Grigory Efimovich Rasputin (Novykh). Born January 9 (21), 1869 - killed December 17 (30), 1916. Peasant of the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province. He gained worldwide fame due to the fact that he was a friend of the family of Russian Emperor Nicholas II.
In the 1900s, among certain circles of St. Petersburg society, he had a reputation as a “royal friend,” “elder,” seer and healer. The negative image of Rasputin was used in revolutionary and later Soviet propaganda; there are still many rumors about Rasputin and his influence on the fate of the Russian Empire.
The ancestor of the Rasputin family was “Izosim Fedorov’s son.” The census book of the peasants of the village of Pokrovsky for 1662 says that he and his wife and three sons - Semyon, Nason and Yevsey - came to Pokrovskaya Sloboda twenty years earlier from the Yarensky district and “set up arable land.” Nason's son later received the nickname "Rosputa". From him came all the Rosputins, who became Rasputins at the beginning of the 19th century.
According to the yard census of 1858, there were more than thirty peasants in Pokrovskoye who bore the surname “Rasputins,” including Efim, Gregory’s father. The surname comes from the words “crossroads”, “thaw”, “crossroads”.
Grigory Rasputin was born on January 9 (21), 1869 in the village of Pokrovsky, Tyumen district, Tobolsk province, into the family of coachman Efim Yakovlevich Rasputin (1841-1916) and Anna Vasilievna (1839-1906) (nee Parshukova).
Information about Rasputin's date of birth is extremely contradictory. Sources give various dates of birth between 1864 and 1872. Historian K.F. Shatsillo, in an article about Rasputin in the TSB, reports that he was born in 1864-1865. Rasputin himself in his mature years did not add clarity, reporting conflicting information about his date of birth. According to biographers, he was inclined to exaggerate his true age in order to better fit the image of an “old man.”
At the same time, in the metric book of the Slobodo-Pokrovskaya Mother of God Church of the Tyumen district of the Tobolsk province, in part one “About those born” there is a birth record on January 9, 1869 and an explanation: “Efim Yakovlevich Rasputin and his wife Anna Vasilievna of the Orthodox religion had a son, Gregory.” He was baptized on January 10. The godfathers (godparents) were uncle Matfei Yakovlevich Rasputin and the girl Agafya Ivanovna Alemasova. The baby received his name according to the existing tradition of naming the child after the saint on whose day he was born or baptized.
The day of the baptism of Grigory Rasputin is January 10, the day of celebration of the memory of St. Gregory of Nyssa.
I was sick a lot when I was young. After a pilgrimage to the Verkhoturye Monastery, he turned to religion.
Grigory Rasputin's height: 193 centimeters.
In 1893, he traveled to the holy places of Russia, visited Mount Athos in Greece, and then to Jerusalem. I met and made contacts with many representatives of the clergy, monks, and wanderers.
In 1900 he set off on a new journey to Kyiv. On the way back, he lived in Kazan for quite a long time, where he met Father Mikhail, who was associated with the Kazan Theological Academy.
In 1903, he came to St. Petersburg to visit the rector of the Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius (Stragorodsky). At the same time, the inspector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archimandrite Feofan (Bistrov), met Rasputin, introducing him also to Bishop Hermogenes (Dolganov).
By 1904, Rasputin had gained the fame of an “old man”, a “fool” and a “man of God” among part of high society society, which “secured the position of a “saint” in the eyes of the St. Petersburg world,” or at least he was considered a “great ascetic.”
Father Feofan told about the “wanderer” to the daughters of the Montenegrin prince (later king) Nikolai Njegosh - Militsa and Anastasia. The sisters told the empress about the new religious celebrity. Several years passed before he began to clearly stand out among the crowd of “God’s men.”
On November 1 (Tuesday) 1905, Rasputin’s first personal meeting with the emperor took place. This event was honored with an entry in the diary of Nicholas II. The mentions of Rasputin do not end there.
Rasputin gained influence on the imperial family and, above all, on Alexandra Feodorovna by helping her son, heir to the throne Alexei, fight hemophilia, a disease against which medicine was powerless.
In December 1906, Rasputin submitted a petition to the highest name to change his surname to Rasputin-Novykh, citing the fact that many of his fellow villagers have the same last name, which could lead to misunderstandings. The request was granted.
Grigory Rasputin. Healer at the throne
Accusation of "Khlysty" (1903)
In 1903, his first persecution by the church began: the Tobolsk Consistory received a report from the local priest Pyotr Ostroumov that Rasputin was behaving strangely with women who came to him “from St. Petersburg itself,” about their “passions from which he relieves them... in the bathhouse”, that in his youth Rasputin “from his life in the factories of the Perm province brought acquaintance with the teachings of the Khlyst heresy.”
An investigator was sent to Pokrovskoye, but he did not find anything discrediting, and the case was archived.
On September 6, 1907, based on a denunciation from 1903, the Tobolsk Consistory opened a case against Rasputin, who was accused of spreading false teachings similar to Khlyst’s and forming a society of followers of his false teachings.
The initial investigation was carried out by priest Nikodim Glukhovetsky. Based on the collected facts, Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, a member of the Tobolsk Consistory, prepared a report to Bishop Anthony with the attachment of a review of the case under consideration by sect specialist D. M. Berezkin, inspector of the Tobolsk Theological Seminary.
D. M. Berezkin noted in his review of the conduct of the case that the investigation was carried out “persons who have little knowledge of Khlystyism” that only Rasputin’s two-story residential house was searched, although it is known that the place where the zeal takes place “it is never placed in living quarters... but is always located in the backyard - in bathhouses, in sheds, in basements... and even in dungeons... The paintings and icons found in the house are not described, yet they usually contain the solution to the heresy ».
After which Bishop Anthony of Tobolsk decided to conduct a further investigation into the case, entrusting it to an experienced anti-sectarian missionary.
As a result, the case “fell apart” and was approved as completed by Anthony (Karzhavin) on May 7, 1908.
Subsequently, the Chairman of the State Duma Rodzianko, who took the file from the Synod, said that it soon disappeared, but then “The case of the Tobolsk spiritual consistory about the Khlystyism of Grigory Rasputin” in the end it was found in the Tyumen archive.
In 1909, the police were going to expel Rasputin from St. Petersburg, but Rasputin was ahead of them and he himself went home to the village of Pokrovskoye for some time.
In 1910, his daughters moved to St. Petersburg to join Rasputin, whom he arranged to study at the gymnasium. At the direction of the Prime Minister, Rasputin was placed under surveillance for several days.
At the beginning of 1911, Bishop Theophan suggested that the Holy Synod officially express displeasure to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in connection with Rasputin’s behavior, and a member of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky), reported to Nicholas II about the negative influence of Rasputin.
On December 16, 1911, Rasputin had a clash with Bishop Hermogenes and Hieromonk Iliodor. Bishop Hermogenes, acting in alliance with Hieromonk Iliodor (Trufanov), invited Rasputin to his courtyard; on Vasilievsky Island, in the presence of Iliodor, he “convicted” him, striking him several times with a cross. An argument ensued between them, and then a fight.
In 1911, Rasputin voluntarily left the capital and made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
By order of the Minister of Internal Affairs Makarov on January 23, 1912, Rasputin was again placed under surveillance, which continued until his death.
The second case of “Khlysty” (1912)
In January 1912, the Duma announced its attitude towards Rasputin, and in February 1912, Nicholas II ordered V.K. Sabler to resume the case of the Holy Synod, the case of Rasputin’s “Khlysty” and transfer it to Rodzianko for the report, “and the palace commandant Dedyulin and transferred to him the Case of the Tobolsk Spiritual Consistory, which contained the beginning of Investigative Proceedings regarding the accusation of Rasputin of belonging to the Khlyst sect.”
On February 26, 1912, at an audience, Rodzianko suggested that the tsar expel the peasant forever. Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky) openly wrote that Rasputin is a whip and is participating in zeal.
The new (who replaced Eusebius (Grozdov)) Tobolsk Bishop Alexy (Molchanov) personally took up this case, studied the materials, requested information from the clergy of the Church of the Intercession, and repeatedly talked with Rasputin himself. Based on the results of this new investigation, the conclusion of the Tobolsk Church was prepared and approved on November 29, 1912 spiritual consistory, sent to many high-ranking officials and some deputies of the State Duma. In conclusion, Rasputin-Novy was called “a Christian, a spiritually minded person and a seeker of the truth of Christ." Rasputin no longer faced any official charges. But this did not mean at all that everyone believed in results of a new investigation.
Rasputin's prophecies
During his lifetime, Rasputin published two books: “The Life of an Experienced Wanderer” (1907) and “My Thoughts and Reflections” (1915).
In his prophecies, Rasputin speaks of “God’s punishment,” “bitter water,” “tears of the sun,” “poisonous rains” “until the end of our century.”
Deserts will advance, and the earth will be inhabited by monsters that will not be people or animals. Thanks to “human alchemy”, flying frogs, kite butterflies, crawling bees, huge mice and equally huge ants will appear, as well as the monster “kobaka”. Two princes from the West and the East will challenge the right to world domination. They will have a battle in the land of four demons, but the western prince Grayug will defeat his eastern enemy Blizzard, but he himself will fall. After these misfortunes, people will again turn to God and enter “earthly paradise.”
The most famous was the prediction of the death of the Imperial House: "As long as I live, the dynasty will live".
Some authors believe that Rasputin is mentioned in Alexandra Feodorovna’s letters to Nicholas II. In the letters themselves, Rasputin’s surname is not mentioned, but some authors believe that Rasputin in the letters is designated by the words “Friend”, or “He” in capital letters, although this has no documentary evidence. The letters were published in the USSR by 1927, and in the Berlin publishing house Slovo in 1922.
The correspondence was preserved in the State Archive of the Russian Federation - Novoromanovsky Archive.
