Grigory Rasputin

On December 30, 1916, Grigory Rasputin, a native of the peasantry, a family friend of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II, was brutally murdered in St. Petersburg.

Among the numerous names of Russian prophets and clairvoyants, there is hardly one that would be so widely known in our country and abroad as the name Grigory Rasputin. And it is unlikely that another name from this series will be found, around which an equally dense network of mysteries and legends would be woven.

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin

At the end of the 20th century, many secrets of Russian history were revealed to us, however, most of them belong to the so-called Soviet period. But the eve of this period, and Rasputin's life, as you know, ended at the very end of 1916, today appears before us more and more clearly. And, of course, without the personality of Grigory Rasputin, without revealing the true essence of his prophecies and visionary gift, the picture of that relatively recent era will be incomplete. Documents, their careful analysis, comparison of a variety of evidence and other sources make it possible to dispel the fog that hides the image of Rasputin from us.
In the middle of the 19th century, a peasant from the village of Pokrovsky Tobolsk province Efim Yakovlevich Rasputin, at the age of twenty, married a twenty-two-year-old girl, Anna Vasilievna Parshikova. The wife repeatedly gave birth to daughters, but they died. The first boy, Andrei, also died. From the village census for 1897, it is known that on January 10, 1869 (the day of Gregory of Nyssa according to the Julian calendar), her second son was born, named after the calendar saint.

In the metric book of the Pokrovskaya Sloboda, in the first part “On those born”, it is written: “The son Grigory was born to Efim Yakovlevich Rasputin and his wife Anna Vasilievna of the Orthodox faith.” He was baptized on January 10th. The godparents were Uncle Matthew Yakovlevich Rasputin and the maiden Agafya Ivanovna Alemasova. The baby received the name according to the existing tradition of naming the child by the name of the saint on whose day he was born or baptized. The day of the baptism of Grigory Rasputin is January 10, the day of the celebration of the memory of St. Gregory of Nyssa.

However, the parish registers of the village church have not been preserved, and in the future 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.

Rasputin's father at first drank a lot, but then he took up his mind and acquired a household.

According to the stories of fellow villagers, he was a smart and competent man: he had an eight-room hut, twelve cows, eight horses, and was engaged in private carriage. In general, did not live in poverty. Yes, and the village of Pokrovskoye itself was considered in the county and in the province - relative to neighboring villages - a rich village, since Siberians did not know the poverty of European Russia, did not know serfdom and were distinguished by self-esteem and independence.

In winter, he worked as a coachman, in the summer he plowed the land, fished and unloaded barges.

Little information has been preserved about Rasputin's mother. She died when Gregory was not even eighteen years old. After her death, Rasputin said that she often appears to him in a dream and calls to her, foreshadowing that he will die before he reaches her age. She died barely over the age of fifty, while Rasputin died at the age of forty-seven.

Young Gregory was frail and dreamy, but this did not last long - having barely matured, he began to fight with his peers and parents, to walk (once he managed to drink a cart with hay and horses at the fair, after which he walked home eighty miles on foot). Fellow villagers recalled that already in his youth he had powerful sexual magnetism. Grishka was found more than once with girls and beaten.

Soon Rasputin began to steal, for which he was almost exiled to Eastern Siberia. Once he was beaten for another theft - so much so that Grishka, according to the villagers, became "strange and stupid." Rasputin himself claimed that after being struck with a stake in the chest, he was on the verge of death and experienced "the joy of suffering." The injury did not pass without a trace - Rasputin stopped drinking and smoking.

Nineteen years old Grigory Rasputin married Praskovya Dubrovina, a fair-haired and black-eyed girl from a neighboring village. She was four years older than her husband, but their marriage, despite the adventurous life of Gregory, turned out to be happy. Rasputin constantly took care of his wife and children - two daughters and a son.

However, worldly passions and vices were not alien to Gregory either. According to fellow villagers (which, however, must be treated very carefully), Grigory's nature was violently reckless: along with charitable deeds, he drove horses while drunk, liked to fight, used foul language, in a word, his marriage did not settle down. “Grishka the thief” was called behind his back. “Stealing hay, taking other people's firewood away was his business. He was very brawling and reveling ... How many times they beat him: they pushed him in the neck, like an annoying drunkard, cursing with choice words.

Moving from peasant labor to peasant revelry, Grigory lived in his native Pokrovsky until the age of twenty-eight, until an inner voice called him to another life, to the life of a wanderer. In 1892, Grigory went to the district town of Verkhotursk (Perm province), to the Nikolaevsky Monastery, where the relics of St. Simeon of Verkhotursky were kept, pilgrims from all over Russia came to bow to them.

Rasputin considered himself to be one of those people who in Russia have long been called "old men", "wanderers". This is a purely Russian phenomenon, and its source is in the tragic history of the Russian people.
Hunger, cold, pestilence, cruelty of the tsarist official are the eternal companions of the Russian peasant. Where, from whom to expect consolation? Only from those on whom even the omnipotent power, not recognizing their own laws, did not dare to raise a hand - from people not of this world, from wanderers, holy fools and clairvoyants. In the popular mind, these are God's people.
In suffering, in grievous agony, the country emerging from the Middle Ages, not knowing what lay ahead of it, superstitiously looked at these amazing people - wanderers, kalik passers-by, who were not afraid of anything and no one, who dared to speak the truth loudly. Often wanderers were called elders, although according to the then concepts, even a thirty-year-old person could sometimes be considered an old man.

