and build, and not handsome, Rasputin's sensitive, discerning manner attracted women and brought him followers and sexual conquests. His pilgrimages included Kiev, Jerusalem, and Mt. Athos. Charges of being a khlyst forced Rasputin to leave Pokrovskoye for Kazan in 1902. By then, his common-law wife Praskovya had borne him three children.

Rasputin impressed important clergy and lay-people in Kazan, and they made possible his first trip to St. Petersburg in 1903. He captivated church and social leaders, and on a second visit, he met NicholasII. For a year, his friendship with the royal family was based upon their interest in peasants with religious interests and messages. Rasputin first alleviated the sufferings of their hemophiliac son Alexei in late 1906. For the next ten years, Rasputin served the tsarevich unfailingly in this capacity. Joseph Fuhrmann's biography reviews the theories offered to explain this success, concluding that Rasputin exercised healing gifts through prayer. Robert Massie explores hypnosis, rejecting the suggestion that hypnosis alone could suddenly stop severe hemorrhages.

Rasputin exercised some influence over church-state appointments before World War I. The high point of his power came when Nicholas assumed command at headquarters away from St. Petersburg, in August 1915. This elevated his wife's importance in government. Alexandra, in turn, relied upon Rasputin's advice in appointments, though neither controlled policies. As difficulties and defeats mounted, Russians became convinced that Rasputin and Alexandra were German agents, and that Nicholas was their puppet. Fearing this would topple the dynasty, Felix Yusupov organized a conspiracy resulting in Rasputin's murder in Petrograd on December 17, 1916. Rasputin was poisoned, severely beaten, and shot three times, and yet autopsy reports disclosed that he died by drowning in the Neva River. Rasputin was buried at Tsarskoye Selo until revolutionary soldiers dug up the body to desecrate and burn it on March 9, 1917.

Rasputin favored Jews, prostitutes, homosexuals, and the poor and disadvantaged, including and, in particular, members of religious sects. He understood the danger of war, and did what he could to preserve peace. But Rasputin was selfish and shortsighted. He took bribes and was party to corruption and profiteering during the war. Rasputin ended as a womanizer and hopeless drunk, who undermined the regime of Nicholas II and hastened its collapse.

See also: alexandra fedorovna; february revolution; nicholas ii

bibliography

Fuhrmann, Joseph T. (1990). Rasputin: A Life. New York: Praeger.

King, Greg. (1995). The Man Who Killed Rasputin: Prince Felix Youssoupov and the Murder That Helped Bring Down the Russian Empire. Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group.

Massie, Robert K. (1967). Nicholas and Alexandra. New York: Atheneum.

Radzinsky, Edvard. (2000). The Rasputin File. New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday.

Joseph T. Fuhrmann