Grigory Rasputin with the Empress and the Tsar's children
In 1912, Rasputin dissuaded the emperor from intervening in the Balkan War, which delayed the start of the First World War by 2 years.
In 1915, anticipating the February Revolution, Rasputin demanded an improvement in the capital's supply of bread.
In 1916, Rasputin spoke out strongly in favor of Russia's withdrawal from the war, concluding peace with Germany, renouncing rights to Poland and the Baltic states, and also against the Russian-British alliance.
Press campaign against Rasputin
In 1910, the writer Mikhail Novoselov published several critical articles about Rasputin in Moskovskie Vedomosti (No. 49 - “Spiritual guest performer Grigory Rasputin”, No. 72 - “Something else about Grigory Rasputin”).
In 1912, Novoselov published in his publishing house the brochure “Grigory Rasputin and Mystical Debauchery,” which accused Rasputin of being a Khlysty and criticized the highest church hierarchy. The brochure was banned and confiscated from the printing house. The newspaper "Voice of Moscow" was fined for publishing excerpts from it.
After this, the State Duma followed up with a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the legality of punishing the editors of Voice of Moscow and Novoye Vremya.
Also in 1912, Rasputin’s acquaintance, former hieromonk Iliodor, began distributing several scandalous letters from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the Grand Duchesses to Rasputin.
Copies printed on a hectograph circulated around St. Petersburg. Most researchers consider these letters to be fakes. Later, Iliodor, on advice, wrote a libelous book “Holy Devil” about Rasputin, which was published in 1917 during the revolution.
In 1913-1914, the Masonic Supreme Council of the All-Russian People's Republic attempted to launch a propaganda campaign regarding the role of Rasputin at court.
Somewhat later, the Council made an attempt to publish a brochure directed against Rasputin, and when this attempt failed (the brochure was delayed by censorship), the Council took steps to distribute this brochure in a typed copy.
Assassination attempt by Khionia Guseva on Rasputin
In 1914, an anti-Rasputin conspiracy matured, headed by Nikolai Nikolaevich and Rodzianko.
On June 29 (July 12), 1914, an attempt was made on Rasputin in the village of Pokrovskoye. He was stabbed in the stomach and seriously wounded by Khionia Guseva, who came from Tsaritsyn.
Rasputin testified that he suspected Iliodor of organizing the assassination attempt, but could not provide any evidence of this.
On July 3, Rasputin was transported by ship to Tyumen for treatment. Rasputin remained in the Tyumen hospital until August 17, 1914. The investigation into the assassination attempt lasted about a year.
Guseva was declared mentally ill in July 1915 and released from criminal liability, being placed in a psychiatric hospital in Tomsk. On March 27, 1917, on the personal orders of A.F. Kerensky, Guseva was released.
Murder of Rasputin
Rasputin was killed on the night of December 17, 1916 (December 30, new style) in the Yusupov Palace on the Moika. Conspirators: F. F. Yusupov, V. M. Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, British intelligence officer MI6 Oswald Rayner.
Information about the murder is contradictory, it was confused both by the killers themselves and by the pressure on the investigation by the Russian imperial and British authorities.
Yusupov changed his testimony several times: in the St. Petersburg police on December 18, 1916, in exile in Crimea in 1917, in a book in 1927, sworn to in 1934 and in 1965.
Starting from naming the wrong color of the clothes that Rasputin was wearing according to the killers and in which he was found, to how many and where bullets were fired.
For example, forensic experts found three wounds, each of which was fatal: to the head, liver and kidney. (According to British researchers who studied the photograph, the shot to the forehead was made from a British Webley 455 revolver.)
After a shot in the liver, a person can live no more than 20 minutes and is not capable, as the killers said, of running down the street in half an hour or an hour. There was also no shot to the heart, which the killers unanimously claimed.
Rasputin was first lured into the basement, treated to red wine and a pie poisoned with potassium cyanide. Yusupov went upstairs and, returning, shot him in the back, causing him to fall. The conspirators went outside. Yusupov, who returned to get the cloak, checked the body; suddenly Rasputin woke up and tried to strangle the killer.
The conspirators who ran in at that moment began to shoot at Rasputin. As they approached, they were surprised that he was still alive and began to beat him. According to the killers, the poisoned and shot Rasputin came to his senses, got out of the basement and tried to climb over the high wall of the garden, but was caught by the killers, who heard a dog barking. Then he was tied with ropes on his hands and feet (according to Purishkevich, first wrapped in blue cloth), taken by car to a pre-selected place near Kamenny Island and thrown from the bridge into the Neva polynya in such a way that his body ended up under the ice. However, according to the investigation, the discovered corpse was dressed in a fur coat, there was no fabric or ropes.
The corpse of Grigory Rasputin
The investigation into the murder of Rasputin, led by the director of the Police Department A.T. Vasilyev, progressed quite quickly. Already the first interrogations of Rasputin’s family members and servants showed that on the night of the murder, Rasputin went to visit Prince Yusupov. Policeman Vlasyuk, who was on duty on the night of December 16-17 on the street not far from the Yusupov Palace, testified that he heard several shots at night. During a search in the courtyard of the Yusupovs' house, traces of blood were found.
On the afternoon of December 17, passers-by noticed blood stains on the parapet of the Petrovsky Bridge. After exploration by divers of the Neva, Rasputin’s body was discovered in this place. The forensic medical examination was entrusted to the famous professor of the Military Medical Academy D. P. Kosorotov. The original autopsy report has not been preserved; the cause of death can only be speculated.
Conclusion of the forensic expert Professor D.N. Kosorotova:
“During the autopsy, very numerous injuries were found, many of which were inflicted posthumously. The entire right side of the head was crushed and flattened due to the bruise of the corpse when it fell from the bridge. Death resulted from heavy bleeding due to a gunshot wound to the stomach. The shot was fired, in my opinion, almost point-blank, from left to right, through the stomach and liver, with the latter being fragmented in the right half. The bleeding was very profuse. The corpse also had a gunshot wound in the back, in the spinal area, with a crushed right kidney, and another point-blank wound in the forehead, probably of someone who was already dying or had died. The chest organs were intact and were examined superficially, but there were no signs of death by drowning. The lungs were not distended, and there was no water or foamy fluid in the airways. Rasputin was thrown into the water already dead.”
No poison was found in Rasputin's stomach. Possible explanations for this are that the cyanide in the cakes was neutralized by sugar or high temperature when cooked in the oven.
His daughter reports that after Guseva's assassination attempt, Rasputin suffered from high acidity and avoided sweet foods. It is reported that he was poisoned with a dose capable of killing 5 people.
Some modern researchers suggest that there was no poison - this is a lie to confuse the investigation.
There are a number of nuances in determining the involvement of O. Reiner. At that time, there were two British MI6 intelligence officers serving in St. Petersburg who could have committed the murder: Yusupov’s friend from University College (Oxford) Oswald Rayner and Captain Stephen Alley, who was born in the Yusupov Palace. The former was suspected, and Tsar Nicholas II directly mentioned that the killer was Yusupov's friend from college.
Rayner was awarded an OBE in 1919 and destroyed his papers before his death in 1961.
In Compton's driver's log, there are entries that a week before the murder he brought Oswald to Yusupov (and to another officer, Captain John Scale), and the last time - on the day of the murder. Compton also directly hinted at Rayner, saying that the killer was a lawyer and was born in the same city as him.
There is a letter from Alley written to Scale on January 7, 1917, eight days after the murder: "Although not everything went according to plan, our goal was achieved... Reiner is covering his tracks and will undoubtedly contact you...". According to modern British researchers, the order to three British agents (Rayner, Alley and Scale) to eliminate Rasputin came from Mansfield Smith-Cumming (the first director of MI6).
The investigation lasted two and a half months until the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II on March 2, 1917. On this day, Kerensky became Minister of Justice in the Provisional Government. On March 4, 1917, he ordered a hasty termination of the investigation, while investigator A.T. Vasiliev was arrested and transported to the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was interrogated by the Extraordinary Commission of Investigation until September, and later emigrated.
In 2004, the BBC aired a documentary "Who killed Rasputin?", brought new attention to the murder investigation. According to the version shown in the film, the “glory” and the plan for this murder belong to Great Britain, the Russian conspirators were only the perpetrators, the control shot to the forehead was fired from the British officers’ Webley 455 revolver.
Who killed Grigory Rasputin
According to the researchers who published the books, Rasputin was killed with the active participation of the British intelligence service Mi-6; the killers confused the investigation in order to hide the British trace. The motive for the conspiracy was the following: Great Britain feared Rasputin’s influence on the Russian Empress, which threatened the conclusion of a separate peace with Germany. To eliminate the threat, the conspiracy against Rasputin that was brewing in Russia was used.
Rasputin's funeral service was conducted by Bishop Isidor (Kolokolov), who was well acquainted with him. In his memoirs, A.I. Spiridovich recalls that Bishop Isidore celebrated the funeral mass (which he had no right to do).
At first they wanted to bury the murdered man in his homeland, in the village of Pokrovskoye. But due to the danger of possible unrest in connection with sending the body across half the country, they buried it in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoe Selo on the territory of the Church of Seraphim of Sarov, which was being built by Anna Vyrubova.
M.V. Rodzianko writes that in the Duma during the celebrations there were rumors about Rasputin’s return to St. Petersburg. In January 1917, Mikhail Vladimirovich received a paper with many signatures from Tsaritsyn with a message that Rasputin was visiting V.K. Sabler, that the Tsaritsyn people knew about Rasputin’s arrival in the capital.
After the February Revolution, Rasputin's burial place was found, and Kerensky ordered Kornilov to organize the destruction of the body. For several days the coffin with the remains stood in a special carriage. Rasputin's body was burned on the night of March 11 in the furnace of the steam boiler of the Polytechnic Institute. An official act on the burning of Rasputin's corpse was drawn up.