Rasputin with his countryman and friend Mikhail Pecherkin went to Athos, and from there to Jerusalem. They traveled most of the way on foot, enduring many hardships. But suffering, spiritual and physical, paid off a hundredfold when they saw with their own eyes the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives (Oleon), the Holy Sepulcher, and Bethlehem.

Holy Sepulcher
Returning to Russia, Rasputin continued to wander. I was in Kyiv, Trinity-Sergiev, on Solovki, in Valaam, Sarov, Pochaev, in Optina Pustyn, in the Nil, the Holy Mountains, that is, in all places, somehow famous for their holiness.

Optina Pustyn

The family laughed at him. He did not eat meat and sweets, heard different voices, walked from Siberia to St. Petersburg and back, 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 through the frost in one shirt.

His prophecies were calls to repentance "before trouble comes." Sometimes, by sheer coincidence, misfortune happened the very next day (huts burned, cattle got sick, people died) - and the peasants began to believe that the blessed peasant had the gift of foresight. He got followers.

At the age of 33, Grigory begins to storm Petersburg. Having enlisted the recommendations of provincial priests, he settled with the rector of the Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius, the future Stalinist patriarch.

Patriarch Sergius

He, impressed by the exotic character, represents the “old man” (many years of wandering on foot gave the young Rasputin the appearance of an old man) to the powers that be. Thus began the path of the "man of God" to glory.

The first loud prophecy of Rasputin was the prediction of the death of our ships at Tsushima. Perhaps he took this from the newspaper news, which reported that a squadron of old ships went out to meet the modern Japanese fleet without respecting secrecy.

Russian squadron in the battle of Tsushima

He dissuaded weak-willed monarchs from escaping to England (they are said to have already packed their things), which, most likely, would have saved them from death and would have directed the history of Russia in a different direction. The next time, he presented the Romanovs with a miraculous icon (found from them after the execution), then he allegedly healed Tsarevich Alexei, who was ill with hemophilia, and eased the pain of Stolypin's daughter, who was wounded by terrorists.

Rasputin and Tsarevich Alexei

The shaggy man forever took possession of the hearts and minds of the august couple. The emperor personally arranges for Gregory to change the dissonant surname to "New" (which, however, did not take root). Soon Rasputin-Novykh acquires another lever of influence at court - the young lady-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova (a close friend of the queen) who idolizes the "old man".

Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova

He becomes the confessor of the Romanovs and comes to the tsar at any time without making an appointment for an audience. At court, Gregory was always "in character", but outside the political scene he was completely transformed. Having bought himself a new house in Pokrovsky, he took noble St. Petersburg admirers there. There, the "old man" put on expensive clothes, became smug, gossiped about the king and nobles.

Rasputin's house in Pokrovsky

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." The growing power of Rasputin did not suit the court.

house on st. Gorokhovaya where Rsputin lived

Cases were initiated against him, but every 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 against Rasputin. Bishop Germogen (who expelled a certain Iosif Dzhugashvili from the seminary ten years ago) tried to drive the devil out of Gregory and publicly beat him on the head with a cross.

Rasputin was put under police surveillance, which did not stop until his death. Rasputin learned to read and write only in St. Petersburg. He left behind only short notes filled with terrible scribbles. Rasputin did not save money, now starving, then throwing it to the right and left. He seriously influenced foreign policy countries, twice persuading Nicholas not to start a war in the Balkans (inspiring the tsar that the Germans are a dangerous force, and the "brothers", that is, the Slavs, are pigs).

When the first World War nevertheless began, Rasputin expressed a desire to come to the front to bless the soldiers. Troop Commander Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich promised to hang it on the nearest tree.

In response, Rasputin gave birth to another prophecy that Russia would not win the war until an autocrat (who had military education, but proved to be a mediocre strategist). The king, of course, led the army. With historical consequences. Politicians actively criticized the queen - the "German spy", not forgetting about Rasputin.

It was then that the image of the "grey eminence" was created, solving all state issues, although in fact Rasputin's power was far from absolute. German zeppelins scattered leaflets over the trenches, where the Kaiser relied on the people, and Nicholas II on Rasputin's genitals.

The priests were not far behind either. It was announced that the murder of Grishka is a boon for which "forty sins will be removed."

On July 29, 1914, the mentally ill Khionia Guseva stabbed Rasputin in the stomach, shouting: "I killed the Antichrist!" The wound was fatal, but Rasputin pulled himself out. According to his daughter's recollections, since then he has changed - he began to get tired quickly and took opium for pain.

Murder of Rasputin

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin

An important role in the rapid rise of Grigory Efimovich was played by his gift as a healer. Tsarevich Alexei suffered from hemophilia. His blood did not clot, and any small cut could end fatally. Rasputin also had the ability to stop the blood. He sat down near the wounded heir to the throne, quietly whispered some words, and the wound stopped bleeding. Doctors could not do anything of the kind, and therefore the elder became irreplaceable person for the royal family.

