Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin (1872-1916) was the infamous 'holy man' whose ability to heal the Tsar and Tsarina's son Alexis led to his being adopted as a supreme mystic at court. Growing in influence to the point where he effectively dictated policy he was eventually assassinated by a group of court conspirators in December 1916.
Born in 1872 at Pokrovskoye in Siberia to a peasant family, Rasputin's limited education left him without the ability to either read or write. Even at a young age he earned himself such a reputation for devoted debauchery that his actual name of Grigory Yefimovich Novykh was replaced with the surname 'Rasputin' - Russian for 'debauched one'.
Having undergone a form of religious conversion while aged 18 Rasputin embraced the Khlysty sect. Happily for Rasputin (given his reputation) the sect preached the notion that the closest relationship to God could best be achieved while exhausted from prolonged sexual engagements.
Rasputin married at age 19, to Proskovia Fyodorovna, who bore him four children. Unsettled, Rasputin left his wife and travelled, variously to Greece and Jerusalem, where he established a reputation (self-created) as a holy man.
Read Full Article »