Personal life of Grigory Rasputin:
In 1890 he married Praskovya Fedorovna Dubrovina, a fellow pilgrim-peasant, who bore him three children: Matryona, Varvara and Dimitri.
Grigory Rasputin with his children
In 1914, Rasputin settled in an apartment at 64 Gorokhovaya Street in St. Petersburg.
Various dark rumors quickly began to spread around St. Petersburg about this apartment, saying that Rasputin had turned it into a brothel and was using it to hold his “orgies.” Some said that Rasputin maintains a permanent “harem” there, while others say he collects them from time to time. There was a rumor that the apartment on Gorokhovaya was used for witchcraft, etc.
From the testimony of Tatyana Leonidovna Grigorova-Rudykovskaya:
"...One day Aunt Ag. Fed. Hartmann (mother's sister) asked me if I wanted to see Rasputin closer. ... Having received an address on Pushkinskaya Street, on the appointed day and hour I showed up at the apartment of Maria Alexandrovna Nikitina, my aunt friends. Entering the small dining room, I found everyone already assembled. At an oval table set for tea, there were 6-7 young interesting ladies sitting. I knew two of them by sight (they met in the halls of the Winter Palace, where it was organized by Alexandra Fedorovna sewing linen for the wounded). They were all in the same circle and were animatedly talking to each other in low voices. Having made a general bow in English, I sat down next to the hostess by the samovar and talked with her.
Suddenly there was a sort of general sigh - Ah! I looked up and saw in the doorway, located on the opposite side from where I was entering, a powerful figure - the first impression was a gypsy. The tall, powerful figure was clad in a white Russian shirt with embroidery on the collar and fastener, a twisted belt with tassels, untucked black trousers and Russian boots. But there was nothing Russian about him. Black thick hair, a large black beard, a dark face with predatory nostrils of the nose and some kind of ironic, mocking smile on the lips - the face is certainly impressive, but somehow unpleasant. The first thing that attracted attention was his eyes: black, red-hot, they burned, piercing right through, and his gaze on you was simply felt physically, it was impossible to remain calm. It seems to me that he really had a hypnotic power that subjugated him when he wanted it...
Everyone here was familiar to him, vying with each other to please and attract attention. He sat down at the table cheekily, addressed everyone by name and “you,” spoke catchily, sometimes vulgarly and rudely, called them to him, sat them on his knees, felt them, stroked them, patted them on soft places, and everyone “happy” was thrilled with pleasure. ! It was disgusting and offensive to watch for women who were humiliated, who lost both their feminine dignity and family honor. I felt the blood rushing to my face, I wanted to scream, punch, do something. I was sitting almost opposite the “distinguished guest”; he perfectly sensed my condition and, laughing mockingly, each time after the next attack he stubbornly stuck his eyes into me. I was a new object unknown to him...
Impudently addressing someone present, he said: “Do you see? Who embroidered the shirt? Sashka! (meaning Empress Alexandra Feodorovna). No decent man would ever reveal the secrets of a woman's feelings. My eyes grew dark from tension, and Rasputin’s gaze unbearably drilled and drilled. I moved closer to the hostess, trying to hide behind the samovar. Maria Alexandrovna looked at me with alarm...
“Mashenka,” a voice said, “do you want some jam?” Come to me." Mashenka hurriedly jumps up and hurries to the place of summoning. Rasputin crosses his legs, takes a spoonful of jam and knocks it over the toe of his boot. “Lick it,” the voice sounds commanding, she kneels down and, bowing her head, licks the jam... I couldn’t stand it anymore. Squeezing the hostess’s hand, she jumped up and ran out into the hallway. I don’t remember how I put on my hat or how I ran along Nevsky. I came to my senses at the Admiralty, I had to go home to Petrogradskaya. She roared at midnight and asked never to ask me what I saw, and neither with my mother nor with my aunt did I remember about this hour, nor did I see Maria Alexandrovna Nikitina. Since then, I could not calmly hear the name Rasputin and lost all respect for our “secular” ladies. Once, while visiting De-Lazari, I answered the phone and heard the voice of this scoundrel. But I immediately said that I know who is talking, and therefore I don’t want to talk..."
The Provisional Government conducted a special investigation into the Rasputin case. According to one of the participants in this investigation, V. M. Rudnev, sent by order of Kerensky to the “Extraordinary Investigative Commission to investigate the abuses of former ministers, chief managers and other senior officials” and who was then a comrade prosecutor of the Yekaterinoslav District Court: “the richest material for coverage his personality from this side turned out to be in the data of that very secret surveillance of him, which was carried out by the security department; at the same time, it turned out that Rasputin’s amorous adventures did not go beyond the framework of night orgies with girls of easy virtue and chansonnet singers, and also sometimes with some of his petitioners."
Daughter Matryona in her book “Rasputin. Why?" wrote:
"... that, with all the saturated life, the father never abused his power and ability to influence women in a carnal sense. However, one must understand that this part of the relationship was of particular interest to the father’s ill-wishers. I note that they received some real food for their tales ".
Rasputin's daughter Matryona emigrated to France after the revolution and subsequently moved to the USA.
The remaining members of Rasputin's family were subjected to repression by the Soviet authorities.
In 1922, his widow Praskovya Fedorovna, son Dmitry and daughter Varvara were deprived of voting rights as “malicious elements.” Even earlier, in 1920, Dmitry Grigorievich’s house and entire peasant farm were nationalized.
In the 1930s, all three were arrested by the NKVD, and their trace was lost in the special settlements of the Tyumen North.
Biography
For a long time, historical information about Rasputin was not available to the general public. It was possible to learn about him only from the Encyclopedic Dictionary: І Rasputin (Novykh) Grigory Efimovich (1872-1916), favorite of Nicholas2 and his wife Alexandra Fedorovna. A native of the peasants of the Tobolsk province, in his youth he was a horse thief. Posing himself as a Seer and Healer, he infiltrated the court environment and acquired great influence on state affairs. Killed in December 1916 monarchists. The curious were content with only this laconic description. Now we know much more
Rasputin's biography can be divided into two periods: life before arriving in St. Petersburg and after. Little is known about the first stage of life in Siberia. He was born in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province, the youngest son in a wealthy, at that time, peasant family, a large house, a lot of land, cattle, horses. Rasputin is a village nickname that has been assigned to them almost officially. Its exact origin is unknown. Maybe from the words “debauchery”, “crossroads”, or maybe “to unravel”. The character of the father confirms this - he is not averse to drinking, and lives on a grand scale, and is savvy in a village way. I didn’t particularly care for the children, I didn’t force them to study science, since I saw more benefit in the school of life. Brothers Mikhail and Gregory live freely, their universities are a village, boundless expanses of fields and forests. There is something animalistic and wild about them, closely intertwined with an almost fanatical Orthodox faith. But they weren't together for long. One day they were playing on the banks of the Tura River, but they both ended up flying into the water. The river is stormy, the current is strong, the water is cold, illness cannot be avoided. Mikhail was not saved, but Grigory was begged off. Having recovered, he says that the Mother of God herself appeared to him and ordered him to get well. This shocked the whole village. There, far from civilization, true, unshakable faith flourishes. Simplicity of morals does not prevent one from praying earnestly, observing all rituals, and reverently calling on the healing power of nature. Rough carnal reality coexists with the most sublime spiritual feelings. After recovery, Gregory often reflects on his healing. He is sure that he was blessed by the powers of heaven. This is how his spiritual formation begins.
Having matured, he is increasingly drawn to wanderings, to those who are called “elders,” God’s people. Perhaps this is the result of the exciting stories of wanderers who found shelter in the Rasputin house, or perhaps a true calling. Gregory listens to the messengers not from this world, with his eyes wide open. His dream is to become just like them. He bores his parents with conversations about how God is calling him to wander the world and his father, finally agreeing, blesses him. Gregory begins with the surrounding villages, marveling at all the hardships and humiliations that befall God's people.
At nineteen, he marries the beautiful Praskovya Dubrovina, whom he meets at a festival in the temple. At first, their family life proceeds peacefully, but Gregory’s reputation is not so pure, and besides, he deeply worries about the death of his first child. In 1892 he was accused of stealing stakes from the monastery fence and was expelled from the village for a year. He spends this time wandering, making pilgrimages to holy places, where he learns the Holy Scriptures and literacy from the elders. He walks without a specific goal, from monastery to monastery, sleeps with monks and peasants, feeds on occasion from other people's tables, thanks the owners with prayers and predictions. In 1893 goes to Greece, and upon returning to Russia to Valaam, Solovki, Optina Pustyn and other shrines of the Orthodox Church. During short visits to his home, he diligently takes care of the housework and at the same time regains his strength to set off on new wanderings. His visits were marked by the birth of three children: Dmitry in 1895, Matryona (Maria) in 1898 and Varvara in 1900.
Rasputin's life is full of black and white stripes. Either he is pure, like an angel, or he rushes to extremes, giving free rein to his broad nature. For some, he is a clairvoyant and healer, for others he is a repentant sinner, for others, like him, a spiritual teacher. Notoriety, intertwined with the glory of the ascetic and elder, reaches the capital. He is accused of belonging to the whip sect, but without finding sufficient evidence, the case is closed.
What brought “Elder Gregory” to St. Petersburg? Perhaps a wider field of activity. It is not the splendor of the capital that attracts him, but the presence of senior clergy. Next to them, he could improve the talent of a healer, a true believer. He is confident that he is acting according to the will of the Lord.
The second stage begins. In the spring of 1903 34-year-old Rasputin arrives in St. Petersburg. Here are some of the main dates from this period.
November 1, 1905 Grand Duchesses Militsa and Anastasia, daughters of Prince Nicholas of Montenegro, arrange an unofficial meeting between Rasputin and the Emperor and Empress at their Znamensky estate.