However, the rise of a newcomer caused a feeling of discontent among many noble people. This was largely facilitated by the behavior of Grigory Efimovich himself. He led a dissolute life (according to his surname) and radically influenced decisions that were crucial for Russia. That is, the elder was not distinguished by modesty and did not want to be content with the role of a court physician. Thus, he himself signed the sentence for himself, which is known to everyone as the murder of Rasputin.

conspirators

At the end of 1916, a conspiracy arose against the royal favorite. The number of conspirators included influential and noble people. These were: Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov (cousin of the emperor), Prince Yusupov Felix Feliksovich, deputy State Duma Purishkevich Vladimir Mitrofanovich, as well as Lieutenant of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Sergei Mikhailovich Sukhotin and military doctor Stanislav Sergeyevich Lazovert.

F.F. Yusupov

Prince Yusupov with his wife Irina
It was in the house of the Yusupovs that the murder of Rasputin was committed.

There is also an opinion that British intelligence officer Oswald Reiner was a member of the conspiracy. Already in the 21st century, at the suggestion of the BBC, the opinion arose that the plot was organized by the British. Allegedly, they were afraid that the elder would persuade the emperor to make peace with Germany. In this case, the entire power of the German machine would have fallen on Foggy Albion.

Oswald Reiner

As the BBC broadcast, Oswald Rainer knew Prince Yusupov from childhood. They had good friendships. Therefore, the Briton easily persuaded the high-society nobleman to organize a conspiracy. At the same time, an English intelligence officer was present at the murder of the royal favorite and even, allegedly, made a control shot in his head. All this bears little resemblance to the truth, if only because none of the conspirators subsequently mentioned in a single word about the involvement of the British in the conspiracy. And there was no such thing as a "control shot" at all.

Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov

Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov (left)
and Purishkevich Vladimir Mitrofanovich

In addition, you need to take into account the mentality of people who lived 100 years ago. The murder of the almighty old man was considered the work of the Russian people. Prince Yusupov, out of noble motives, would never have allowed his English friend be present at the execution of the royal favorite. In any case, it was a criminal offense, and, therefore, punishment could follow. And the prince could not allow this in relation to a citizen of another country.

Thus, we can conclude that there were only 5 conspirators, and all of them were Russian people. A noble desire burned in their souls to save the royal family and Russia from the machinations of ill-wishers. Grigory Efimovich was considered the culprit of all evils. The conspirators naively believed that by killing the old man, they would change the inevitable course of history. However, time has shown that these people were deeply mistaken.

Chronology of Rasputin's assassination

The murder of Rasputin took place on the night of December 17, 1916. The scene of the crime was the house of the Yusupov princes in St. Petersburg on the Moika.

It has a basement room. They put chairs, a table, and hoisted a samovar on it. Cakes, macaroons and chocolate biscuits were placed on plates. A large dose of potassium cyanide was added to each of them. A tray with bottles of wine and glasses was placed nearby on a separate table. They kindled a fireplace, threw a bearskin on the floor and went after the victim.

Prince Yusupov went for Grigory Efimovich, and the doctor Lazovert was driving the car. The reason for the visit was far-fetched. Allegedly, Felix's wife Irina wanted to meet the elder. The prince phoned him beforehand and arranged a meeting. Therefore, when the car arrived at Gorokhovaya Street, where the favorite of the royal family lived, Felix was already waiting.

Rasputin, dressed in a luxurious fur coat, left the house and got into the car. He immediately set off, and after midnight the trinity returned to the Moika to the Yusupovs' house. The remaining conspirators gathered in a room on the 2nd floor. They turned on the lights everywhere, turned on the gramophone and pretended to be a noisy merry company.

V.M. Purishkevich, Lieutenant S.M. Sukhotin, F.F. Yusupov

Felix explained to the old man that his wife had guests. They should leave soon, but for now you can wait in the lower room. At the same time, the prince apologized, referring to his parents. They could not stand the royal favorite. The elder knew about this, so he was not at all surprised when he found himself in a basement that looked like a casemate.

Here the guest was offered to eat sweets standing on the table. Grigory Efimovich loved cakes, so he ate them with pleasure. But nothing happened. Potassium cyanide, for unknown reasons, had no effect on the body of the old man. As if he was protected by supernatural forces.

Grigory Efimovich at home

After the cakes, the guest drank Madeira and began to show impatience at the absence of Irina. Yusupov expressed a desire to go upstairs and find out when the guests would finally leave. He left the basement and went up to the conspirators, who were looking forward to the good news. But Felix disappointed them and plunged them into a state of bewilderment.

However, the execution had to be carried out, so the noble prince took the Browning and returned to the basement room. Entering the room, he immediately fired at Rasputin, who was sitting at the table. He slumped from his chair to the floor and fell silent. The rest of the conspirators appeared and carefully examined the elder. Grigory Efimovich was not killed, but a bullet that hit his chest wounded him mortally.

Having enjoyed the sight of the agonizing body, the whole company left the room, putting out the light in it and closing the door. After some time, Prince Yusupov went downstairs to check if the elder had already died. He went into the basement, went up to Grigory Efimovich, who was lying motionless. The body was still warm, but there was no doubt that the soul had already separated from it.

Felix was about to call the others to load the dead man into the car and take him out of the house. Suddenly the old man's eyelids fluttered and opened. Rasputin stared at his killer with a piercing gaze.

