Famous or Infamous? — Grigori Rasputin

The Mad Monk of Russia

Grigori Rasputin (1869–1916) was a peasant mystic from Siberia who rose to the inner circle of Russia’s last royal family. To some, he was a prophet, healer, and holy man. To others, he was a drunk, a seducer, a fraud, and the corrupting shadow that doomed the Romanovs.

His story is one of contradictions — miracles and debauchery, prophecies and scandal, ending in one of the most infamous deaths in history.

The Strange Child of Siberia

Rasputin was born in Pokrovskoye, a Siberian village. Neighbors remembered him as odd — wild, unwashed, yet strangely compelling. Some claimed he could heal animals or see visions. Others recalled petty thefts, brawls, and heavy drinking.

He married a village girl, had children, then abandoned farm life for the road. As a wandering pilgrim, he gained followers who swore he had spiritual gifts — and detractors who thought him mad.

The Holy Man with Dirty Hands

By 1905, Rasputin had reached St. Petersburg. He impressed Orthodox monks with long prayers, piercing eyes, and strange charisma. His reputation as a starets — a wandering holy man — spread through aristocratic salons.

But there were rumors even then. He was accused of belonging to the banned Khlysty sect, said to practice ecstatic prayer, self-flagellation, and sexual rituals. Some whispered that his “healing” of women involved seduction.

A society hostess remarked: “He had the face of a peasant, the manners of a bear, and yet when he spoke, you wanted to kneel.”

The Healer of the Heir

Rasputin’s power exploded when he was introduced to Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra. Their son, Alexei, suffered from hemophilia, a disease that caused deadly internal bleeding.

When doctors failed, Rasputin prayed over the boy — and the bleeding slowed. Some suggest his calm presence, or even the absence of aspirin (which worsens bleeding), explained it. But to Alexandra, it was divine.

She wrote: “Our friend is the only one who can save my boy. Without him, we are lost.”

From then on, Rasputin was untouchable. His letters to the Empress, signed “Your humble friend,” gave him influence at the heart of the empire.

Scandal and Rumor

The nobility loathed him. They whispered he was the Tsarina’s lover. Caricatures showed him in bed with Alexandra, clutching her in scandalous poses. Nothing was ever proven, but the gossip was poison.

Rasputin did little to quiet the rumors. He drank heavily in public, boasted of his closeness to the throne, and surrounded himself with women. Witnesses claimed he bathed with female followers, preached salvation through sin, and held late-night orgies.

One courtier wrote: “He spoke of holiness with vodka on his breath and women on his lap.”

Priests denounced him as a fraud. The Duma demanded his removal. Yet the Empress clung to him more fiercely, convinced that enemies of Rasputin were enemies of her son.

Prophecies and Politics

Rasputin warned Nicholas not to enter World War I. When the Tsar went to the front, leaving Alexandra in charge, she relied almost entirely on Rasputin’s counsel. He recommended ministers and dismissed generals. Critics raged that a drunken peasant ruled Russia.

In 1916, as discontent spread, Rasputin wrote a chilling prophecy: “If I am killed by ordinary men, the Tsar will rule for centuries. If nobles take my life, then the royal family will not survive — they will be killed by the Russian people.”

Assassination of the Mad Monk

On December 30, 1916 (Old Style calendar), nobles lured Rasputin to Prince Felix Yusupov’s palace. They offered him cakes and wine laced with cyanide. He ate — and lived.

Yusupov wrote: “He seemed entirely unaffected. We grew pale with horror.”

They shot him in the chest. He fell. When Yusupov returned, Rasputin leapt up, clawed at his attacker, and fled into the snowy courtyard. They shot him again, beat him, and finally bound him and threw him into the frozen Neva River.

When his body was recovered, his lungs held water. Rasputin had died not of poison or bullets — but by drowning.

Rumors After Death

His penis was allegedly severed and later worshipped as a fertility relic (modern tests suggest it was not his, but the legend endures).
His daughter Maria later claimed her father was a misunderstood holy man and political scapegoat.
His prophecy came true: within a year, the Tsar, Tsarina, and all their children were executed by revolutionaries.

Symbols & Associations

Color: Black — scandal, secrecy, corruption.
Symbols: Piercing eyes, prayer beads, the icy river.
Title: The Mad Monk of Russia.