November 15, 1906 Rasputin's first official meeting with the Tsar. The king notes that he “makes an impression.”
October 1907 the prince's first healing.
Beginning of 1911 trip to the Holy Land. Rasputin described his impressions of her in his notes entitled “My Thoughts and Reflections.”
Summer 1911 return to St. Petersburg.
On September 1, 1912, the imperial family leaves for Poland, to Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
On October 2, there was a sharp deterioration in the crown prince’s health.
October 12, noon The Empress telegraphs this to Rasputin, who prayerfully helps. Answer: “The disease is not so terrible. Don’t let the doctors get rid of you!”
In 1914 Rasputin moves into his own apartment on the street. Gorokhovaya, 64.
June 29, 1914 assassination attempt on Rasputin.
January 2, 1915 accident with A. Vyrubova, her healing by Rasputin.
November 22, 1916 conspiracy against Rasputin.
Night from December 16 to 17, 1916 murder of G.E. Rasputin in the palace of Prince Yusupov.
It should be noted that Rasputin alternated living in St. Petersburg with regular visits to Pokrovsky, at least once a year he was at home. He also took refuge there as soon as his position in society became unfavorable.
Arrival in St. Petersburg.
Rasputin's fame preceded him; rumors of his ascetic life reached the capital and became known to the highest spiritual ranks. Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, thanks to a letter of recommendation, he is received by His Holiness Theophan, inspector of the Theological Academy, who sees in him a true son of the Russian land, an original Christian, not a churchman, but a man of God. Rasputin impresses not only with his spirituality, but also with his appearance. A. Troyat describes it most vividly:
"A man of tall stature, thin, with long and straight hair, a scraggly beard, a scar on his forehead. A face riddled with wrinkles, a wide nose with flaring nostrils. Most of all, his eyes attract attention. His gaze betrays a magnetic force. A shirt tied at the waist with a belt, does not cover his hips. Wide trousers are tucked into boots with high tops. Despite the rustic style, he feels comfortable and at ease in any society." Of course, such a person could not go unnoticed in the capital. Under the patronage of the episcopal mantle of Bishop Theophan, he was given access first to St. Petersburg high-society spiritual circles, then through their influential representatives to the palace of Prince Nikolai Nikolaevich. His reputation was confirmed by his meeting with John of Kronstadt and the fact that Bishop Theophan was the empress’s confessor.
Undoubtedly, Rasputin would not have been able to get to the top so quickly if there had not been appropriate circumstances for this. In a word, he was lucky. These are the circumstances.
Firstly, the empress’s spirituality, deep faith and trust in her confessor, who in her eyes had not only personal, but also ecclesiastical authority. Rasputin did not raise any doubts among the Empress also because he was precisely that phenomenon of Russian life that especially attracted the Empress, who saw in his person the embodiment of the images that she first became acquainted with in Russian spiritual literature.
Secondly, the character of the Emperor, his trust in his wife and religiosity.
Thirdly, church authorities were looking for a way to shake the minds of believers, corrupted by Western influence. In their eyes, Rasputin was that kind genius, capable of connecting believers with heaven, and the people with the tsar.
However, for most people Rasputin was not an “old man”. This was confirmed by his lifestyle, which allowed him to live in the capital and visit his many acquaintances, while real elders live in monasteries, secluded in their cells. People did not know what to think about him, since many of his actions were inexplicable to them: healing the sick, mysterious predictions, influence on the illness of the crown prince.
That is why St. Petersburg initially took a middle position in relation to Rasputin, not having a complete understanding of him and preferring to treat him with trust, so as not to “sin” before God, than to openly condemn him. Many were simply afraid of Rasputin and did not deny his influence on those around him, but for lack of an explanation they were afraid to condemn him.
Rasputin's relationship with the Royal Family.
The determining factor in the attitude of the Royal Family towards Rasputin was that he healed the Tsarevich. As you know, the heir, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, suffered from hemophilia. This disease was transmitted through the maternal line and resulted in poor blood clotting. Every bruise could lead to internal hemorrhage, every wound could become life-threatening. Naturally, like any mother, this torments the empress; she feels guilty about this and strives to atone for it. When it turned out that Rasputin, through suggestion, copes better with the manifestations of this disease than all medical specialists, which created a completely special situation for Elder Gregory. The Empress sees in him a person on whom, in the literal sense of the word, the life of her beloved son depends.
In addition, for Their Majesties Rasputin was a living representative of the people, the embodiment of the peasantry, a small man. They were amazed by his manner of demeanor, which in relation to another person would be considered indecent. His country talk, arrogance, clumsiness - all this turned to his advantage. His behavior was exactly the opposite of the manner of court circles, imbued with the sole goal of making a favorable impression on the Sovereign. Against the background of their pretense, his sincerity and simplicity were striking in their naturalness and were undeniable. They were not “made,” this is explained by Rasputin’s simple ideas about the Tsar, typical of the Russian peasant. For him He is the source of mercy and truth. This is what Prince N.D. writes about this. Zhevakhov: “Rasputin’s love for the Tsar, bordering on adoration, was truly unfeigned, and there are no contradictions in recognizing this fact. The Tsar could not help but feel this love, which he appreciated doubly, because it came from someone who appeared in His eyes not only the embodiment of the peasantry, but also its spiritual power." He did not betray the trust of the emperor and gradually "a connection arose between the Tsar and Rasputin on a purely religious basis: the Tsar saw in him only an "old man" and, like many sincerely religious people, was afraid to break this connection with the slightest mistrust to Rasputin, so as not to anger God. This connection grew stronger and was supported as much by the conviction of Rasputin’s undoubted devotion as, subsequently, by bad rumors about his behavior, which the sovereign did not believe, because they came from unbelievers...”
After the first meeting with Rasputin, the Tsar only noted that he “made a great impression.” Subsequently, he was of the opinion that Gregory was a man of “pure faith.” However, not trusting the “elder” as much as Alexandra Fedorovna, Nicholas II instructs General V.N. Dedyulin, the commandant of the palace, and his assistant to subject Rasputin to a biased but courteous interrogation. In their opinion, he is a cunning and false man; Further reports from secret agents reveal an impostor, a false preacher, revealing who he is in real life. Members of the Royal family are also trying to open the Emperor’s eyes to what is happening. He patiently listens to everything, but at the same time does not take any action against Rasputin. As for the Empress, she did not believe the rumors that were increasingly spreading around Rasputin, since she considered them slander and because of this refused to lose a man who knew how to overcome her son’s illness with a few words. Despite further revelations, for the Royal Family (i.e. for the Emperor, Empress and their children) Rasputin forever remained a saint, and nothing could force them to change this belief.
Rasputin's influence on politics.
There are many theories regarding this controversial issue. It is probably impossible to list everything. Let's focus only on the main and most famous ones.
Initially, Rasputin used his closeness to the court only to interfere in church affairs, in which he was helped by his close relationships with Theophanes and Hermogenes. But as word of his influence spreads, various clever people decide to use him to achieve their goals. This leads to Rasputin organizing official receptions. He settles in an apartment on the street. Gorokhovaya, where she receives both those who come with material offerings and those in need of financial assistance. Gradually, Rasputin himself, as he rose in power, began to develop ambition. To play a prominent role, to be revered as an omnipotent force, to be on the same level with people who were in social position much higher than him - all this strengthened his pride, and he even took on such matters, the organization of which did not bring him personal benefit. This continued until the beginning of 1915, when “little people” began to use Rasputin for personal purposes for promotion, promising him “great benefits” for leading them to the top of power. One of the first was Prince Shakhovskoy, who through Rasputin achieved appointment as Minister of Trade and Industry. Naturally, such activities of Rasputin could not but cause outrage in a revolutionary-minded society, given that his personality was perceived mostly negatively.
However, the question remains open: did people use Rasputin only for personal purposes, or did he fall into the hands of agents of Russia’s enemies? There is a version that he was an agent of Germany and was at one with the Empress on the issue of a separate peace. But it is unlikely that such a simple man as Rasputin was capable of any political actions - it would be too “abstruse” for him, it would be contrary to his nature.
In fact, Rasputin did not have a direct influence on Russian politics. It was expressed, firstly, in a detrimental, in the opinion of most contemporaries, effect on the Empress, and through her on the Tsar. Rodzianko explains the power of Rasputin’s influence by his hypnotistic abilities: “With the power of his hypnotism, he inspired the queen with an unshakable, invincible belief in himself and in the fact that he was God’s chosen one, sent down to save Russia.” Other political figures adhere to the same opinion: M. Paleolog, Zhevakhov, Hieromonk Iliodor, etc. Secondly, this influence was manifested in letters where he gave advice or simply supported the Tsar. His sayings and predictions, which were later confirmed, are also known: “If I exist, there will be a Tsar and Russia, and if I am gone, there will be neither a Tsar nor Russia”; On August 29, 1911, standing in the crowd past which Stolypin was passing, Rasputin suddenly exclaimed: “Death has come for him, here it is, here!”; He also predicted his death: “They will kill me, they will kill me, and in three months the Royal Throne will collapse.”
Rasputin never tried to refute the words about his strength among the kings, but on the contrary, he was proud of this and confirmed it with his deeds: for example, during his orgies he boasted that the queen embroidered shirts for him and thus himself gave rise to gossip. He acted naively and did not foresee the consequences of his actions. Rasputin did not need Tsarist power, but his position under the Tsar alone was enviable and became the reason for his own murder.
Most likely, the words of Professor S.S. Oldenburg are the most objective: “Rasputin himself did not claim any political influence, but for the enemies of the Emperor he turned out to be the point of application of a skillful slander campaign that completely distorted the true state of affairs.” It is interesting that opponents of the monarchy were also opponents Rasputin. Most of the attacks came from monarchists, who saw in him “an unquenchable lamp in the royal chambers” and the cause of all Russia’s troubles, both in foreign and domestic policy.