Then the incredible happened. The elder jumped to his feet, screamed wildly and dug his fingers into Yusupov's throat. He choked and incessantly repeated the name of the prince. He fell into indescribable horror and tried to free himself. The fight began. Finally, the prince managed to escape from the tenacious embrace of Grigory Efimovich. He then fell to the floor. In his hand was the shoulder strap from the prince's military uniform.

Felix ran out of the room and rushed upstairs for help. The conspirators rushed down and saw an old man running towards the exit from the house. The front door was locked, but the mortally wounded man pushed it with his hand, and it opened. Rasputin found himself in the yard and ran across the snow to the gate. If he found himself on the street, then for the conspirators it would mean the end.

Purishkevich rushed after the fleeing. He shot him in the back once, then a second, but missed. It should be noted that Vladimir Mitrofanovich was considered an excellent shooter. From a hundred steps he hit a silver ruble, but here he could not hit a wide back from 30. The elder was already near the gate when Purishkevich took careful aim and fired a third time. The bullet finally hit its target. She hit Grigory Efimovich in the neck, and he stopped. Then the 4th shot was fired. A piece of red-hot lead pierced the head of the old man, and the mortally wounded man collapsed to the ground.

The conspirators ran up to the body and hurriedly carried it into the house. However, loud gunshots in the night attracted the police. A policeman arrived at the house to find out their cause. He was told that Rasputin had been shot at, and the guardian of the law retreated without taking any measures.

After that, the body of the old man was placed in a closed car. But the fatally wounded man still showed signs of life. He was wheezing, and the pupil of his open left eye was rolling.

Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, Dr. Lazovert and Lieutenant Sukhotin got into the car. They took the body to Malaya Nevka and threw it into the hole. With this, the long and painful murder of Rasputin ended.

Conclusion

When the investigating authorities removed the corpse from the Neva 3 days later, an autopsy showed that the elder lived under water for another 7 minutes.

The amazing vitality of the body of Grigory Efimovich even today inspires superstitious horror in the souls of people.

Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna ordered to bury the murdered man in the far corner of the park in Tsarskoye Selo. An order was also given to build a mausoleum. A wooden chapel was erected next to the temporary grave.

Members of the royal family visited there every week and prayed for the soul of the innocently murdered martyr.

After February Revolution In 1917, the corpse of Grigory Efimovich was removed from the grave, taken to the Polytechnic Institute and burned in the furnace of his boiler room.

the boiler room where Rasputin's body was cremated

As for the fate of the conspirators, they became extremely popular among the people. However, murderers at all times were punished regardless of motives and motivations.

Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich was sent to the troops of General Baratov. They performed an allied duty in Persia. By the way, this saved the life of a member of the Romanov dynasty. When the revolution broke out in Russia, the Grand Duke was not in Petrograd.

Felix Yusupov was exiled to one of his estates. In 1918, the prince left Russia with his wife Irina. At the same time, from the entire huge state, he took the crumbs. These are jewelry and paintings. Their total cost was estimated at several hundred thousand royal rubles. Everything else was looted and plundered by the insurgent people.

As for Purishkevich, Lazovert and Sukhotin, all charges against them were dropped. Here the February Revolution played its role, and the personality of the person they killed. Undoubtedly, only one thing - this murder greatly increased their authority and prestige.

The murder of Rasputin at all times caused a lot of assumptions, conjectures and hypotheses. There are many dark spots in this case. Of particular bewilderment is the astonishing vitality of the old man. He could not take potassium cyanide and bullets. All this gives the crime a mystical component. This is quite possible, given the fact that materialism has long ceased to be the fundamental doctrine that denies everything unusual and supernatural that lives side by side with us.

The article was written by Vladimir Chernov

A Russian peasant who became famous for "prophecies" and "healings" and had unlimited influence on the imperial family, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was born on January 21 (January 9, according to the old style), 1869 in the Ural village of Pokrovskoye, Tyumen district, Tobolsk province (now located on the territory Tyumen region). In memory of St. Gregory of Nyssa, the infant was baptized with the name Gregory. Father, Efim Rasputin, was a cart driver and was a village headman, his mother was Anna Parshukova.

Gregory grew up as a sickly child. He did not receive an education, since there was no parochial school in the village, and he remained illiterate for the rest of his life - he wrote and read with great difficulty.

He began to work early, at first he helped to graze cattle, went with his father to the cart, then participated in agricultural work, helped to harvest.

In 1893 (according to other sources in 1892) Grigory

Rasputin began to wander around the holy places. At first, the business was limited to the nearest Siberian monasteries, and then he began to wander throughout Russia, having mastered its European part.

Later, Rasputin made a pilgrimage to the Greek monastery of Athos (Athos) and to Jerusalem. He made all these trips on foot. After wanderings, Rasputin invariably returned home for sowing and harvesting. Upon returning to his native village, Rasputin led the life of an "old man", but far from traditional asceticism. Rasputin's religious views were distinguished by their great originality and by no means coincided with canonical Orthodoxy in everything.

In his native places, he gained a reputation as a seer and healer. According to numerous testimonies of contemporaries, Rasputin did, to a certain extent, possess the gift of healing. He successfully coped with various nervous disorders, relieved tics, stopped blood, easily relieved headaches, drove away insomnia. There is evidence that he possessed an extraordinary power of suggestion.

In 1903, Grigory Rasputin visited St. Petersburg for the first time, and in 1905 he settled in it and soon drew upon himself everyone's attention. The rumor about the "holy old man" who prophesies and heals the sick quickly reached the highest society. IN a short time Rasputin became fashionable and famous person in the capital and became well received in high-society living rooms. Grand Duchess Anastasia and Milica Nikolaevna introduced him to the royal family. The first meeting with Rasputin took place in early November 1905 and left a very pleasant impression on the imperial couple. Then such meetings began to occur regularly.

The rapprochement of Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with Rasputin was of a deeply spiritual nature, they saw in him an old man who continued the traditions of Holy Rus', wise with spiritual experience, able to give good advice. He won even greater trust of the royal family by helping the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei, who was ill with hemophilia (blood incoagulability).

At the request of the royal family, Rasputin was given a different surname - New - by special decree. According to legend, this word was one of the first words that the heir Alexei uttered when he began to speak. Seeing Rasputin, the baby shouted: "New! New!".

Using access to the king, Rasputin turned to him with requests, including commercial ones. Receiving money for this from interested people, Rasputin immediately distributed part of it to the poor and peasants. He did not have clear political views, but he firmly believed in the connection between the people and the monarch and the inadmissibility of war. In 1912, he opposed Russia's entry into the Balkan Wars.

There were many rumors in Petersburg society about Rasputin and his influence on power. From about 1910, an organized press campaign began against Grigory Rasputin. He was accused of horse stealing, belonging to the whip sect, debauchery, drunkenness. Nicholas II expelled Rasputin several times, but then returned him to the capital at the insistence of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

In 1914, Rasputin was wounded by a religious fanatic.

Rasputin's opponents argue that the influence of the "old man" on Russian foreign and internal politics was almost all-encompassing. During the First World War, every appointment in the highest echelon of government services, as well as in the top of the church, passed through the hands of Grigory Rasputin. The empress consulted with him on all issues, and then persistently sought from her husband the state decisions she needed.

Authors who sympathize with Rasputin believe that he did not have any significant influence on the foreign and domestic policy of the empire, as well as on personnel appointments in the government, and that his influence was mainly in the spiritual sphere, as well as his miraculous abilities to alleviate suffering. Tsarevich.

In court circles, they continued to hate the "old man", considering him guilty of the fall of the authority of the monarchy. In the imperial environment, a conspiracy against Rasputin matured. Among the conspirators were Felix Yusupov (husband of the imperial niece), Vladimir Purishkevich (deputy of the State Duma) and Grand Duke Dmitry (cousin of Nicholas II).

On the night of December 30 (December 17, old style), 1916, Prince Yusupov invited Grigory Rasputin to visit, who served him poisoned wine. The poison did not work, and then the conspirators shot Rasputin and threw his body under the ice in a tributary of the Neva. When Rasputin's body was discovered a few days later, it turned out that he was still trying to breathe in the water and even freed one hand from the ropes.

At the insistence of the empress, Rasputin's body was buried near the chapel of the imperial palace in Tsarskoye Selo. After the February Revolution of 1917, the body was dug up and burned at the stake.

The trial of the murderers, whose act was approved even among the emperor's entourage, did not take place.

Grigory Rasputin was married to Praskovya (Paraskeva) Dubrovina. The couple had three children: son Dmitry (1895-1933) and two daughters - Matryona (1898-1977) and Varvara (1900-1925). Dmitry was exiled to the north in 1930, where he died of dysentery. Both daughters of Rasputin studied in St. Petersburg (Petrograd) at the gymnasium. Varvara died in 1925 from typhus. Matryona in 1917 married officer Boris Solovyov (1893-1926). The couple had two daughters. The family emigrated first to Prague, then to Berlin and Paris. After the death of her husband, Matryona (who called herself Maria abroad) performed in dance cabarets. Later she moved to the USA, where she began working as a tamer in a circus. After she was injured by a bear, she left this profession.

Died in Los Angeles (USA).

Matryona owns memories of Grigory Rasputin in French and German, published in Paris in 1925 and 1926, as well as brief notes about his father in Russian in the émigré magazine Illustrated Russia (1932).

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Grigory Rasputin is a well-known and controversial personality in national history, disputes about which have been going on for a century. His life is filled with a mass of inexplicable events and facts related to proximity to the emperor's family and influence on the fate of the Russian Empire. Some historians consider him an immoral charlatan and swindler, while others are sure that Rasputin was a real seer and healer, which allowed him to gain influence on the royal family.

Childhood and youth

Rasputin Grigory Efimovich was born on January 21, 1869 in the family of a simple peasant Efim Yakovlevich and Anna Vasilievna, who lived in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province. The day after the birth, the boy was baptized in the church with the name Gregory, which means "wakeful."

Embed from Getty Images Grigory Rasputin

Grisha became the fourth and only surviving child of his parents - his older brothers and sisters died in infancy due to poor health. At the same time, he was also weak from birth, so he could not play enough with his peers, which became the reason for his isolation and craving for solitude. It was in early childhood that Rasputin felt attached to God and religion.

At the same time, he tried to help his father graze cattle, go to carts, harvest crops and participate in any agricultural work. There was no school in the Pokrovsky village, so Grigory grew up illiterate, like all his fellow villagers, but he stood out among others for his morbidity, for which he was considered flawed.