It would probably be fair to slightly change the well-known aphorism and say: as many people, so many judgments about Rasputin.
The Empress refused to submit to fate. She talked incessantly about the ignorance of doctors. She turned to religion and her prayers were full of despair. The stage was set for the appearance of Rasputin.
Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich.
Truly, there is nothing more talented than a talented Russian man. What a peculiar, what an original type! Rasputin is an absolutely honest and kind person, always wanting to do good and willingly giving money to those in need.
Count S.Yu.Witte
If the Emperor had listened to Rasputin and concluded that very Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty, then there would have been no revolution in Russia.
Zinaida Shakhovskaya.
The first revolution and the counter-revolutionary era that followed it revealed the whole essence of the tsarist monarchy, brought it to the “last line”, revealed all its rottenness, all the cynicism and debauchery of the tsar’s gang with the monstrous Rasputin at its head, all the atrocities of the Romanov family - these pogromists who flooded Russia blood.
V.I.Lenin.
Without Rasputin there would have been no Lenin.
A.F. Kerensky.
It’s as if he was entirely made up, he lived in a legend, died in a legend, and in memory will be clothed with a legend. A semi-literate man, a royal adviser, a sinner and a prayer book, a werewolf with the name of God on his lips.
N.A. Teffi.
Conclusion
There are at least three myths about Rasputin.
“A fiend of hell, a selfish man who brought Russia with his entourage to collapse” - this is how Rasputin appears in the first myth.
“The Demon”, “the second Cardinal Richelieu”, an eternally drunk and lascivious man with a mysterious Russian soul – this is a favorite myth of foreign authors.
“A talented Russian man who saved Russia and the Tsar’s throne and was killed by the Freemasons” is a myth of our time.
Who was Rasputin really? “Cunning and innocence, suspicion and childish gullibility, harsh feats of asceticism and reckless revelry, and above all this fanatical devotion to the Tsar and contempt for his fellow peasant, all this coexisted in his nature, and, truly, it takes either intent or thoughtlessness to to attribute crimes to Rasputin where only the manifestation of his peasant nature was reflected" - these, in my opinion, are the words that most accurately characterize Rasputin’s personality.
Rasputin was not a saint, and this was the tragedy of the Royal Family and Russia. For those who were healed by him, he remained a saint forever. This is how he was in the eyes of A. A. Vyrubova, predicting an unhappy marriage for her, and then healing her; This was also the case in the eyes of Their Majesties, who considered his beneficial influence on the illness of the heir to the Tsarevich. Witnesses of his drunken orgies, who once saw him in a tavern dancing the “Kamarinskaya”, had a completely opposite impression. What did those who saw both think? There were almost no such people, because both sides excluded the possibility of the presence of both extremes in Rasputin. And only we, assessing this personality after more than 80 years, can take a fair position of the “golden mean” in relation to her, taking into account both views. On the one hand, Rasputin was a simple man. For him, there is no difference between St. Petersburg and the village - everywhere he behaves the same, ignoring the laws of society and basic rules of decency. On the other hand, there is something intriguing and mysterious in his personality. His strange religiosity, combining a thirst for pleasure with unshakable faith, his physical strength, and finally, “indestructibility” by any poison - all this involuntarily inspires awe. Is there something native in these features, close to every Russian soul? Probably, in any corner of Russia there is a similar “Rasputin”, and every Russian has inherited some of his traits. Perhaps because of these qualities, Russians remain misunderstood, “wild” to other nations, and this sets our country apart in the world community.
Rasputin is accused of influencing politics and the tsar. If he really had one, then his death should have changed the situation, but this did not happen, and passions intensified even more and “splashed out” into the revolution. If the name of Rasputin is so significant in history, why then are the current new “Rasputins”, whose influence is a thousand times more harmful and significant, not noticed? It is they who are the destroyers, and not the simple Russian peasant, for whom the first place has always been not political intrigue, but delicious food and women.
The personality of Rasputin, born of time, mysteriously came, mysteriously disappeared, closing another page in the history of Russia.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin
Politics is a dirty business. And also very interesting and profitable. If a weak-willed person is at the helm of the state, creepy people will certainly appear next to him, who at different times were called “favorites”, “gray cardinals” or “informal leaders”. They are the ones who govern the country: they distribute top positions, control lawmaking and foreign policy. The political career of most behind-the-scenes intriguers is short, and their fate is simple and unenviable. Only one such “favorite” is still assessed ambiguously. His life is shrouded in a magical aura. It has become one of the most popular myths of twentieth century popular culture.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin
In the mid-19th century, a peasant from the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province, Efim Yakovlevich Rasputin, at the age of twenty, married a twenty-two-year-old girl, Anna. The wife repeatedly gave birth to daughters, but they died. The first boy, Andrei, also died. From the census of the village population for 1897, it is known that on the tenth of January 1869 (the day of Gregory of Nyssa according to the Julian calendar), her second son was born, named after the calendar saint. However, the registry books of the rural church have not been preserved, and later Rasputin always gave different dates of his birth, hiding his real age, so the exact day and year of Rasputin’s birth is still unknown.
The village of Pokrovskoye on the river. Ture. 1912
Color photographs by S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky
"Debauch" means a dissolute, immoral person. Previously, the names Rasputa and Besputa were in use. Later, through patronymics, they turned into surnames (for example, Savka, Rasputin's son), especially popular in the North.
Rasputin's father drank a lot at first, but then he came to his senses and started a household. In the winter he worked as a coachman, and in the summer he plowed the land, fished and unloaded barges. Young Gregory was frail and dreamy, but this did not last long - as soon as he matured, he began to fight with his peers and parents, and to go for walks (once he managed to drink away a cart with hay and horses at a fair, after which he walked home eighty miles on foot). Fellow villagers recalled that already in his youth he possessed powerful sexual magnetism. Grishka was caught more than once with girls and beaten.
Rasputin in a carriage
Rasputin's house in Pokrovskoye
Soon Rasputin began to steal, for which he was almost deported to Eastern Siberia. Once he was beaten for yet another theft - so much so that Grishka, according to the villagers, became " weird and stupid" Rasputin himself claimed that after being stabbed in the chest with a stake, he was on the verge of death and experienced "the joy of suffering".
The trauma did not pass without a trace - Rasputin stopped drinking and smoking, married Praskovya Dubrovina from a neighboring village (choosing, like his father, an older girl), had children and began visiting holy places.
Rasputin with children (from left to right): Matryona, Varya, Mitya.
His family laughed at him. He did not eat meat or sweets, heard different voices, walked from Siberia to St. Petersburg and back, and ate alms. In the spring, he had exacerbations - he did not sleep for many days in a row, sang songs, shook his fists at Satan and ran in the cold in only a shirt. His prophecies included calls to repentance, " until trouble comes" Sometimes, by pure coincidence, trouble happened the very next day (huts burned, livestock got sick, people died) - and the peasants began to believe that the blessed man had the gift of foresight. He gained followers... and followers.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin
This went on for about ten years. Rasputin learned about the Khlysty (sectarians who beat themselves with whips and suppressed lust through group sex), as well as the Skoptsy (preachers of castration) who separated from them. It is assumed that he adopted some of their teachings and more than once personally “and amused"Pilgrim from sin in the bathhouse.
Grigory Rasputin with fellow villagers, Pokrovskoye village
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin
At the “divine” age of 33, Gregory begins to storm St. Petersburg. Having secured recommendations from provincial priests, he settles with the rector of the Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius, the future Stalinist patriarch. He, impressed by the exotic character, introduces the “old man” (long years of wandering on foot gave the young Rasputin the appearance of an old man) to the powers that be. Thus began the journey " man of God" to glory.
Patriarch Sergius (in the world Ivan Nikolaevich Stragorodsky
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin
Rasputin's first loud prophecy was the prediction of the death of our ships at Tsushima. Perhaps he got it from newspaper news reports that a squadron of old ships had sailed to meet the modern Japanese fleet without observing secrecy measures.
Ave, Caesar!
The last ruler of the House of Romanov was distinguished by lack of will and superstition: he considered himself Job, doomed to trials, and kept meaningless diaries, where he shed virtual tears, looking at how his country was going downhill. The queen also lived in isolation from the real world and believed in the supernatural power of the “elders of the people.” Knowing this, her friend, the Montenegrin princess Milica, took outright scoundrels to the palace. The monarchs listened to the ravings of swindlers and schizophrenics with childish delight. The war with Japan, the revolution and the illness of the prince finally unbalanced the pendulum of the weak royal psyche. Everything was ready for Rasputin's appearance.
Milica and Stana Montenegrin
Militsa Chernogorskaya
For a long time, only daughters were born in the Romanov family. To conceive a son, the queen resorted to the help of the French magician Philip. It was he, and not Rasputin, who was the first to take advantage of the spiritual naivety of the royal family. The scale of the chaos that reigned in the minds of the last Russian monarchs (one of the most educated people of that time) can be judged by the fact that the queen felt safe thanks to a magic icon with a bell that supposedly rang when evil people approached.
Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia
The first meeting of the Tsar and Tsarina with Rasputin took place on November 1, 1905 at the palace over tea. He dissuaded the weak-willed monarchs from escaping to England (they say they were already packing their things), which most likely would have saved them from death and would have sent Russian history in a different direction. The next time, he gave the Romanovs a miraculous icon (found from them after the execution), then allegedly healed Tsarevich Alexei, who had hemophilia, and eased the pain of Stolypin’s daughter, wounded by terrorists. The shaggy man forever captured the hearts and minds of the august couple.
Please note that in all photographs Rasputin always holds one hand raised.