Embed from Getty Images Peasant Grigory Rasputin

At the age of 14, Rasputin became seriously ill and was almost dying, but suddenly his condition began to improve, which, according to him, happened thanks to the Mother of God, who healed him. From that moment, Gregory began to deeply cognize the Gospel and, not even knowing how to read, was able to memorize the texts of prayers. During that period, peasant son the gift of clairvoyance woke up, which prepared for him subsequently a dramatic fate.

At the age of 18, Grigory Rasputin made his first pilgrimage to the Verkhoturye Monastery, but decided not to take a monastic vow, but to continue wandering around the holy places of the world, reaching the Greek Mount Athos and Jerusalem. Then he managed to make contacts with many monks, wanderers and representatives of the clergy, which in the future historians associated with the political meaning of his activities.

royal family

The biography of Grigory Rasputin changed its direction in 1903, when he arrived in St. Petersburg, and the palace doors opened before him. At the very beginning of his arrival in the capital of the Russian Empire, the "experienced wanderer" did not even have a livelihood, so he turned to the rector of the theological academy, Bishop Sergius, for help. He introduced him to the confessor of the royal family, Archbishop Feofan, who had already heard by that time about the prophetic gift of Rasputin, legends about which circulated throughout the country.

Embed from Getty Images Grigory Rasputin with fans

Grigory Efimovich met Emperor Nicholas II at a difficult time for Russia. Then the country was engulfed in political strikes, revolutionary movements aimed at overthrowing the tsarist government. It was during that period that a simple Siberian peasant managed to make a powerful impression on the tsar, which aroused the desire of Nicholas II to talk for hours with a wanderer-seer.

Thus, the "elder" gained tremendous influence on the imperial family, in particular, on. Historians are sure that Rasputin's rapprochement with the imperial family was due to the help of Grigory in the treatment of his son and heir to the throne, Alexei, who was ill with hemophilia, before which traditional medicine was powerless in those days.

Embed from Getty Images Grigory Rasputin with the royal family

There is a version that Grigory Rasputin was not only a healer for the king, but also the main adviser, as he had the gift of clairvoyance. The “man of God,” as the peasant was called in the royal family, knew how to look into the souls of people, to reveal to Emperor Nicholas all the thoughts of the closest tsar’s associates, who received high posts at the Court only after agreement with Rasputin.

In addition, Grigory Efimovich participated in all state affairs, trying to protect Russia from a world war, which, in his opinion, would bring incalculable suffering to the people, general discontent and revolution. This was not part of the plans of the warmongers of the world war, who plotted against the seer, aimed at eliminating Rasputin.

Conspiracy and murder

Before committing the murder of Grigory Rasputin, the opponents tried to destroy him spiritually. He was accused of whipping, witchcraft, drunkenness, depraved behavior. But Nicholas II did not want to take into account any arguments, since he firmly believed the elder and continued to discuss all state secrets with him.

Wax figures of Felix Yusupov and Grigory Rasputin / Nikolai Mylyuev, Wikipedia

Therefore, in 1914, an “anti-Rasputin” conspiracy arose, initiated by the prince, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Jr., who later became commander-in-chief of all the military forces of the Russian Empire during the First World War, and Vladimir Purishkevich, who at that time was a real state councilor.

From the first time, it was not possible to kill Grigory Rasputin - he was seriously wounded in the village of Pokrovsky by Khionia Guseva. During that period, while he was on the verge between life and death, Nicholas II decided to participate in the war and announced mobilization. At the same time, he continued to consult with the recovering seer about the correctness of his military actions, which again was not included in the plans of the royal ill-wishers.

Therefore, it was decided to bring the plot against Rasputin to an end. On December 29 (according to the new style), 1916, the elder was invited to the Palace of Prince Yusupov to meet with the famous beauty, the prince's wife Irina, who needed the healer's help from Grigory Efimovich. There he was treated to food and drinks poisoned with poison, but potassium cyanide did not kill Rasputin, which forced the conspirators to shoot him.

The place of the alleged burial of the remains of Grigory Rasputin in Piskarevsky Park / Monoklon, Wikipedia

After several shots in the back, the old man continued to fight for his life and was even able to run out into the street, trying to hide from the killers. After a short chase, accompanied by shooting, the healer fell to the ground and was severely beaten by his pursuers. Then the exhausted and beaten old man was tied up and thrown from the Petrovsky bridge into the Neva. According to historians, once in the icy water, Rasputin died only a few hours later.

Nicholas II entrusted the investigation into the murder of Grigory Rasputin to the director of the Police Department Alexei Vasilyev, who went on the trail of the healer's killers. 2.5 months after the death of the elder, Emperor Nicholas II was deposed from the throne, and the head of the new Provisional Government ordered that the investigation into the Rasputin case be hastily terminated.

Personal life

The personal life of Grigory Rasputin is as mysterious as his fate. It is known that back in 1900, during a pilgrimage to the holy places of the world, he married a peasant pilgrim like him, Praskovya Dubrovina, who became his only life partner. Three children were born in the Rasputin family - Matryona, Varvara and Dmitry.