The Emperor personally arranges for Gregory to change his dissonant surname to “New” (which, however, did not stick). Soon Rasputin-Novykh acquires another lever of influence at court - the young maid of honor Anna Vyrubova (a close friend of the queen) who idolizes the “elder”. He becomes the confessor of the Romanovs and comes to the tsar at any time without making an appointment for an audience.
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Anna Vyrubova
At court, Gregory was always “in character,” but outside the political scene he was completely transformed. Having bought himself a new house in Pokrovskoye, he took noble St. Petersburg fans there. There the “elder” put on expensive clothes, became self-satisfied, and gossiped about the king and nobles. Every day he showed the queen (whom he called “mother”) miracles: he predicted the weather or the exact time of the king’s return home.
It was then that Rasputin made his most famous prediction: “ As long as I live, the dynasty will live».
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin
Rasputin at his home on Gorokhovaya Street in Petrograd.
The growing power of Rasputin did not suit the court. Cases were brought against him, but each time the “elder” very successfully left the capital, going either home to Pokrovskoye or on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1911, the Synod spoke out against Rasputin. Bishop Hermogenes (who ten years ago expelled a certain Joseph Dzhugashvili from the theological seminary) tried to drive out the devil from Gregory and publicly beat him on the head with a cross. Rasputin was under police surveillance, which did not stop until his death.
Elder Macarius, Bishop Theophan and Grigory Rasputin.
Rasputin, Bishop Hermogenes and Hieromonk Iliodor
Secret agents watched through the windows the most piquant scenes from the life of a man who would soon be called " holy damn" Once suppressed, rumors about Grishka’s sexual adventures began to swell with renewed vigor. The police recorded Rasputin visiting bathhouses in the company of prostitutes and wives of influential people. Copies of the Tsarina’s tender letter to Rasputin circulated around St. Petersburg, from which it could be concluded that they were lovers. These stories were picked up by the newspapers - and the word " Rasputin"became known throughout Europe.
G.E. Rasputin with Major General Prince M.S. Putyatin
And Colonel D.N. Loman. Petersburg. 1904-1905.
Public health
People who believed in Rasputin's miracles believe that he himself, as well as his death, are mentioned in the Bible itself: “ And if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark 16-18).
Today no one doubts that Rasputin really had a beneficial effect on the physical condition of the prince and the mental stability of his mother. How did he do it?
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna at the bedside of the sick heir Alexei
Rasputin and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna drink tea
Rasputin, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with children
Contemporaries noted that Rasputin’s speech was always incoherent; it was very difficult to follow his thoughts. Huge, with long arms, a tavern floorman's hairstyle and a spade beard, he often talked to himself and patted his thighs. Without exception, all of Rasputin's interlocutors recognized his unusual look - deeply sunken gray eyes, as if glowing from within and fettering your will. Stolypin recalled that when he met Rasputin, he felt that they were trying to hypnotize him.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin
This certainly influenced the king and queen. However, it is difficult to explain the repeated relief of the royal children from pain. Rasputin's main healing weapon was prayer - and he could pray all night long. One day in Belovezhskaya Pushcha the heir began to experience severe internal bleeding. Doctors told his parents that he would not survive. A telegram was sent to Rasputin asking him to heal Alexei from a distance. He quickly recovered, which greatly surprised the court doctors.
Kill the dragon
The man who called himself " small fly” and who appointed officials by telephone call was illiterate. He learned to read and write only in St. Petersburg. He left behind only short notes filled with terrible scribbles. Until the end of his life, Rasputin looked like a tramp, which repeatedly hindered him " take off» prostitutes for daily orgies. The wanderer quickly forgot about a healthy lifestyle - he drank, and drunk called ministers with various " petitions", the failure of which was career suicide.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin
Rasputin did not save money, either starving or throwing it left and right. He seriously influenced the country’s foreign policy, twice persuading Nicholas not to start a war in the Balkans (inspiring the Tsar that the Germans were a dangerous force, and the “brothers,” i.e., the Slavs, were pigs).
Facsimile of Rasputin's letter with a request for some of his protégés
When World War I finally began, Rasputin expressed a desire to come to the front to bless the soldiers. The commander of the troops, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, promised to hang him on the nearest tree. In response, Rasputin gave birth to another prophecy that Russia would not win the war until an autocrat (who had a military education, but showed himself to be an incompetent strategist) stood at the head of the army. The king, of course, led the army. With consequences known to history.
Politicians actively criticized the queen - “n German spy y", not forgetting about Rasputin. It was then that the image was created eminence grise", deciding all state issues, although in fact Rasputin's power was far from absolute. German Zeppelins scattered leaflets over the trenches, where the Kaiser leaned on the people, and Nicholas II on Rasputin’s genitals. The priests also did not lag behind. It was announced that the murder of Grishka was a benefit for which “ forty sins will be removed».
Rasputin, born in a Siberian village, was the third child of Efim Yakovlevich Rasputin, a prosperous peasant and his wife Anna Yegorovna.
In his youth, Gregory followed in the footsteps of his father: he had a peasant insatiable appetite for work, drinking strong alcoholic drinks and having fun with women who easily agreed to everything. At the age of 20, Rasputin married a local girl named Praskovya Dubrovina. They had four children. Around 1900, he became a member of a heretical religious sect known as the Whigs. The Khlyshchi believed that a person must first sin, and then atone for his sins. They had many varied and strange sexual traditions and rituals. Due to conflicts with representatives of the traditional church, Rasputin was forced to leave his native village. He traveled across all of Russia, earning his living by healing the sick and initiating entire crowds of women into the rites of the “Khlyshchi.” By 1905, he settled in St. Petersburg, where rumors of his “miraculous” ability to heal people suffering from the most severe and terrible diseases reached the royal family. Rasputin appeared before Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra. Their son Alexey suffered from hemophilia. Rasputin really managed to somehow alleviate the boy’s suffering. This immediately made him famous and led to his extraordinary rise at the royal court. Rasputin was especially favored by Tsarina Alexandra. Rasputin shocked the high society of St. Petersburg with his wild and scandalous antics. In 1916, Rasputin fell victim to a conspiracy organized by a group of nobles. They first gave Rasputin poisoned wine and then shot him several times with a pistol. After this, Rasputin was tied up and thrown into the Neva, where he drowned.
Rasputin was, without a doubt, one of the most successful sexual adventurers in history. His sexual activity was simply incredible. Rasputin's daughter Maria later said that her father's 32-centimeter penis seemed to simply “radiate” activity. When Rasputin was still a boy, this magnificent part of his body always delighted local girls and women with whom he swam naked in the village pond. It was Irina Danilovna Kubasova, the young and beautiful wife of a Russian army general, who really introduced Rasputin to the world of sex. To seduce 16-year-old Rasputin, she called for help from six of her maids, who managed to lure him into her bedroom. After this, Rasputin began to actively resort to the services of young women living in his village. He did not stop doing this even after his marriage to Praskovya. Soon he became a member of the sect of the whippersnappers, who not only did not prohibit, but, on the contrary, in every possible way welcomed the active pleasure of the flesh. Soon after this, Rasputin began his long journey through Russia, during which he always found a huge number of women willing to participate with him in his unusual sexual rituals. These rituals, in fact, were ordinary orgies with a change of partners. These rituals could be carried out anywhere - “in the forest, in a barn or in the house of any of the participants.” Rasputin's theory that sins can be atoned for through sex made it possible for thousands of peasant women to truly enjoy this side of human life for the first time, despite the dirty and slovenly appearance of the “holy libertine.” Even the sophisticated ladies of St. Petersburg later became victims of Rasputin's sexual power. His biographer Robert Massey noted: “Having sex with this unwashed peasant, who had a scruffy beard and dirty hands, was something completely new, previously unknown and unusually exciting. The ladies gathered in his apartment and waited in line for an invitation to his bed, which Rasputin himself called “the holy of holies.” Rasputin became so fashionable and gained such fame that even the husbands of the women with whom he had already slept, without any embarrassment, boasted to each other that their wives had already “been with this incredible Rasputin.” Almost at any moment Rasputin could be found in the hall, where he sat surrounded by his "students". One of them usually sat on his lap. He stroked her hair and whispered something in her ear about the "mysterious resurrection". Then he began to sing, and the song was immediately picked up by everyone present. Soon everyone started dancing some kind of wild and crazy dance. After this, trips began to another room to the place where the “holy of holies” stood. At one of these classes, Rasputin suddenly began to speak vividly and in detail about the sexual life of horses. He then roughly grabbed one of the “students” by the shoulder and said, “Come along, my beautiful mare.”
Even in the way Rasputin died, one can find sexual connotations. His murder was planned and carried out by people who were very jealous of the power and position at court that Rasputin enjoyed. He was invited to a late dinner, where he was treated to poisoned food and poisoned wine. One of the killers, Felix Yusupov, had homosexual tendencies. He repeatedly tried to get closer to Rasputin, but he never succeeded. When Rasputin began to lose consciousness from the poison starting to take effect, Yusupov first raped him and then shot him four times with a pistol. Rasputin fell to the floor, but was alive. Grigory Rasputin was then castrated. His severed penis was later found by a servant. He gave it to a maid who, according to the latest information, lived in Paris back in 1968. In a polished wooden box she kept the organ, which looked like “...a black overripe banana about 30 centimeters long...”
It is impossible to even approximately calculate the number of women with whom Rasputin had sexual relations. Among them were noble ladies and maids, military wives and prostitutes, actresses and peasant women. The most patient of all these women, of course, was Rasputin's wife Praskovya, who never complained about her husband's adultery. To all questions regarding her husband’s sexual behavior, she calmly and patiently said: “He has enough strength for everyone.”
Peasant of the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province. One of the most famous characters in Russian history of the early twentieth century. Favorite of the imperial couple Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna Romanov.
Contrary to a number of myths, Rasputin is the true family surname of Grigory Efimovich, quite common in Western Siberia. The controversial issue is about Rasputin's education. Despite the fact that the elder’s famous “notes,” addressed to high-ranking officials and representatives of the aristocracy, are replete with gross spelling errors, Rasputin was undoubtedly taught the basics of literacy; At the same time, it remains unknown whether the fact of studying at least in the elementary grades of a parish school was present in the life of the elder.
Start of activity
The pilgrimage period of his biography began in the early 1890s. It is known that, having walked more than five hundred miles, Rasputin ended up in the Verkhoturye St. Nicholas Monastery, where he spent, apparently, as a novice, at least three months. Returning to Pokrovskoye, Rasputin decisively changed his lifestyle: he gave up wine, stopped eating meat, and spent whole days reading the Gospel and fervent prayer. Having left Pokrovskoe again, Rasputin visited all the monasteries of the Tobolsk and Siberian diocese, Athos, Jerusalem, Kyiv, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Sarov, Valaam, Optina Pustyn. Rasputin's sudden piety and craving for pilgrimage are probably explained by some extraordinary circumstance in his life, perhaps by some miracle that turned him to religion forever. Let us note that even before Rasputin’s arrival in the capital of the empire, St. Petersburg, rumors about the amazing old man Gregory penetrated into the “city of Petrov.”
Meet the Romanovs
Acquaintance in Kiev with Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, wife of Duke G. M. of Leuchtenberg, later the wife of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (the younger) and her sister Militsa Nikolaevna, wife of Grand Duke Pyotr Nikolaevich, grandson of Emperor Nicholas I, truly played a role in Rasputin’s life fateful role. It was their recommendation that allowed Rasputin to be at court and meet the family of Tsar Nicholas II. Apparently, Rasputin ended up in St. Petersburg no earlier than the fall of 1904, that is, just when Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich was found to have signs of hemophilia. In turn, on November 1, 1905, i.e., at the height of the First Russian Revolution, the first personal meeting of G. E. Rasputin and Nicholas II took place, which the latter, with his characteristic pedantry, wrote down in his personal diary. Rasputin gained greater fame than before by providing prayer assistance to the daughter of Russian Prime Minister P. A. Stolypin on August 12, 1906, who was seriously injured in an assassination attempt on her father. Despite the serious injuries, the girl remained alive, although the tragedy on Aptekarsky Island in St. Petersburg led to her becoming disabled. It must be said that at that time Rasputin was not yet notorious, and his reputation had not yet been greatly tarnished.
Rasputin and dignitaries
In general, Rasputin had extremely difficult relations with the most prominent dignitaries of the last reign - S. Yu. Witte, I. L. Goremykin and P. A. Stolypin. According to some reports, Rasputin predicted this event just hours before the assassination attempt on Stolypin in Kyiv; in turn, the “elder” had several secret meetings with Witte after the latter’s resignation, while in his circle Rasputin said that “Vitya [Witte. - A.P.] - the smartest, but dad [Nicholas II. - A.P.] doesn’t love him.” The attitude of Duma circles, including the Chairman of the Fourth State Duma M.V. Rodzianko, towards Rasputin was extremely hostile. Rodzianko called Rasputin a “dirty rogue,” repeatedly begging the emperor to remove him from the court.
"Admirers" of Rasputin
By the beginning of the 1910s, thanks to his closeness to the imperial family, a circle of “admirers” and “admirers” had formed around Rasputin, who were present at Rasputin’s famous dinners, the indispensable attribute of which was fish soup. Among the “admirers”, I. F. Manasevich-Manuylov, D. L. Rubinshtein, Prince M. M. Andronnikov, P. A. Badmaev, the elder’s secretary A. S. Simanovich, who handled dirty commercial affairs with the help of the elder, stood out, leaving behind replete with numerous absurdities and inventions, memoirs about his work under the famous patron; Among the “admirers”, the maid of honor of the court A. A. Vyrubova, close to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, A. N. Lapchinskaya and the maid of honor L. V. Nikitina stood out. In addition, the reception room in Rasputin’s apartment on Gorokhovaya, 64 was overcrowded with petitioners trying to somehow arrange their affairs through the “elder”: to receive patronage in the service, to obtain a pension, etc. In fairness, we note that Rasputin, as a rule, , tried to help everyone in need, giving them either money, which he always treated very lightly, or giving the petitioner a note addressed to some high-ranking official. The texts of the notes were distinguished by the brevity of the syllable: for example, “Accept, listen. Poor thing. Gregory,” or “Dear, dear, do to her what she asks. Unhappy. Gregory." It is curious that these notes could often dramatically change a person’s life for the better.
At the same time, extensive correspondence was sent to Rasputin, which Grigory Efimovich sorted out with his own hands. Rasputin's influence did not lead to his personal enrichment. Rasputin was certainly an absolutely not greedy person and, by the very nature of his character, was sincerely disposed towards people.
Rasputin and the royal family
The question of the attitude of the Tsar and Tsarina to Rasputin deserves attention. Alexandra Fedorovna, who saw in Rasputin the only hope for the healing of her son, treated Rasputin enthusiastically, close to exaltation, perceiving the “elder” as a man infinitely devoted to the royal family and personifying the devotion to the dynasty of the entire Russian people. Unlike his wife, Nicholas II treated Rasputin rather reservedly. It is unlikely that he believed in the miraculous power of Rasputin and in his ability to cure the heir, but, undoubtedly, he was convinced that only Rasputin was capable of bringing the crown prince out of those crisis states when official medicine was no longer able to help, in addition, the emperor was confident is that the “elder” has a certain gift of foresight. Again, unlike his wife, Nicholas II was extremely skeptical about the advice of “our Friend” in the field of politics - both on the eve of the war and during it. There was one degree or another of paralysis of the will of the Empress by Rasputin, but there was never an enthusiastic and deifying attitude towards him from both crowned spouses. Simply put, the empress was dependent on the will of Rasputin; he could instill in her some kind of political invective. The king remained fairly indifferent to this. Well aware of the “reputational losses” in connection with the well-known fact of Rasputin’s presence at court, the tsar was aware of the full extent of Grigory Efimovich’s influence on his wife. Periodically removing Rasputin from St. Petersburg, the tsar, at the same time, over time, provided the “old man” with the opportunity to return to the royal family, on the one hand, realizing that “one Rasputin is better than ten hysterics a day,” and on the other hand, not wanting to follow the lead of public opinion. The dirty scandals associated with the name of Rasputin were known to the emperor, but did not lead to either the final fall of Grigory Efimovich or the loss of confidence in them from the empress. Rasputin's ugly revelries, as well as rumors about his sexual promiscuity, only aroused a feeling of disgust in the emperor, but did not push him to take decisive measures to permanently remove the “old man.” Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, sister of Nicholas II, recalled in her memoirs: “Since I knew Niki well, I must categorically state that Rasputin did not have the slightest influence on him. It was none other than Niki who eventually forbade Rasputin from appearing in the palace. It was Niki who sent the “elder” to Siberia, and more than once.” The Empress, in her opinion, “saw in him the savior of her son” and “eventually imagined that the ‘elder’ was also the savior of Russia.”
In general, it can be argued that before the outbreak of the First World War, Rasputin’s real influence on politics was minimal; it can be characterized rather as psychological: Rasputin’s closeness to the Empress often forced high-ranking officials to curry favor with him, hoping for possible patronage and promotion.
At the same time, we emphasize that even before the outbreak of the First World War, the name of Rasputin enjoyed almost all-Russian fame, the reason for this, in many respects, was the rapid development after the Tsar’s manifesto on October 17, 1905 of Russian journalism of a very different, sometimes openly oppositional nature, considerable paying attention to the adventures of the “old man,” in particular, descriptions of his revelry. In the Russian press of that time, Rasputin was called a “famous person”; his name rarely appeared in correspondence, due to his closeness to the royal family. Regarding the question of Rasputin’s influence on the heir, it can be argued that Grigory Efimovich was indeed deeply attached to Alexei, who had sincere love for him; undoubtedly, also that several times Rasputin saved the crown prince from death at moments of exacerbation of his illness.
Assassination attempt on Rasputin
On June 29 (July 12), 1914, an attempt was made on Rasputin’s life in Pokrovsky, committed by his admirer Kh. Guseva, who seriously wounded the “elder” with a knife in the stomach. Miraculously saved from death, Rasputin remained in the hospital until the end of August 1914; Rasputin subsequently said that the attempt on his life played a fatal role for Russia: they say, if it had not been for this attempt, he would have been able to dissuade Nicholas II from getting involved in the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Last years
The First World War was a time of increasing Rasputin's influence on the politics of the empire. We can talk about a whole series of appointments of prominent dignitaries dictated by the influence of Rasputin; At the same time, it would be very difficult to say that at least one cabinet of ministers could be called “Rasputin’s”; one can rather talk about individual ministers. The facelessness of the ministers appointed by the tsar’s decrees during the war is explained primarily by the personal preferences of Nicholas II: the tsar wanted to see in one or another chair an official absolutely obedient to his will, not subject to the influence of the “public”, the Duma, but unquestioningly carrying out the will of the monarch. Having assumed the supreme command on August 23, 1915 and gone to Headquarters in Mogilev, Nicholas II, in fact, found himself cut off from the current administration of the state; in fact, the empress became the first minister of state, naturally, who had no previous experience in governing the country. At the same time, the heir's illness worsens, and Rasputin's influence increases. News of this, as well as rumors about the empress’s alleged affair with the “elder,” spread throughout the country, reaching the front, and led to a colossal decline in the popularity of the dynasty. “The Tsar is with Yegor, and the Tsarina is with Gregory” - this indecent and deceitful pun was known throughout the country, disastrously affecting the authority of the dynasty. That is why a conspiracy against Rasputin began to mature among the monarchists. It was believed that his removal would save both the dynasty and the king from an inevitable revolution; In addition, rumors about espionage for Germany circulated around Rasputin’s name. Later, already in exile, the former minister-chairman of the Provisional Government A.F. Kerensky confidently said that “During the war, Rasputin worked for the Germans. For whom is it now a secret that Russia owed Stürmer and Rasputin to him? Now many have forgotten. But let them remember the past. Sazonov and the famous era. Can one imagine his name in the well-known combination of a separatist agreement with the Germans? They probably found some fault with him and removed him, replacing him with Sturmer. This man was the creation of Rasputin and was close to him... Before the war, he was for the Germans. I would like to know if he, this semi-literate man, spoke his thoughts. Of course, he himself was a conductor of someone else’s will and someone else’s directives...” A thoughtful and knowledgeable memoirist, State Duma deputy V.V. Shulgin wrote, recalling the mood of society on the eve of the murder of Rasputin: “There is a terrible worm that is sharpening, like a shashel, the trunk of Russia. The entire core has already been eaten away, perhaps the trunk is no longer there, but only one three-hundred-year-old bark is still holding on... And there is no medicine here... You can’t fight here... This is what kills... The name of this deadly thing: Rasputin! By the autumn of 1916, the situation in the country had all the signs of a national crisis, largely directed against the imperial couple, and especially against the empress.