Chronos

After the assassination of Grigory Rasputin, the elder's wife and children were subjected to repression by the Soviet authorities. They were considered “malicious elements” in the country, so in the 1930s the entire peasant economy and the house of Rasputin’s son were nationalized, and the healer’s relatives were arrested by the NKVD and deported to special settlements in the North, after which their trace was completely lost. Only her daughter managed to escape from the hands of Soviet power, who emigrated to France after the revolution, and then moved to the USA.

Predictions of Grigory Rasputin

Although Soviet authority considered the elder a charlatan, the predictions of Grigory Rasputin, left by him on 11 pages, were carefully hidden from the public after his death. In his "testament" to Nicholas II, the seer pointed to the commission of several revolutionary coups in the country and warned the tsar about the murder of the entire imperial family on the "order" of the new authorities.

Rasputin also predicted the creation of the USSR and its inevitable collapse. The elder predicted that Russia would defeat Germany in World War II and become a great power. At the same time, he foresaw terrorism in early XXI century, which will begin to flourish in the West.

Embed from Getty Images Elder Grigory Rasputin

In his predictions, Grigory Efimovich did not ignore the problems of Islam, clearly pointing out that Islamic fundamentalism is emerging in a number of countries, which in modern world called Wahhabism. Rasputin argued that at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, power in the East, namely in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, would be seized by Islamic fundamentalists who would declare "jihad" to the United States.

After that, according to Rasputin's predictions, a serious military conflict will arise, which will last 7 years and become the last in the history of mankind. True, Rasputin predicted during this conflict one big battle, during which no less than a million people would die on both sides.

Only Ivan the Terrible can be compared with the inconsistency of assessment of the personality of Grigory Rasputin in Russian history. Grigory Rasputin, biography, Interesting Facts from whose life they are attracted a large number of researchers. Much that this man could do is still not explained scientifically. about his life are not documented or deliberately falsified.

Grigory Rasputin-Novykh before meeting with the family of Nicholas II

Born into the family of a wealthy peasant in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk (now Tyumen) province, who had a mill on his farm. Various researchers consider 1864, 1865, 1969, 1871, 1872 to be the year of birth of G. Novykh (Rasputin). As dates of birth are considered 1.10, 23 January and 29 July.

It is believed that Rasputin got his nickname because of his dissolute (immoral) behavior. It would be strange for a person awarded such a contemptuous nickname to use it as a surname. Rasputin is the son of Rasputa (rasputa is an indecisive, insecure person).

"Crossroads" in Russian is "crossroads". According to Grigory Efimovich himself, all his home village had the surname Rasputin - living at the crossroads. Only he, after walking around the holy places, took the prefix New to himself in order to distinguish himself from his fellow villagers. Intercession - from the Church of the Intercession, which was in the village.

As a child, he was not in good health. His peasant labor strengthened him - he had to plow, work as a coachman, fish, walk with carts.

Rasputin Grigory Efimovich - interesting facts from life:

At the age of 18, he quit peasant labor and went on a pilgrimage through the monasteries of Siberia to the Verkhoturinsk monastery in the Perm province.
In 1890 he married a pilgrim, a peasant woman.
In 1893 he went to the Athos Monastery in Greece and to Jerusalem.
After walking around the holy places, he became famous for his ability to heal and predict the future.
He possessed the innate abilities of a hypnotist, spoke wounds, could turn any objects into talismans.
He was a devout Christian, but did not always agree with canonical dogmas. Perfection for him was the connection of nature and God, he argued that you can pray both in the monastery and in the dance.

According to G. E. Rasputin himself, he came to St. Petersburg in 1905 at the call of the Mother of God to help Tsarevich Alexei, who was ill with hemophilia.

Grigory Rasputin after meeting the family of Nicholas II

In 1907 he was called to the imperial court to treat the heir during one of the strongest attacks. Prayers stopped the bleeding and was left with the heir as a healer.

Gradually he acquired influential acquaintances, became a confessor and adviser to the queen, who called him "dear friend", "elder", God's man and considered him a saint. He spoke familiarly with the royal couple, expressed his opinions directly, without flattery and worship. They believed that they heard the voice of the people. He gave advice to the tsar on the pressing problems of state administration and personnel issues.

Repeatedly tested for different levels life path"old man" - no one would let a horse thief, a thief and a rapist near the king and heir. The initiator of one of the checks was P. A. Stolypin. Even the all-powerful prime minister with his administrative apparatus could not find past life Rasputin of crime. None of the checks revealed anything that could discredit the "old man".

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was like that with those in power, interesting facts from life are that in everyday life he preferred a Spartan lifestyle. He did not aspire to luxury, did not save money and parted with them easily, like every Russian loved to goof off and “splurge”.

The stronger the influence of the simple peasant Rasputin on the emperor's family and his entourage became, the greater the indignation it caused in the upper strata of society pushed away from the tsar.

A huge role in the appearance of a negative negative opinion was played by newspapers, in which everything was clearly done by order of someone who really needed it. It was the press that formed an opinion about a riotous lifestyle in the form of constant drinking, partying, debauchery.

The "old man" was also accused of being without special education deals with the treatment of people. Moreover, few people attached importance to the fact that Rasputin treated more successfully than many certified doctors.

Very often, his influence on officials and nobles was explained by relationships with their women - wives, daughters, etc. Rasputin's influence on the emperor is attributed to leapfrog with the appointments of senior officials.