A kind of declaration of war on Rasputin and the imperial couple behind him was the speech of one of the leaders of the right, V. M. Purishkevich, in the State Duma on November 19, 1916, which was electrified by the opposition speeches of P. N. Milyukov and V. V. Shulgin. According to Purishkevich, all the evil happening in Russia came from certain “dark forces,” allegedly led by a Siberian peasant. Purishkevich ended his speech with a call to rid Russia of Rasputin and “Rasputinists great and small.” Purishkevich's speech immediately gained enormous popularity. According to his memoirs, already on November 20, 1916, Prince F. F. Yusupov, married to the Tsar’s niece, contacted him. Yusupov’s mother, Z. N. Yusupova, in a letter to her son said that she was “under the tremendous impression of Purishkevich’s speech,” and that without the “liquidation” of G. E. Rasputin and Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, “nothing will come out peacefully.” way." During the meeting, Yusupov, who was personally acquainted with Rasputin, suggested that his interlocutor “eliminate” the “old man,” to which Purishkevich readily agreed, saying that this was his “long-time dream.” According to Purishkevich’s testimony, in addition to him and Yusupov, the conspiracy included Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, Lieutenant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment A.S. Sukhotin, and senior doctor of the ambulance train S.S. Lazovert. Cadet V.A. Maklakov was also involved in this case, who, although he was initiated into the plot of the conspirators, did not take part in the assassination attempt itself, limiting himself to valuable consultations on the preparation of the assassination attempt on Rasputin. In addition, to help the killers, Maklakov gave Yusupov “a brush with two lead balls on a short bendable handle.” “If Rasputin is killed,” Yusupov told Maklakov, “the Empress will have to be put in a home for the mentally ill in a few days; Her mental life is supported only by Rasputin; it will all crumble when it is removed; and if the Empress sits in the hospital and cannot influence the Sovereign, then by his nature he will be a very good constitutional Sovereign.”
The murder of Rasputin took place on the night of December 16-17 (December 30), 1916, in the palace of Prince Yusupov on the Moika. It is curious that both Purishkevich and Yusupov outlined their version of the murder of the “elder” in their memoirs, and Purishkevich, for the sake of credibility, gave his notes the appearance of a diary. The peculiarity of both editions is the deliberate suppression of a number of points, distortion of the truth, and sometimes outright lies. Yusupov's memoirs tell that, having lured Rasputin to his place for dinner, Yusupov treated Grigory Efimovich to wine and cakes, previously stuffed with potassium cyanide, which for some reason had no effect on Rasputin. Then Yusupov, according to his story, shoots Rasputin in the back, after which the “old man” falls to the floor. If you believe Yusupov's notes, the conspirators decided that Rasputin was dead and began to cover up the traces of the crime. Suddenly Rasputin stood up and grabbed onto Yusupov, after which he ran out into the yard. Purishkevich, who was catching up with Rasputin, fired several shots from a pistol, which mortally wounded the “old man.” Policeman S.V. Vlasyuk, who came running to hear the shots, according to Purishkevich’s story, received from him a comprehensive explanation of what happened. Rasputin's body was wrapped in cloth and taken to Petrovsky Island, from where it was thrown into the water from the bridge. After the discovery of the body and an autopsy performed by one of the best forensic doctors in the country, D.P. Kosorotov, it was established that Rasputin received three bullet wounds, and one of the bullets damaged the brain. Moreover, according to Kosorotov, all three bullets one way or another should have led to death. The coffin with Rasputin’s body was brought by car to Tsarskoye Selo to bury him here and subsequently rebury him in Pokrovskoye. On December 21, 1916, the funeral of the “elder” took place. Among those who saw off Rasputin on his last journey were Nicholas II and Alexandra Fedorovna, the daughters of the imperial couple, as well as the Minister of Internal Affairs A.D. Protopopov. After the February Revolution, in March 1917, Rasputin’s body was removed from the grave, and then it was cremated, apparently in a boiler room located on the territory of the Polytechnic Institute in Petrograd. The real picture of Rasputin’s murder, as well as the personality of the killer himself, could very likely have been completely different, radically different from the one presented in Yusupov’s memoirs and Purishkevich’s “diary”. Many scientists believe that by posing as Rasputin's killer, Purishkevich was shielding the real killer, who could have been the brilliant shooter and athlete Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, who, after a hasty investigation, was sent by the Tsar as punishment to the Persian Front, which may have saved him life after the Bolsheviks came to power. Other scientists see an English trace in the murder of Rasputin, naming British intelligence officer MI6 Oswald Rayner, an old friend of Prince Yusupov, as the killer. It is also interesting that it was Reiner who carried out the first period of Yusupov’s memoirs into English. At the same time, talking about the direct participation in the murder of both Rayner himself and the instructions that the English Ambassador Sir George Buchanan allegedly gave him before the murder of Rasputin can only be done with a great deal of suspicion. It is quite difficult to imagine that career diplomat Buchanan persuaded an intelligence officer not under his jurisdiction to carry out a murder in the capital of the empire of a state allied with Great Britain. It is likely that it will never be possible to fully establish the true picture of the crime.
The murder of Rasputin showed how deep the crisis was in Russian society on the eve of 1917. Contemporaries called this “the first shot of the revolution.” The “customer” of this murder was society itself, which sought to remove the black yoke from the very idea of monarchy, being internally ready even to replace the crown bearer.
Willingly or unwittingly, the first shots of the future revolution, which swept away both the throne and all of old Russia, were fired by the aristocrats. No one at that moment could imagine that the murder of Rasputin would become the prologue to the terrible massacre that occurred a short time later with the royal family, with the aristocracy and with all of old Russia. The last time in their history, while demonstratively dealing with a peasant, the aristocrats showed the recipe to this same peasant on how he should deal with them.
The murder of Rasputin, which took place shortly before the fatal year 1917 for Russia, during which the country essentially experienced the collapse of statehood twice, became the first omen of the coming tragedy of our Fatherland. The martyrdom of Rasputin in many ways became a photograph of the entire long-suffering fate of the Russian people in the twentieth century. The death of such a tragically complex figure, which Rasputin undoubtedly was, who fell at the hands of representatives of the upper ranks of society, was symptomatic, expressing the inability, unfortunately, of Russians to dialogue with each other - the full significance of this conflict, alas, clearly manifested itself during the 17th year and during the period Civil War; and to this day, we internally identify ourselves either with “simple”, “men”, or with “gentlemen”, or with “reds”, or with “whites”. The murder of a “man” in the Yusupov Palace by “bars” became a harbinger of the coming bloody revenge. Soon the “men” with brutal cruelty will take revenge on the “bars” for all their centuries-old grievances. It is from the point of view of the historical perspective closest to the moment of Rasputin’s murder - the revolution and the Civil War - that we must understand the shots in the Yusupov Palace. The top of society greeted the murder of Rasputin with the hope of changing the nature of power, with the hope of easing tensions in society, and ultimately that “perhaps” everything would change and they would be able to “live” to victory in the war and avoid revolution; it seemed to the elite that the “old man” was bringing the revolution closer, discrediting the emperor - that’s how it is, but after the murder of Rasputin, responsibility for all the negativity associated with war and power now fell directly on Nicholas II; Previously, the demonic Rasputin, who personified everything bad in the eyes of the liberal opposition and court circles, involuntarily overshadowed the tsar: it seemed that if Rasputin was not there, then everything would be fine. Now the problems in society had not disappeared anywhere, Rasputin was no longer there, it was obvious, or rather it seemed, that the monarch was to blame for everything. After the murder of Rasputin, news of this instantly reached all corners of the empire: whether in the capital St. Petersburg, in a remote garrison, in the officers' mess in the active army, at the front, strangers or barely familiar people clinked glasses of champagne with each other, saying toasts in honor of Russia or Emperor. Just as 115 years earlier, after the news of the death of Paul I, the entire available supply of champagne was sold out in St. Petersburg stores within 24 hours, after the news of Rasputin’s death, many circles, previously extremely critical of the emperor, began to unanimously (and this newspapers of that time recorded) to perform “God Save the Tsar.” It is believed that this was the last loyal impulse in the history of the empire.
Peasant Russia received the murder of “its plenipotentiary representative” at court - Rasputin - with indignation. Such different reactions to one event were significant, demonstrating the deepest internal divisions in society. Could the revolution have been avoided? Was Rasputin a fatal figure for the monarchy? “And we all pose a tricky answer, but don’t find the right question.” Another thing is important: the brutal murder in the Yusupov Palace of an unarmed man, known throughout Russia, became a truly significant event, if only for the simple reason that there were less than three months left before the start of the February Revolution and the fall of the monarchy.