The most immoral accusation was the confidence of the press in the sexual relationship between Rasputin and the queen.

Most likely, the "old man" was not absolutely holy in relations with women, but he was hardly the sexual monster that everyone was used to describing.

An indirect confirmation of Rasputin's sexual restraint can be the story of the examination, which, after the October Revolution, the Cheka conducted one of his first secular "mistresses" - the maid of honor of the Empress Vyrubova. She herself demanded this, as a result of which it was confirmed that Vyrubova was a virgin (strange, because she was married, though unhappily).

Rasputin found cleansing from sins in repentance and prayers for many hours.

At the end of June 1914, an attempt was made on Rasputin, as a result of which he was wounded in the stomach. From the village of Pokrovskoye, where he was being treated, he wrote letters to the emperor, in which he conjured him from entering the war, otherwise predicting a blood-drenched empire and the collapse of the dynasty.

A few days before the death of the "old man", the emperor was given 16 pages written by Grigory Rasputin, interesting facts from the life of the future were presented with prophetic certainty. Long years the original text was kept in the archives of the special services of the USSR - Russia. Among the predictions were the following:

the imperial family will perish if Rasputin is killed by aristocrats; if the killers are from the lower strata of society, nothing threatens the imperial family;
in Russia in 1917 there will be several coups. The royal family will die in a city far from the capital;
a socialist revolution will take place in Russia, but the Bolshevik regime will fall;
in Germany, after the defeat in the first world war, a strong leader will appear;
on the basis of the Russian Empire, another empire will arise;
Russia will defeat Germany in the next war;
man's exploration of space and the landing of man on the moon;
proof of the possibility of reincarnation by European scientists, which will give impetus to a wave of suicides;
the appearance of Lucifer and the approach of the end of the world;
the leak of a deadly virus from US secret laboratories (possibly AIDS or another flu strain);
poisoning by people of water, earth and sky, which will lead to a wide spread of numerous ailments and deaths of people;
abrupt climate change due to deforestation, construction of dams, destruction of mountain ranges;
there will be man-made disasters, such as accidents at nuclear power plants;
during one of the storms (geomagnetic, solar or climatic), Jesus Christ will return to people to help them and warn them about the end of the world;
from a lake (Loch Ness?) in Scotland a huge animal will come out, but will be destroyed;
will develop Islamic fundamentalism, which will declare war on the United States, and it will last 7 years;
the fall of morality and morality, human cloning;
there will be a third world war, after which peace will come.

December 30, 1916 G. E. Rasputin was found under the ice of the Malaya Moika. According to the official version, the murder was committed by representatives of high society. Among the killers were members of the emperor's family. At first they tried to poison Rasputin with potassium cyanide, then they shot him twice in the back. They put a bag over the body, tied it up and lowered it into the hole. During the autopsy, it was found that the "old man" tried to breathe under water and died as a result of drowning.

But there is nothing in the official autopsy report about a control shot in the forehead, the trace of which is clearly visible in the surviving photographs in the archives of the British secret services.

The UK had a reason. Rasputin inclined Russian emperor To separate world with Germany, which could not please the Russian allies in the First World War.

The century that has passed since the death of G. E. Rasputin not only clarified who he really was, but confused the knowledge about his life. Grigory Rasputin, biography, from life in many respects remain a mystery in our time. It just so happened - the more significant a person for Slavic world, the more it is poured with mud. Will we know for sure who he was? Magician, sorcerer, sorcerer, psychic, villain or holy protector of the Russian land?

A Russian peasant who became famous for "prophecies" and "healings" and had unlimited influence on the imperial family, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was born on January 21 (January 9, according to the old style), 1869 in the Ural village of Pokrovskoye, Tyumen district, Tobolsk province (now located on the territory of the Tyumen region ). In memory of St. Gregory of Nyssa, the infant was baptized with the name Gregory. Father, Efim Rasputin, was a cart driver and was a village headman, his mother was Anna Parshukova.

He began to work early, at first he helped to graze cattle, went with his father to the cart, then participated in agricultural work, helped to harvest.

In 1893 (according to other sources in 1892) Grigory

In 1903, Grigory Rasputin visited St. Petersburg for the first time, and in 1905 he settled in it and soon attracted everyone's attention. The rumor about the "holy old man" who prophesies and heals the sick quickly reached the highest society. In a short time, Rasputin became a fashionable and famous person in the capital and became well received in high-society living rooms. Grand Duchess Anastasia and Milica Nikolaevna introduced him to the royal family. The first meeting with Rasputin took place in early November 1905 and left a very pleasant impression on the imperial couple. Then such meetings began to occur regularly.

In 1914, Rasputin was wounded by a religious fanatic.

Rasputin's opponents argue that the influence of the "old man" on Russian foreign and domestic policy was almost all-encompassing. During the First World War, every appointment in the highest echelon of government services, as well as in the top of the church, passed through the hands of Grigory Rasputin. The empress consulted with him on all issues, and then persistently sought from her husband the state decisions she needed.

The trial of the murderers, whose act was approved even among the emperor's entourage, did not take place.

Died in Los Angeles (USA).

Matryona owns memoirs about Grigory Rasputin in French and German, published in Paris in 1925 and 1926, as well as brief notes about her father in Russian in the émigré magazine Illustrated Russia (1932).

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources