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 entire 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, 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 is tall, thin, with long and straight hair, a scraggly beard, a scar on his forehead. A face lined 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 and mysteriously disappeared, closing another page in the history of Russia.

FUCKED LIFE. A SECRET HIDDEN FOR 100 YEARS

The villainous murder of G.E. Rasputin was preceded by inhuman slander and lies, the purpose of which was to discredit the Royal Family, deprive the country of strong monarchical power, and weaken Russia, which by that time occupied a leading place in political and economic life among world powers.

In our time, interest in the royal theme, in the personality of G.E. Rasputin does not fade away. More and more publications are appearing where events and personalities are presented in the light of truth. We present to your attention one of these publications. "Grigory Rasputin: slandered life, slandered death". The author of the article is a Russian philologist and writer Tatiana Mironova .

Identity falsification - creating a double

Forgery of historical documents, lies, with reference to “eyewitness accounts” are long-practiced, tested techniques of history falsifiers.<…>

Grigory Rasputin was hated by those who hated the Tsar. They aimed at Grigory Efimovich in order to get into the Royal Family, into the Autocracy itself. Blatant slander against the Elder and falsification of his personality were used. Intelligent society in Russia was eager for rumors; they were believed even more than newspapers. Even Admiral Kolchak condemned the Sovereign for Rasputin, although Kolchak himself never saw the Elder, and here is a typical example: while he was serving in the Pacific Fleet, the admiral, according to him, barely managed to suppress the officer’s revolt in response to the spread rumor that Rasputin arrived in Vladivostok and wants to visit the warships. Kolchak himself was indignant at Rasputin for this intention, but it soon became clear that the rumor was false, Grigory Efimovich was not in Vladivostok. But Kolchak, by his own admission, remained disgusted with the Elder after this incident (1).

The French ambassador Maurice Paleologue also describes Rasputin hostilely, based only on St. Petersburg rumors and gossip, recounting all sorts of fictions, although he himself saw Grigory Efimovich only once while visiting Countess L. And the Frenchman could not say anything bad about this meeting, he only had time to look at “a man with piercing eyes,” who, looking at the arrogant Frenchman, regretfully said, “There are fools everywhere,” and left. The paleologist did not attribute this phrase to himself, so he retold it with chronicle accuracy.

Who and why was Grigory Efimovich hated? Who and what did the elder interfere with? Why was he hated?

In 1912, when Russia was ready to intervene in the Balkan conflict, Rasputin begged the Tsar on his knees not to engage in hostilities, and, of course, prayed to God to incline the Tsar’s heart to this. According to Count Witte, “he (Rasputin) indicated all the disastrous results of the European fire and the arrows of history turned differently. War was averted" (2). The powers of Rasputin’s prayer were so feared that the warmongers, in which it was necessary to drag Russia into, so that, in the words of Engels, “crowns would fly into the mud,” so, the warmongers, in a new attempt to fan the flames of world carnage, decided to kill Grigory Efimovich on the same day and the same hour as the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, whose death was the prepared pretext for the outbreak of war. Rasputin was then seriously wounded and, while he was unconscious and could not pray, the Tsar was forced to begin general mobilization in response to Germany’s declaration of war on Russia.

The enemies of Russia sensed and understood the entire threat posed by Rasputin to their destructive anti-autocratic, anti-Russian plans. No wonder Purishkevich, on behalf of all those who hated Autocratic Russia, shouted from the Duma rostrum about the main obstacle to the overthrow of the Throne: “As long as Rasputin is alive, we cannot win” (3).

And Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was a humble man of prayer, convinced that all his grace-filled power was faith in the Lord of those who asked for his prayers. Purely earthly paths led Grigory Efimovich in 1904 to St. Petersburg to ask for permission to build the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God in his native village of Pokrovskoye. Then the Heir-Tsarevich had just been born, and the need for hourly prayer to God to save the child’s life was clearly outlined to his Royal parents.<…>

In little Alexei Nikolaevich, given to the Royal Family through the prayers of St. Seraphim of Sarov, all the hopes of the Sovereign for the well-being of his beloved people of Russia were concentrated. He was truly a “ray of sunshine” - a kind and bright child, a great consolation to the Family, who trembled at the thought that he might fade away. Through the prayers of the saints, the gifted baby could only be saved by the prayer of the saint, especially since his illness - hemophilia - was painful, suddenly appeared, very dangerous, but not inevitably fatal, and already the sons of Tsarevich Alexei would have been an absolutely healthy generation. And the Lord sent a prayer book to the Royal Family about the health of their son.

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin is presented to the Emperor in October 1905. Grigory Efimovich, according to a special revelation from God to him, even at the first meeting with the Tsar and Empress, realized his special destiny and devoted his entire life to serving the Tsar. He leaves his wanderings, lives for a long time in St. Petersburg, gathering around him people faithful to the Sovereign, and most importantly, at the slightest danger to the little one, he is nearby, because his prayer for the Tsarevich appeared, perhaps unexpectedly for himself, pleasing to God, heard by Him. And this actual prayerful intercession for the Tsarevich was for the Tsar a visible sign that in the most difficult times of his reign, a spiritual assistant to the Tsar’s service had been sent from God. As the Tsar’s sister V.K. said. Olga Alexandrovna, the Tsar and the Queen “saw in him a peasant whose sincere piety made him an instrument of God” (4, p. 298). And honest investigator V.M. Rudnev, who was a member of the Extraordinary Commission of the Provisional Government, noted in his official note on the results of the investigation that “Their Majesties were sincerely convinced of the holiness of Rasputin, the only real representative and prayer book for the Sovereign, His Family and Russia before God” (5, p.153 ).

There are reliable facts, confirmed by many witnesses, that Rasputin saved Tsarevich Alexei from death. In 1907, when the Heir was three years old, he suffered a severe hemorrhage in his leg in Tsarskoye Selo Park. They called Grigory Efimovich, he prayed, the hemorrhage stopped. In October 1912, in Spala - the royal hunting grounds of Poland - Alexei Nikolaevich, after a severe injury, was so hopeless that doctors Fedorov and Rauchfus began to insist on the publication of bulletins about the health of the Heir. But the Empress did not rely on doctors, but only on the mercy of God. Rasputin was at that time in his homeland, in Pokrovskoye, and at the request of the Empress, Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova sent a telegram to Pokrovskoye. Soon the answer came: “God looked at your tears. Do not worry. Your Son will live." An hour after receiving the telegram, Alexei Nikolaevich’s condition improved sharply, and the mortal danger had passed.

In 1915, the Emperor, having gone to the Army, took Alexei Nikolaevich with him. On the way, the Tsarevich began to have a nosebleed. The train was returned because the Heir was bleeding. He lay in the nursery: “A small waxen face, bloody cotton wool in his nostrils.” Grigory Efimovich was called. “He arrived at the palace and went with his parents to Alexei Nikolaevich. According to their stories, he approached the bed, crossed the Heir, told his parents that there was nothing serious and they had nothing to worry about, turned and left. The bleeding stopped... The doctors said that they did not understand at all how this happened” (6, p.143-144).

The (Great) Princess Olga Alexandrovna testifies: “There were thousands and thousands of people who firmly believed in the power of prayer and the gift of healing that this man possessed” (29, p. 100).

Standing in prayer before God for the Heir is only a small part of Rasputin’s service to his Sovereign. He was a companion of prayer to the Anointed One of God for the Russian Autocratic Kingdom, and human sophisticated cunning and devilish malice, hidden from the eyes of the tsars, were often revealed to him. He warned the Tsar against many decisions that threatened disaster for the country: he was against the last convening of the Duma, asked not to publish Duma seditious speeches, on the very eve of the February Revolution he insisted on bringing food to Petrograd - bread and butter from Siberia, even came up with the idea of ​​packaging flour and sugar so that avoid queues, because it was in the queues during the artificial organization of the grain crisis that the St. Petersburg unrest began, skillfully transformed into a “revolution”. And this is just a fraction of Rasputin’s predictions of current events during the war and pre-revolutionary period of 1914-1917. Knowing how to see the human soul, Grigory Efimovich knew the souls and moods of the sovereign’s closest servants, and therefore saw that in. book Nikolai Nikolaevich as Commander-in-Chief was not just the death of the Army, but also a threat to the Reign. Rasputin insisted that the Emperor lead the Army, and victory was not long in coming.

Rasputin's insight amazed everyone who had the opportunity to communicate with him. According to the story of Grigory Efimovich’s daughter Varvara, recorded by N.A. Sokolov in 1919, one day a woman came to Rasputin’s apartment. “The father, approaching her, said: “Well, come on, what’s in your right hand. I know what you have there." The lady took her hand out of her muff and handed him a revolver” (7, p.184).

The fact that Rasputin was perspicacious, and his perspicacity, given to him by God, guided his feat of prayer, is known not only from people spiritually close to him. The murderer Felix Yusupov testified in despair: “I have been involved in the occult for a long time and I can assure you that people like Rasputin, with such magnetic power, appear once every few centuries... No one can replace Rasputin, therefore the elimination of Rasputin will have good consequences for the revolution "(8, p.532). The enemies of the Tsar, who dreamed of destroying the Throne through “swinging society,” focused on denigrating Rasputin.<…>

How was Grigory Efimovich supposed to justify himself for non-existent sins and to whom? The Sovereign and Empress saw with their own eyes, felt his prayerful help every day and did not believe the slander, and from others... even the Sovereign and Empress only met condemnation and alienation for their favor to the Elder. And Grigory Efimovich did not justify himself to anyone, but only prayed to God, and these prayers today remained his justification for all time: “I am going through difficult misdeeds. It’s terrible what they write, God! Give patience and stop the enemies from speaking!” (9, p.491).<…>

And such a person, the Tsar’s Friend, in the most important meaning of the word, always spiritually co-present with the Tsar in his service as the Anointed of God, first began to be killed spiritually - slandered and persecuted, and the purpose of the persecution was to tear Rasputin away from the Tsar, to destroy this saving union, powerful standing as a spiritual wall in front of the destroyers of Russia. Many near and far, who believed the lies, went to the Tsar and Empress, wrote them insulting letters, threatened them, and demanded that Rasputin be expelled from them! But could the Emperor and Empress do this?<…>Slander had no effect on the High Ones, and the Throne still remained inviolable behind the wall of prayer of Elder Gregory, but slander had an effect on the crowd of intellectuals, on the mob, who had forgotten their love for the Tsars.

Almost all memoirs about Grigory Efimovich Rasputin suffer from a drawback that is surprising for memories: most memoirists did not see Grigory Efimovich or saw him briefly, from afar. But all the “memories”, both those who were sympathetic to the Royal Family and those who expressed hostility towards Her, spoke equally badly about Rasputin, repeating the same thing: a drunkard, a libertine, a whip. What did they know about him? What, besides rumors...<…>

Fortunately, there are other people among memoirists. General P.G. Kurlov published the book “The Death of Imperial Russia” in Berlin in 1923. The general never belonged to the circle of Grigory Efimovich, and the elder’s haters cannot accuse him of bias, in addition, he is a professional policeman, director of the Police Department, head of the Main Prison Directorate, comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs, and experience in dealing with people of criminal thinking and behavior, namely, this is the image of Rasputin that was imposed on society, Kurlov had a huge one, and he had no reason to stand up for Rasputin and the Royal Family after 1911, because with the murder of P.A. Stolypin's own destiny and career collapsed. Kurlov describes Rasputin as he himself saw him. “I was in the ministerial office, where the courier on duty brought Rasputin. A thin man with a wedge-shaped dark brown beard and piercing, intelligent eyes approached the minister. He sat down with P.A. Stolypin near the large table and began to prove that it was in vain to suspect him of something, since he is the most meek and harmless person... After that, I expressed to the minister my impression: in my opinion, Rasputin was a type of Russian cunning man, that is called - on his own mind, and did not seem like a charlatan to me” (15, p. 312). “For the first time I talked with Rasputin in the winter of 1912 at one of my acquaintances... The external impression of Rasputin was the same as what I made when, unknown to him, I saw him in the minister’s office... This time I was struck only by Rasputin’s serious acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures and theological issues. He behaved with restraint and not only did not show a shadow of boasting, but did not say a single word about his relationship with the Royal Family. Likewise, I did not notice any signs of hypnotic power in him and, leaving after this conversation, I could not help but say to myself that most of the rumors circulating about his influence on those around him belonged to the field of gossip, to which Petersburg is always so susceptible" (15, p. 317). At a new meeting with Kurlov, “Rasputin was keenly interested in the war and, since I had come from the theater of military operations, asked my opinion about its possible outcome, categorically stating that he considered the war with Germany a huge disaster for Russia... Being an opponent of the war that had begun, he with great patriotic enthusiasm he spoke about the need to bring it to the end, in the confidence that the Lord God will help the Emperor and Russia... It follows from this that the accusation of Rasputin of treason was just as justified as the already refuted accusation of the Empress... I had to talk with Rasputin several times in the last months of his life. I met him at the same Badmaev’s and was amazed by his innate intelligence and practical understanding of current issues, even of a state nature” (15, p. 318).

So, slander had no effect on the Royal Family; Rasputin’s prayers were its constant strengthening.<…>That is why it was decided to kill the Royal Friend, leaving the Family alone and without prayer protection on earth. But in order to publicly kill the elder, in order to make society want this murder, it was necessary to increase the slander tenfold, it was necessary to drag the bright faces of the Tsars into the mud. For this purpose, a scam was invented with the appearance of a false identity - a double of Grigory Rasputin.

The first guesses that the Royal Family compromised through Grigory Efimovich's double, appeared shortly after the murder of the Elder. One of the evidence of this is the story of the ataman of the Don Army, Count D.M. Grabbe about how, shortly after the murder of Rasputin, he was “invited to breakfast by the famous Prince Andronnikov, who allegedly handled business through Rasputin. Entering the dining room, Grabbe was amazed to see Rasputin in the next room. Not far from the table stood a man who looked exactly like Rasputin. Andronnikov looked inquisitively at his guest. Grabbe pretended not to be surprised at all. The man stood, stood, left the room and did not appear again” (17, p. 148). Needless to say, such a “double” could appear during the life of Grigory Efimovich in any “hot” place, could get drunk, make scandals, hug women, about which daily reports were compiled by dirt-hungry newspapermen, could leave the entrance of the house on Gorokhovaya and march on apartment to a prostitute, about which daily reports were compiled by security department agents. Yu.A. Den recalls with bewilderment: “It got to the point that they stated that Rasputin was debauched in the capital, while in fact he was in Siberia” (10, p.95).

The story of the double's revelry in the Moscow restaurant "Yar" is the best confirmation of this.

On March 26, 1915, Grigory Efimovich arrived and left Moscow on the same day. But here is the report of Colonel Martynov that “according to the information of the bailiff of the 2nd school. Sushchevsky part of Moscow, Colonel Semenov,” Rasputin on March 26, at about 11 pm, visited the Yar restaurant with the widow Anisya Reshetnikova, journalist Nikolai Soedov and an unidentified young woman. Then they were joined by the editor-publisher of the newspaper “News of the Season” Semyon Lazarevich Kugulsky. The company drank wine, the dispersed “Rasputin” danced the Russian dance, performed obscenities, and boasted of his power over the “old woman” (as this man called the Tsarina). At 2 o'clock in the morning the company left.<…>

The Empress quite rightly wrote to the Emperor: “He (Elder Gregory) has been slandered enough. As if they couldn’t call the police immediately and catch Him at the scene of the crime” (19).

So, in the Moscow restaurant "Yar" Rasputin's "double" walked with a dummy company, and everything played out as usual: drunkenness, harassment of ladies, mentions of the Royal Family, Khlystov dance. And if the police had been called at the same time, it would have been revealed that Rasputin was not real, and Anisya Reshetnikova, a pious merchant widow of 76 years old, had never been to the restaurant. But the newspaperman Semyon Lazarevich Kugulsky was a genuine person and, most likely, was the entrepreneur of the “orgy”. It was he who tried to ensure that the case of the revelry in “Yar” got into the press even before the investigation and became overgrown with obscene details. Following this, the State Duma prepared a request about the events at the Yar restaurant, then did not give it a go, deliberately spreading the fiction that the Duma was prohibited from making this request, since the Royal Family was “afraid of the truth.” And the idle rabble went and went to slander - a drunken, depraved man - the favorite of the Royal Family!

This is how, deliberately and brazenly, the double of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was introduced into society. And although the actions of the double, his words, notes, his very appearance - a long fleshy nose, a thin beard, restless, shifting eyes - were very different from the handsome appearance of Grigory Efimovich, the double persistently passed himself off and, most importantly, was willingly accepted as the Prayer Book and Friend of the Royal Family.

It is thanks to the existence of the double that two Rasputins appear from the pages of the security department reports: one is pious, splendid, pious, goes to churches, defends liturgies, lights candles, goes to apartments to heal the sick, receives petitioners, spiritual children, eats with them, and, moreover, how noted by all the people really close to him, Father Gregory does not take any wine, meat, or sweets into his mouth. Strict abstinence. The money donated by the petitioners is immediately distributed to other petitioners. And, most importantly, he is respectful to the point of reverence towards the Imperial Family. Another “Rasputin” is drunk for weeks, visits harlots, takes bribes for patronage, makes scandals in restaurants, breaks dishes and mirrors there, speaks bad things about the Royal Family.

The time will come, and new documents will be discovered that will finally prove to us that the dark personality, who outwardly resembled Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, was created by the enemies of the Autocratic Russian Kingdom.

(1.) Protocols of the interrogation of Admiral Kolchak by the emergency commission of inquiry in Irkutsk in January-February. 1920 // Archive of the Russian Revolution. – T.10. – M. – 1991.

(3.) Interrogation of Maklakov V.A. Sokolov N.A. // Investigation of the regicide. Secret documents. – M. – 1993.

(4.) Worres Ian. The last Grand Duchess. – M. – 1998.

(5.) Note from Rudnev V.M. “The truth about the Russian Royal Family and dark forces” // Russian Archive. – M. – 1998.

(6.) Taneyeva (Vyrubova) A.A. Pages of my life. – M. 2000.

(7.) Sokolov N.A. Preliminary investigation 1919-1920 // Investigation of the regicide. Secret documents. – M. – 1993.

(8.) Interrogation of Maklakov V.A. Sokolov N.A. // Investigation of the regicide. Secret documents. – M. – 1993.

(9.) Groyan T.I. Martyr for Christ and for the Tsar. – M. – 2000.

(10.) Den Yu.A. The real Queen. – M. – 1998.

(15.) Kurlov P.G. The Death of Imperial Russia // Grigory Rasputin. Collection of historical materials. – M. – 1997. – T.2.

(17.) Rodzianko M.V. The collapse of the empire. - Kharkiv. – 1990.

(19.) Platonov O.A. Nicholas II in secret correspondence. – M. – 1996.

(29.) Alexander Mikhailovich v. book Book of Memories // Nicholas II. Memories. Diaries. – St. Petersburg. – 1994.

We publish the preface to the book “Grigory Rasputin the New. The Life of an Experienced Wanderer. My thoughts and reflections”, released in 2002 by the publishing house “Lestvitsa”.

In Russian history G.E. Rasputin is one of the most slandered people, in whose official biography there is not a single real event.

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin (09/22.01.1869 – 17/30.12.1916) was born in the village of Pokrovsky, Tyumen region. Of the 9 born in the peasant family, he and his sister Feodosia remained, who later got married and left for another village. The surname “Rasputin” comes from the word “crossroads”, which means the development of roads, crossroads.

God's gifts of insight and healing manifested themselves in childhood. He knew which of his fellow villagers would soon die, who stole what. He could sit near the stove and say: “A stranger is coming towards us.” And indeed, soon he knocked. One day his father said that their horse had sprained a ligament. He went to her, prayed and told her: “Now you will feel better.” The horse recovered. Since then, he has become a kind of rural veterinarian. Then it spread to people.

Rasputin met his future wife Dubrovina Paraskeva Fedorovna during a pilgrimage to the Abalak Monastery at the age of 18. The marriage produced 7 children, three of whom survived.

Many people in Tsarist Russia lived according to the Orthodox traditions of Holy Rus' - mainly in the spring (during Lent) or autumn (after the harvest) people walked to the holy monasteries. The common people made pilgrimages mainly on foot, eating and spending the night with the hosts who sheltered them, who readily performed this godly task. Rasputin did the same. I visited the nearby Tyumen and Abalak monasteries, the Verkhoturye St. Nicholas Monastery, the Sedmiozersk and Optina Hermitages, and the Pochaev Lavra. Repeatedly went on pilgrimage to Kyiv, to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Later I was on New Athos, in Jerusalem. Until his death, he always farmed himself (sowing and harvesting work), without hiring help.

He came to St. Petersburg in the late autumn of 1904 to the rector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius of Stragorod (the future patriarch), with a letter of recommendation from the vicar of the Kazan diocese, Chrysanf (Shchetkovsky), who introduced him to some people in St. Petersburg society. Rasputin was looking for money to build a new church in the village of Pokrovskoye, and in the end the tsar himself gave money for the construction.

He was also in Kronstadt with Fr. John, who was also at one time called a sectarian, a libertine, and a self-seeker for his communication with Tsar Alexander III. Received communion from the hands of Fr. John. According to the memoirs of Rasputin's daughter Matryona, Fr. John came out of the altar and asked: “Who is praying so fervently here?” He approached Rasputin, lifted him from his knees, and then invited him to his place. During the conversation he said: “It will be for you according to your name” (the name “Gregory” means “awake”).

For many representatives of high society “after the eternal intrigues and evils of secular life,” as well as during those troubled times when monarchists in high positions were killed by bombs and gunshots, conversations with him served as a consolation. Learned people and priests found him interesting. Although Gregory was illiterate, he knew the Holy Scriptures by heart and knew how to interpret them. Bishop Alexy (Molchanov) of Tobolsk considered Rasputin “an Orthodox Christian, a very intelligent, spiritually minded man, seeking the truth of Christ, able to give good advice to those who need it.”

He did the same in his native village of Pokrovskoye. According to memories in the 90s. old residents of the village, he helped the children get dressed for school, arrange a wedding for their son, buy a horse, etc.

In addition to cases of stopping bleeding in an hemophiliac heir (including when the heir was in Poland, and Rasputin was in the village of Pokrovsky, and a telegram was sent to him), there are cases when, through Rasputin’s prayers, the Lord healed and alleviated the suffering of O.V. Lakhtina (neurasthenia of the intestines), son of A.S. Simanovich (Witt's dance), A.A. Vyrubova (crushed bones in a train crash), daughter of P.A. Stolypin (his legs were blown off when terrorists exploded a bomb at his dacha).

Rasputin was an opponent of the war, he said that it was death for Russia, but if we are going to fight, we must see it to a victorious end. He approved when the tsar introduced prohibition in 1914 and replaced him as Commander-in-Chief in 1915. book Nikolai Nikolaevich, who led the army to retreat. On his advice, during the war, the empress and her eldest daughters completed courses and worked as nurses, while the younger ones darned clothes for soldiers and prepared bandages and lint in the Tsarskoye Selo hospital (the only case in history).

He could refuse to meet with the prince or count and walk on foot to the outskirts of the city to meet with an artisan or simple peasant. Princes and counts, as a rule, do not forgive such independence to a “simple peasant”. The epicenter of slander comes from the palace of Uncle Nicholas II. book Nikolai Nikolaevich and his wife Stana Nikolaevna with her sister Militsa. It was through these sisters that Grigory Rasputin first met the royal couple in November 1905. But after the tsarina’s quarrel with her sisters and the failure of Nikolai Nikolaevich to use Rasputin to influence the tsar, this family and its entourage in 1907 became unfriendly to the royal family and especially to its friend Rasputin. Many people from secular society were indignant at the royal family for bringing a simple peasant closer to them, and not from among the well-born and eminent.

In 1910, in order to undermine the throne and the entire Russian state, some newspapers joined in denigrating Rasputin, which people believed just as much as we now believe the media. Provincial newspapers often took articles from metropolitan newspapers.

In 1912, Hieromonk Iliodor (Trufanov), who knew Rasputin, renounces Christ (sends a written renunciation to the synod), apologizes to the Jews and begins to write a slanderous book on Rasputin and the royal family “Holy Devil”, individual episodes from which were published in imperial Russia, and it was published in its entirety in Russia after the February Revolution.

In 1914, the bourgeois Khionia Guseva makes an attempt on Rasputin's life in the village of Pokrovskoye (she hits him in the stomach with a dagger). When the police find out that she is a follower of Iliodor-Trufanov, he flees responsibility abroad. Unlike us, the enemies of our Fatherland know very well who is for them and who is against them, and Iliodor-Trufanov, who has already returned to Soviet Russia, gets a job on the recommendation of F.E. Dzerzhinsky to the Cheka for special cases.

To create the image of Rasputin as a drunkard, a whip and a depraved person, his doubles worked.

The real G.E. Rasputin

Photos of G.E.'s doubles Rasputin, given in the book

Reputable journalists and writers were invited to a meeting with the double and his fans, so that they would subsequently write and tell their friends about Rasputin’s behavior (memoirs of the writer N.A. Teffi). The existence of a double was also testified to by the ataman of the Don army, Count D.M. Grabbe, who spoke about how, shortly after the murder of Rasputin, he was invited to breakfast by the famous Prince Andronnikov, who allegedly handled business through Rasputin. Entering the dining room, Grabbe was amazed to see Rasputin in the next room. Not far from the table stood a man who looked exactly like Rasputin. Andronnikov looked inquisitively at his guest. Grabbe pretended not to be surprised at all. The man stood, stood, left the room and did not appear again.

General V.F. was also active. Dzhunkovsky was the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the head of the gendarme corps while he was in this post. Under his patronage, a case was fabricated in 1915 about Rasputin’s unbridled behavior in the Moscow restaurant “Yar” without a single testimony from a real person, who was widely covered in the press, and the diaries of external surveillance of Rasputin, supposedly to protect his life after the assassination attempt, were subjected to literary processing.

The owner of the St. Petersburg restaurant “Villa Rode” A.S. also worked in conjunction with the double. Rode. Articles about Rasputin's debauchery in this restaurant were regularly published in newspapers.

After the Bolshevik revolution, Prince Andronnikov and General Dzhunkovsky were accepted and worked in the bodies of the Cheka, and the merchant A.S. Rode was appointed director of the House of Scientists in Petrograd.

Forged letters from the empress and her daughters to Rasputin circulated in secular salons, talking about an adulterous relationship between them, allegedly given by Rasputin to Iliodor-Trufanov while communicating with him. Rumors spread at the front that the Empress (German by birth) and Rasputin surrendered Russia to Germany due to the alleged weakness of the Tsar because of their love of alcohol. Rasputin was credited with influencing government affairs, all unpopular dismissals and appointments, and government actions that were undesirable to society. Duma figures, future Februaryists, spoke out and spoke from the rostrum against Rasputin.

A woman came to confession to the confessor of the royal family, Archimandrite Feofan (Bistrov), who told about Rasputin’s inappropriate behavior with her, and he, not allowing the idea that one could lie in confession, and violating the secrecy of confession, told the empress and his hierarchs about it.

Rasputin spoke about the highest Christian virtue - love, which is not understandable even to all Christians, not to mention the people of this world, and it was conveniently turned into carnal “love”, understandable to everyone. Likewise, humility was turned into thoughtless submission.

It must be said that everyone close to the royal family, the royal ministers, and monarchists in general were subjected to attacks and ridicule. As the royal doctor E.S. said. Botkin: “If there had been no Rasputin, the opponents of the Royal Family and the preparers of the revolution would have created him with their conversations from Vyrubova; if there had been no Vyrubova, from me, from whomever you want.”

Many people, incl. those who subsequently left their memoirs in exile, who did not know Rasputin personally, formed their opinion about him based on rumors circulating in their social circle. The tsar himself repeatedly arranged secret checks of the “facts,” but they were not confirmed.

Believing in the slander against the royal family and its friend Rasputin, the Russian people calmly accepted the February revolution, the overthrow of the tsar and even the murder of the royal family.

Rasputin told his loved ones that he would not live to see 1917 and would die in terrible agony. Before going with F.F. Yusupov to his house, he burned all the correspondence and put on a new shirt. They killed as martyrs: they beat him with a whip, knocked out an eye, pulled out tufts of hair, and made an incision under the left hypochondrium (in the image of Christ). Then they threw him alive into the hole, because... my lungs were full of water.

The investigation showed all this contrary to the official version - the execution, which was described by those who declared themselves to be murderers (but from their testimony it is clear that they did not know what kind of shirt Rasputin was wearing, i.e. they did not see him without outer clothing). Found not far from a hole under the ice. The fingers of the right hand, freed from the rope, were folded into the sign of the cross as a symbol of victory over death.

Immediately after the abdication of the king, by order of A.F. Kerensky's body, Rasputin's body was dug up and burned in the suburbs of Petrograd, the case of his murder was closed, Khionia Guseva was released (in 1919, she also attempted the life of Patriarch Tikhon with a dagger), Rasputin's spiritual father, Fr. Makariy (Polikarpov) Verkhotursky. The revolutionary synod sent all the monarchist hierarchs to retire, incl. Bishop Isidore (Kolokolov), who performed the funeral service for Rasputin. After the Bolshevik revolution, Rasputin's daughter Matryona emigrated with her husband, the second daughter died of typhus, his wife and son were exiled as special settlers, where they died. Church and house of Rasputin in the village. Pokrovsky was destroyed. The main reason for burning the bodies of the royal family and Rasputin is to conceal the method of murder (those who were actually shot were not burned).

In films and books - creating the external image of a huge, tall and scary man. In reality, Rasputin was in poor health, not physically very strong, and of short stature (as can be seen from the photograph, and the Empress, as is known, was of average height).

All films, all foreign and domestic literature (with the exception of books: I.V. Evsin “The Slandered Elder”, T.L. Mironov “From Under the Lies”, O.A. Platonov “Life for the Tsar” and the documentary film “ Martyr for Christ and for the Tsar Gregory the New” directed by V. Ryzhko, as well as the book of the same name by schema-nun Nikolai (Groyan) and V.L. Smirnov “The Unknown about Rasputin”), fake diaries of the queen’s friend A.A. Vyrubova, Rasputin himself and the memoirs of his daughter Matryona, allegedly his secretary A.S. Simanovich, the names of restaurants, alcohol and tobacco products - everything is aimed at denigrating Rasputin, which pursues 3 goals:

1) Discrediting the monarchy. By calling it imperialism, tsarism, the tsarist regime, we are told that the tsar himself, with his wife and friend Rasputin, became the cause of the fall of the autocracy, revolutions and subsequent troubles in Russia.

2) Discrediting the Orthodox faith.“The royal family and Rasputin were Orthodox, but what did they do?”

3) Discrediting the Russian people. Because Rasputin is a representative of the common people, a representation of this people as the source of everything bad and unclean, and not the source of a godly life and loyalty to the tsar.

The denigration of Rasputin is being done constantly (new books and films are being published) in order to instill in all generations of Russian people (and the whole world) a persistent rejection, and therefore a non-return to their Christian statehood - Orthodoxy, monarchy, nationality.

On the contrary, what was disintegrated in Tsarist Russia was secular society, which stood between the Tsar and the people. It despised the common people, at the expense of which it lived, considered the monarchy an obstacle to progress according to the Western model, and a disdainful and mocking attitude towards Orthodoxy was a sign of good form (many were involved in the occult). In his last letter, Rasputin said that in 25 years there would be no nobles left in Russia.

Many people refer to the negative attitude of the now canonized saints towards Rasputin, but no one talks about a subsequent change in their opinion. After the Bolshevik revolution, Bishop Hermogenes (Dolganov) (whose cell attendant Iliodor-Trufanov was at one time) sent the royal family in Tobolsk a letter apologizing for his statements, served a memorial service for Rasputin, for which he was drowned in the river. Ture opposite the village. Pokrovsky. The Tsarina's sister Elizaveta Feodorovna sent the royal family in Yekaterinburg a small copy of the newly-revealed "Sovereign" icon of the Mother of God and a letter of forgiveness for condemning them, believing in the slander of Rasputin.

There is only one truth, and it is with God. The Lord does not give His gifts to ordinary sinful people, not to mention obvious sinners. And images of ordinary people do not stream myrrh, but only the righteous, and there are no exceptions to this phenomenon (as the icon of Rasputin, painted by the Tobolsk Orthodox who did not wait for his canonization, streams myrrh).

Myrrh-streaming icon of G.E. Rasputin

The Lord will ask each person for failure to comply with His commandment “Do not judge,” especially if the person being condemned is innocent. A person’s guilt is greater in the case of public statements and seducing others into this sin.

Those people who believe that Rasputin stopped the blood of the heir with witchcraft blaspheme the Holy Spirit, because. do not agree with the decision of the Orthodox Church to canonize the royal family. Because According to the canons of the Orthodox Church, turning to sorcerers is punishable by excommunication from church communion, and certainly not canonization. And, as you know, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is not forgiven either in this or in the next century.

Grigory Rasputin is truly one of the most mystical and mysterious personalities, who is so firmly imprinted in the pages of the history of the Russian Empire. Disputes about his influence on the royal family, and on the course of history as a whole, are still raging. Some historians call the great “elder” a charlatan and an impostor, others believe in his holiness and power, others talk about magic and hypnosis...

Well, let’s try to figure out who Grishka Rasputin really was - a spiritual mentor and friend of the Tsar or an enemy “sent” who doomed the Tsar’s family to destruction.

Youth of Rasputin

The life of Grigory Rasputin is full of mysteries and contradictions. Even the year of birth of the elder is unknown; in various historical sources it ranges from 1864 to 1869.

Grigory Rasputin was born in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province, in the family of peasants Efim and Anna Rasputin. The family was wealthy at that time, had a lot of land and a full yard of livestock.

Many children were born in this family, but few lived to adulthood. And Grigory grew up as a sickly child, incapable of hard work. His rough appearance and large, unattractive facial features marked him out as a peasant. But even then there was some kind of mysterious power and magnetism present in him, which so attracted young beauties to his person.

And his eyes were unusual, “witchcraft and alluring with their hypnotic gaze, like devilish black eyes”...

When the time came to get married, Grigory chose a bride from a neighboring village named Praskovya, a woman who, although not very beautiful, was hard-working.

After all, with Grishka there was no sense in farming at all. She gave birth to Rasputin three children: Dimitri, Matryona and Varvara.

Rasputin and the royal family

All historians and biographers of Rasputin are still interested in the main question - how an uneducated, rude lout was able to get close to the royal family and even influence the political decisions of Nicholas II. He became a mediator between the common people and the king. And Grigory Rasputin, an ordinary peasant without medical education, was simply a miracle doctor for Tsarevich Alexei, who suffered from a rare genetic disease, hemophilia. This simple man was adored by Alexandra Feodorovna herself, for whom Grisha was considered both a preacher and a psychologist rolled into one. He was honest and sincere with them, loved the entire royal family and became a true friend and protector of the entire dynasty. But a logical question arises - how was a commoner able to gain the trust of Nicholas II and his entire couple? How did he manage to get close and infiltrate the imperial residence and soul? We will try to figure this out ourselves.

Arriving in 1903 in the cultural capital of Russia, the city of St. Petersburg, a certain Grigory Rasputin begins to spread rumors about himself as a healer and seer, and his mysterious and even frightening appearance was proof of this. Since the Tsar’s wife Alexandra Feodorovna gave birth to a son with congenital hemophilia in 1904, the entire court was looking for a savior for Tsarevich Alexei, who was suffering from constant attacks. A commoner with superpowers, Grigory Rasputin, became such a miracle savior.

The illness of the only heir was carefully hidden from the people, so no one understood the strange connection between an ordinary and slightly strange peasant and the Emperor of All Rus' and interpreted it the way he wanted. For example, ill-wishers unanimously insisted that there was a love affair between the mysterious Rasputin and the empress. But why is Nicholas II silent? And there is an answer to this question. The fact is that Gregory knew hypnosis and could simply use it successfully. And in addition, the king was a little naive and weak-willed, unlike his wife with a fiery disposition.

They say that the cunning and witty Rasputin was used by the royal couple as a liaison between them and Jewish bankers, through whom they exported their capital to European countries.

One thing is clear that all members of the royal family considered Rasputin “God’s man” and did not doubt him and his capabilities at all. For all the Romanovs, he was a true friend, savior and one of their own. Whether this was actually the case is unknown.

Rasputin and religion

American historian Douglas Smith nicknamed Rasputin the “mad monk.” Although the author of the book “Rasputin: Faith, Power and the Twilight of the Romanovs” believes that he was honest in his faith, served good and sincerely believed in Jesus, and not the devil (as many are inclined to think and suspect). Only the Russian church, for some unknown reason, did not officially recognize Gregory as a parishioner, considering him a great sinner who had renounced the Christian faith. Why? After all, we all know that before God we are all united and have the right to beg for our sins before the face of God in the bosom of the church? Is it really because of the connection with the royal family or the unattractive, rough appearance? But love and true idolization of the royal family made Grigory Efimovich a real righteous man in the eyes of the Russian people. All members of the Romanov dynasty, along with pectoral crosses, wore the image of Rasputin, painted on medallions, and firmly believed in his holiness.

After the violent death of her mentor, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna declared Gregory a real martyr and even published a small book called “The New Martyr.” She firmly believed that a miracle worker and a man of God, after such torment, was obliged to become a saint, but the church did not give its consent to this. This did not stop people from considering Rasputin their divine idol. After the news of the tragic death of the elder, people collected water from the Neva River, considering it sacred. After all, she was sprinkled with the blood of Grigory Rasputin himself. Who is he, the old man who can perform miracles? A prophet who sees the future or an ordinary charlatan, a drunkard and a womanizer? Unfortunately, not all questions can be answered...

Holy devil or sinful angel?

In war, as in war, all means are good, but the winner, as they say, is not judged. Rasputin had many enemies and one of them was Hieromonk Iliodor, who in his formidable pamphlet desecrated Gregory, creating for him the image of a cunning and vicious charlatan, drunkard, pervert and liar. At that time, they believed slogans, did not look for the truth, did not dig to the bottom of truth and authenticity. And such a distorted interpretation of the personality of a friend of the royal family only played into the hands of supporters of revolutionary Russia, who wanted to deal with outdated tsarism and its representatives. The author of the book Fülöp-Miller Rene entitled “The Holy Devil” tried to convey to his reader that Grigory Rasputin was not absolute evil or good. He was, like everyone else, a man with his own weaknesses, desires, positive and negative traits. He was also full of energy and positivity. His name has been remembered and known for more than 100 years. In part, this service was served by his enemies and ill-wishers, which means that he was feared, loved, hated and respected.

Women, wine and a demon in the rib

Was it really true that women could not resist the magical gaze of Grigory Rasputin, or were all the affairs and orgies attributed to him by his enemies? The old man’s relationship with women of easy virtue is undocumented, so this statement can not be taken seriously. Gregory’s daughter Matryona wrote in her book of memoirs: “I remember my father’s confession: “ For me, whether to touch a woman or a block of wood“, that is, she claims that the father did not feel attraction or passion for women. He loved them with his soul, understood and appreciated them. Rasputin knew how to listen and support in difficult times, and women paid Grigory for this kindness and understanding with their inclination and love. He was an excellent psychotherapist, but hardly a lover. He had plenty of female attention, but his ill-wishers did not interpret it in a positive way. Some women looked for consolation in his conversations, others for love, others for healing, and many were simply curious. Although Rasputin was not a virgin, neither was Casanova. An ordinary person with ordinary and natural needs, only according to some, for Rasputin they were prohibited.

Grigory Rasputin and politics

Thanks to the great inclination towards his extraordinary personality of the empress herself and the soft-spoken disposition of the tsar, Rasputin “poked his long nose” into the political affairs of the country, which the royal court really liked. He gave his reasoning and political advice, of course, to Alexandra Feodorovna, who later influenced the tsar. Saint Grishka, believing that everything was permitted to him, got involved even in the most important and responsible affairs of the government, for example, the strategy of the Russian army against German troops. Rasputin cannot be called a real politician, but he is certainly an excellent manipulator, because he got away with everything.

Causes of death, envy or revenge for deception

The most devoted and close ally of the royal couple faced a difficult fate and an even more tragic and mysterious death. Why did Felix Yusupov, an ardent rebel and supporter of republican slogans, hate the harmless old man Rasputin, so much so that he even decided to liquidate him along with his accomplices? There are many versions, but the site will list the most common ones

Version 1: Yusupov was not a very traditional sexual orientation, although he had a beautiful wife, Princess Irene. He turned to Rasputin to discourage him from this disgusting habit. But the old man didn’t succeed, and Felix decided to take revenge.

Version 2: Gregory had great influence on the royal family, and also magically protected them. In order to weaken the tsar’s defense, they decided to remove Rasputin first; as is known, a year later the royal family was also killed.

In fact, it was a political murder, which went down in history as the most cruel and senseless.

Myths and reality

The killer himself, Felix Yusupov, talked about how he lured his victim to the Yusupov Palace on the Moika. Further, together with the rest of the conspirators in the person of Lieutenant Sukhotin, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, Purishkevich and Doctor Lazovert, they committed this heinous crime. First there was potassium cyanide, the seer was very fond of sweets and could not refuse another portion of cakes with delicious cream, but it did not work and then the weapon was used. Grigory Rasputin died from three fatal wounds, one of which was to the head. This was shown by an autopsy conducted by Professor Kosorotov, and it was he who debunked the myth that Gregory was thrown into the Neva River while still alive; in his opinion, this was completely impossible.

Who is he really, a man of God or a servant of Lucifer? For some reason, everyone sees this man as a mystical and even otherworldly personality. But in my opinion, he was a simple, ordinary person who decided to take advantage of a great opportunity and excellent skills of manipulation and even hypnosis to make his life a little better and more comfortable. But is this a crime? And all the rumors and myths around him are a matter of human rumor and the unbridled imagination of the Russian people. Well, as for Rasputin’s appearance, it’s a matter of taste and color, because we are all very different!

This personality played an important role in the history of Russia. Rasputin never tired of surprising his contemporaries, and continues to do so even today with researchers of his biography. Legends and anecdotes are written about him, historical and not so historical films are made, and he is endowed with supernatural qualities, including sexual power.

Thanks to his friendship with the family of the last Russian Tsar, a simple peasant gained worldwide fame. Rasputin's fame was ambiguous, he was admired and worshiped, but he was also cursed, considered a harbinger of the fall of the tsarist regime.

It is no coincidence that such a bright figure disturbed many, which was the reason for the murder of the elder. Who was he really? Saint or rogue? Let's try to find out by debunking some myths about Grigory Rasputin.

Rasputin was born in 1864 (1865). Very contradictory data about the year of birth of Grigory Efimovich. Historians agree that he was born between 1864 and 1872. The third edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia believes that these were 1864-1865. In fact, the birth registers of the village of Pokrovskoye, where Rasputin was born, have been preserved. The years 1862-1868 just survived. The birth of several children to Efim Yakovlevich was recorded. During this period they all died in infancy. But nothing has been written about the birth of Gregory. But in the records of the All-Russian Census for 1897 there are mentions of him. Grigory Efimovich indicated that he is 28 years old, which can be believed. Thus Rasputin was born in 1869.

Rasputin had a powerful physique. It is a myth that Rasputin was a strong and healthy man. He was a short man, physically not very strong and sickly in his youth. In 1980, the film “Agony” was shown in Pokrovsky, but old people who remembered Rasputin said that the main character did not look like his prototype. He was not at all so big and scary, but rather even frail, pale, with sunken eyes and an exhausted appearance. The description of Rasputin was also preserved in police documents. The old man had an average build, an oblong face, a moderate nose, a beard all over, and his general type was originally Russian. It is often written that Rasputin’s height was 187-193 centimeters, but this cannot be true.

Rasputin is not a real surname. When Rasputin first began to enter the court, they began to say that his last name was a pseudonym that revealed the behavior of this man. They even named the elder’s “true” surname - Vilkin. In fact, this surname appears quite often in the parish registers of the village of Pokrovsky. There were actually seven families with that last name living in it. In Siberia, this surname is generally common, coming from the word “crossroads” (fork, crossroads). Those who lived in such places were called Rasputins, which later transformed into Rasputins. In 1862, rural records recorded the marriage of the peasant Efim Yakovlevich Rasputin and Anna Vasilievna Parshukova, Grigory's future parents.

Rasputin did not even remember his family in his love affairs. Contemporaries noted that the elder did not forget about his wife, loving her sincerely. Rasputin married at the age of eighteen. Of the seven children born, only three survived. Family life began happily, but after the death of his first-born, Gregory changed. He understood this as a terrible sign of God's wrath in response to his lack of faith. Having already acquired his influence, Rasputin moved his daughters to St. Petersburg to give them a good education. His wife visited him in the capital once a year, calmly reacting to gossip about her husband and not causing scandals for him. There was a rumor that Praskovya once even dragged one of her husband’s mistresses out of her house by the hair. However, during the interrogation of Lokhtina, who became the central figure in the scandal, the following became clear. His wife actually pulled the guest's hair, but only in response to accusations of greed. So there was no question of jealousy here.

Rasputin was fabulously rich. Those who assert Rasputin’s power over the Tsar, and therefore over the entire country, draw the logical conclusion that the old man had fabulous wealth. And this seems logical given the fact that very wealthy clients approached him with personal requests. As a token of gratitude, they left significant sums. But the creators of this myth avoid the question of whether Rasputin appropriated all this money for himself. He actually spent some of it on himself. The elder built himself a two-story house in his village and purchased an expensive fur coat. However, compared to those mansions that the modern elite are building today, his house in the village of Pokrovskoye looks very modest. But Rasputin never had his own housing in the capital. Even the apartment on Gorokhovaya Street was not his property, but was rented by his fans. So where did all the rest of the money go? The intelligence services checked Rasputin's bank accounts and did not find significant funds there. But the fact that he spent serious amounts on charity is a fact. Rasputin allocated a lot of personal funds for the construction of churches. After the death of a “wealthy” old man, for some reason his family began to live in poverty. Could this happen to such a rich man?

Rasputin was a member of a gang of horse thiefs. This is one of the first myths that appeared after the appearance of the old man in St. Petersburg. They said that it was horse stealing that became the beginning of a man’s working life. However, there is essentially no evidence for such an accusation. The myth appeared thanks to the words of Rasputin’s fellow villager, Kartavtsev, spoken in a private conversation. He claimed that he once saw his horses being stolen, and among the intruders he saw Rasputin. But the police caught the criminals, and the village assembly sentenced them to various punishments. For some reason, Grigory Efimovich escaped this punishment. And if you think that he could somehow persuade the police, then he certainly could not escape from the reprisals of his neighbors if he was guilty. And Kartavtsev’s testimony suffers from a lack of logic. Why did the owner calmly watch his property being stolen and not stop the criminals? If Rasputin had really been a thief, he would have lost the respect of his fellow villagers. But it is known that they revered him until the end of their lives. Most likely, Rasputin’s personal enemy simply made up his testimony, which was immediately picked up by the sensation-hungry press. In 1915, a Siberian newspaper tried to revive this rumor. Then Rasputin personally turned to the editor and asked for facts confirming this information. And the newspaper could not find anything, which is also remarkable.

Rasputin was a sectarian. They said that Rasputin was part of the notorious Khlysty sect. Her fans believed that they could be saved through self-flagellation and rampant sin, that is, orgies. In the Russian Empire, such associations actually operated illegally for a long time. The “Khlysty,” under the guise of true Christians, sinned in such a way that they had nothing in common with ordinary Orthodoxy. It’s just that someone really wanted to show that the spiritual mentor of the royal family was a member of an immoral and pseudo-religious society. Only Rasputin did not deserve such fame. This is evidenced by the results of a special investigation conducted in 1903-1912 by the Tobolsk Ecclesiastical Consistory. Investigators did a lot of work, interviewing Rasputin’s fellow villagers and studying his life. All the elder’s acquaintances stated that he is an honest and deeply religious person who actively preaches and is not involved in sectarianism in any way. And although they said that Rasputin indulged in pleasures with fans in the bathhouse, this myth also was not proven. Although it quickly became clear that Rasputin’s affiliation with the Khlysts was a fiction, Tobolsk Archbishop Eusebius insisted on a re-investigation. Agents conducted constant surveillance of Grigory Efimovich, but this did not provide any information about his connections with the sect. As a result, on November 29, 1912, the consistory decided to close the case of the Khlysty of the peasant Grigory Rasputin, declaring him completely innocent.

Rasputin was a notorious rowdy. This myth appeared in 1915, when General Dzhunkovsky, the head of one of the special services, showed a note to the Tsar. It said that in March of the same year, Rasputin caused a riot in the Moscow restaurant “Yar”. It was said that Grigory Efimovich behaved obscenely: he drank a lot, pestered ladies with obscene proposals, and even pulled down his pants. The Tsar, knowing the character of his mentor, did not believe the slander and instructed his adjutant Sablin to investigate the incident. The officer turned to Dzhunkovsky with a request to give him written testimony from those persons who were in the restaurant that evening. And then it turned out that these documents simply did not exist. Sablin could not find eyewitnesses of those outrages. But there were people who showed that that evening Rasputin behaved extremely decently in the establishment.

Rasputin was the de facto ruler of Russia. In those years, many caricatures of Rasputin were published. One of them depicted him as a giant who held the little Tsar Nicholas II in his fist. Today there is a very popular myth according to which the last years of the Russian Empire’s existence were ruled by Rasputin. But a study of the facts suggests that this is far from the case. For example, with the outbreak of World War I, Rasputin sent as many as 15 telegrams to the Tsar, urging him to prevent Russia from entering the conflict. But the king did not agree with this opinion, entering into a world war. Earlier, in 1911, Rasputin urged the Tsar not to take Stolypin with him to Kyiv. Grigory Efimovich believed that the minister was in mortal danger. But Nicholas rejected this advice, which cost the famous reformer his life. There are many examples that the tsar gave ministerial portfolios to people who were not recommended by Rasputin. And Nikolai ignored his views on the conduct of war. For example, he did not attack in the Riga area and did not stop the offensive near Kovel. It becomes clear that it was the Russian emperor who ruled the country, having a decisive and sole voice in resolving important state issues. Rasputin was only allowed to sometimes give advice.

Rasputin was the lover of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. It is difficult to find out what was really going on in the royal bedroom. In fact, there is no reliable evidence that such different people were connected by anything other than religiosity. The rumor about the tsarina's indecent behavior was launched with a very obvious meaning - to discredit Nicholas and his family. Already in our time, the group “Boney M” turned to the myth in their song, directly singing: “Rasputin is the lover of the Russian queen.” Rasputin’s methods of communication with his fans did not imply intercourse itself. The elder caressed the women, bringing them to a trembling state. Here he stopped the caresses and called for prayer to forgive the sin of voluptuousness. It is likely that Rasputin had this form of intimate friendship with Alexandra Fedorovna and her best friend, maid of honor Anna Vyrubova. But there is counter-evidence to this myth - adventurer Nadezhda Voskoboinikova worked as Vyrubova’s maid. She set herself a goal: to find sensational evidence of Rasputin’s love affair with the queen. The maid began to constantly spy and eavesdrop on the “lovers,” but could not find anything. Even Voskoboynikova was forced to openly admit that there was no physical intimacy between Alexandra Fedorovna and Rasputin.

The heir to the throne Alexei Nikolaevich was the son of Rasputin. The myth about the empress’s love affair gave rise to this one too. But not only were there no facts about Alexandra Fedorovna’s betrayal with Rasputin, she simply could not give birth to a son from him. The fact is that Alexei Nikolaevich was born in the summer of 1904, and the empress met the elder only in the fall of 1905.

Rasputin was a holy man who suffered for his faith. Even if we put aside the rumors and myths about the oddities in Rasputin’s sexual behavior, as well as his drunkenness, his participation in the appointment of ministers is a historical fact. Naturally, the elder did this to please certain circles and not selfishly. There is evidence that Rasputin was involved in thefts in the army and even espionage. For example, the appointment of Dobrovolsky as Minister of Justice brought Grigory Efimovich personally one hundred thousand rubles. And thanks to the adventurer Manasevich-Manuilov, the Germans were able to find out military secrets from Rasputin. The elder did not suffer for his faith. Both the right and the left dreamed of removing him - Rasputin had too strong and unlimited influence on the tsar.

Rasputin was a libertine. This myth is constantly replicated in various stories about Rasputin. There are many facts that seem to confirm this myth. Thus, Maria Vishnyakova worked as a kindergarten teacher. She visited Pokrovsky among her admirers, declaring later that Rasputin raped her at night. But that day there were many guests in the house, and no one heard the screams. And the teacher personally could not confirm this fact to Nicholas II himself, having been fired for slander. Another victim, nun Ksenia Goncharenkova, claimed that she was seriously and permanently seduced by the elder. But the investigation showed that the woman did not even know Rasputin personally, having seen him only a couple of times from afar. They wrote that Rasputin’s mistress was the maid of honor Anna Vyrubova. But in reality they were connected by pure and selfless friendship. After the February revolution, Vyrubova underwent a medical examination, which showed that the “victim of debauchery” was in fact a virgin! It is interesting that after the overthrow of the autocracy, the Provisional Government created a special commission that was supposed to bring to the “clean water” figures of the recent past, including Rasputin. In particular, the goal was to determine the veracity of the information presented about the elder in Iliodor’s book “The Holy Devil.” However, the commission found that there were no victims of sexual depravity; scandalous letters simply did not exist. For the sake of fairness, it should be said that Rasputin did have contact with prostitutes. He admitted to his friend, businessman Filippov, that he liked to look at a naked female body. But at the same time, Rasputin did not undertake sexual actions themselves. Information about this was also included in police reports. One of the priestesses of love said that Rasputin, who came to her, asked her to undress, looked at her for a few minutes and went home. That's all the depravity attributed to this extraordinary personality.

Rasputin was a sexual giant. Today there is a fashionable myth that Rasputin not only had many mistresses, but also suffered from priapism, experiencing a painfully long erection. However, psychiatrists who studied Rasputin's personality came to the conclusion that he was a hysterical person whose sexual abilities were very modest. Most likely, the old man had weak potency, and his hypersexuality was feigned. Such unbridled behavior in this regard allowed him to hide his own inferiority.

A member of Rasputin is kept in St. Petersburg. The country's only erotica museum houses a 30-centimeter giant penis. The organizer of the establishment, urologist Igor Knyazkin, claims that this organ belonged to Rasputin himself. He tells the story of how he bought a penis from private collectors. Along with this part of the body came old photographs and letters. In fact, there is no evidence that the organ actually belonged to the great old man. Knyazkin conducted an examination, which showed that the huge penis is indeed more than 80 years old. But the DNA of Rasputin himself has not been preserved, so there is simply nothing to compare with. Nevertheless, the beautiful myth has taken root, which brings the owner of the “treasure” material income in the form of curious visitors.

Rasputin was a German spy. The Russian army was oppressed by defeats, so they needed a culprit for all the troubles. This is how the myths about Rasputin the spy appeared, to whom the German queen tells all the secrets, and he sells them to enemy intelligence. This question was also of interest to the courtiers, who did not hesitate to follow the queen and even read her letters. But even people neutral to Rasputin believed that he was simply blurting out military secrets. Later, during the investigation, the maid of honor Vyrubova said that the tsar’s secret card was in his locked office, where even children were not allowed. Nikolai never spoke about military affairs among his family. But from the empress’s letters it follows that she was aware of the military strategy of the Russian army, trusting this to her Friend. So Rasputin knew secrets and could well have become an unwitting spy, since there were secret German agents in his circle.

Rasputin was a charlatan. The other extreme is to call Grigory Efimovich a saint. So who was he really? You just need to look at the facts of his activities. Rasputin turned out to be the person who helped the heir Alexei in his fight against hemophilia. After treatment by Rasputin, the boy recovered noticeably. There is no doubt that the elder had a powerful hypnotic gift, literally programming people to recover and change their lives. It is no coincidence that those who wanted to communicate with him and be healed constantly came to Rasputin. Even if one questions the divine basis of the elder’s influence, one cannot escape his talents for psychic influence. He was definitely not a charlatan; he was a talented, bright and controversial personality, discredited by many myths by the will of historical events and fate.

Modern writer-historian Yuri Rassulin, discussing the personality of Elder Gregory, says: “It is not possible to explain the paradoxical combination in one person, /Gregory Rasputin/ of holiness and vice - one of the witnesses lied. Who: the Jew Aron Simanovich with Sergei Trufanov, who renounced God and His Holy Church, or the Holy Royal Martyrs and Passion-Bearers; pervert Felix Yusupov with the Satanist Zhukovskaya or nun Maria - she is the faithful maid of honor of the Empress Anna Alexandrovna Taneyeva (Vyrubova)? The whole question again comes down to who to believe? Everyone is free to make their own choice...

Grigory Rasputin is the cause of all troubles from the point of view of many. Too many people believed the dirty rumors. Through the nasty, disgusting thoughts that swarmed in the heads of representatives of the Russian intelligentsia, and from there spread into the souls of ordinary people, the sacred image of the Sovereign was desecrated in the thoughts and feelings of the sons of the Russian People. The shadow of the betrayal of the God-anointed Tsar fell on the relationship of the Russian People with God. Not only the Family of the Holy Crowned Ones was insulted, but also the entire Russian People, one of whose representatives, close to the Tsar, was and is Gregory the New (Rasputin). The Name of God is also blasphemed, because during prayer, Grigory Efimovich, in the Name of God, healed Tsarevich Alexei, helped other people, and there is plenty of evidence of this.

And until the deepest misconception regarding his personality and his role in Russian history is not eliminated, there is still a reason to make claims to the Russian Autocrats and bring bewilderment into the minds of the Russian people in connection with the events of that fatal historical period for Russia. In the accusations that are again heard today against the Russian peasant, it is not difficult to see the long-standing desire to present a bill to Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Through slander about Grigory Rasputin the New, the dignity of their royal service and the height of their Christian feat are called into question. Thus, the memory of the Holy Crown Bearers is again insulted. Is this the kind of repentance the Lord expects from us? The truth must prevail. Otherwise, the vainly inflicted insult and the innocently shed royal blood will cry out to Heaven for vengeance. And this will continue until sin is subjected to spiritual healing, that is, repentance.

Who Grigory Rasputin really was, Olga Vladimirovna Lokhtina answered briefly and clearly during interrogation at the Extraordinary Investigative Commission. To the investigator’s question: “What kind of person do you think Rasputin is?” – she answered directly:
– I consider him an old man.
- What does it mean?
“An old man who has gone through his entire life through experience and has achieved all Christian virtues.”

For many, both then and today, Lokhtina’s testimony will not seem convincing. So what if the eccentric woman said something? No one wanted and does not want to believe her. Indeed, General Olga Vladimirovna Lokhtina, abandoned by everyone and expelled from home for her devotion to Grigory Rasputin, was not taken seriously. Most considered her crazy, less often treated her like a holy fool. Yes, of course, you can not believe Lokhtina, and she was wrong. But the whole point is that this is exactly how the Holy Royal Martyrs treated Gregory. We won’t believe the Holy Royal Martyrs either? What about God? After all, Gregory the New (Rasputin) testified about God and directed people to God, performed miracles, prophesied, and healed. Yes, he healed, but was it by demonic power? And were Gregory the New’s repeated healings of Tsarevich Alexy, witnessed by contemporaries, also by demonic power? So, the Heir to the Russian Throne was healed of an incurable, fatal illness by the devil? This is how it turns out in accordance with the testimony of the liar Yusupov, the Jew Simanovich, the sexually preoccupied Zhukovskaya, the defrocked Trufanov, the leader of the revolutionary Duma Rodzianko, the social revolutionary Prugavin and those who, uncontrollably and madly trying to get into their company today, continue to believe them, and not Holy Royal Martyrs.

It is no coincidence that the word “believe” was used in the previous paragraph. Indeed, the question of Rasputin is a question of faith, faith in God, faith in the holiness of the Royal Martyrs and Passion-Bearers, faith in Their Friend and prayer book, and only then in words and testimony. If we believe that the Lord glorified the Russian Crown Bearers, we believe in Their holiness, it means that we love Them, and we trust Them, we trust Their opinion, especially in matters of decisive importance for the destinies of the Orthodox Russian Power and the Russian People, in matters of principled character. But it turns out that the question of the historical role of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin-Novy in the fate of Russia and the attitude towards his personality is precisely not a secondary question, but a fundamental one. Why?

Let's answer frankly. Because if we consider Grigory Rasputin a scoundrel, then the conclusion is inevitable: the Tsar and Queen are criminals, because they showed criminal blindness, unacceptable for Their position, brought closer to themselves a person led by the devil, which turned into a grave tragedy for those entrusted to them by God people and the death of the Orthodox Russian State. It is precisely this interpretation of historical events that the forces that destroyed both the Russian Tsar and the Russian Autocracy are still trying to impose on us. What could be worse than this accusation? If Rasputin is a scoundrel, one must inevitably admit that everyone who betrayed the Tsar is not traitors at all, but guardians of the good of the Fatherland, rescuers. Their protest against the unsatisfactory, and, moreover, criminal, from their point of view, reign of the last Emperor is legitimate and fair, and the oppression they suffered from the supreme royal power elevates them to the rank of those persecuted in the name of the people's good. Everything is turned upside down, complete nonsense arises in the interpretation of the events of the reign of Nicholas II and the basis for canonizing the Tsar and Queen disappears.

A third option is also possible, which, along with the recognition of the holiness of the Royal Family, implies the justification of those who were forced to find themselves in opposition to the Russian Crown Bearers, including some members of the imperial family. This point of view is based on a somewhat strange assumption that the Russian Autocrats, of course, are holy, but, having found themselves in the spiritual captivity of a “political adventurer”, “charlatan” and “hypnotist”, they were unable to govern the Russian State and were completely disoriented in political matters. questions. Such a statement carries an inexplicable contradiction. How can holiness and submission be combined with the flattering spirit of sectarianism, alien to Orthodoxy and hostile to God? And what is the reason - in their spiritual blindness, captivity of their will, and by whom? A rogue, a libertine, a whip, an opponent of the Orthodox faith!? But it follows from this that the faith of the Tsar and Queen was vain if it brought such bitter fruits for the entire Russian land. This assumption is terrible for every Orthodox Christian who loves the martyred Royal Family and unshakably believes in their holiness.

But perhaps the horror they experienced during the tragic events of the revolution forced Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra, in the face of death, to realize their mistake and repent of it, to pay a terrible price for their blindness, and the Lord cleansed them with a painful death after undoubted repentance? But there is no such evidence. There is evidence to the contrary that all members of the holy Royal Family continued to believe in their Friend until the end of their days and sacredly preserved his memory.

Just as two dissimilar media that cannot mix will always have a visible boundary separating, say, water from oil, so information about Grigory Rasputin is clearly divided into two groups according to the nature of the statement. Based on the first group of evidence, a person’s righteous life is an ascetic. The second group of evidence leads to the conclusion that the same person is a rogue, a swindler, a libertine, etc. But this does not happen with God. One does not fit with the other. A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. If a person is a prayer book, and his prayer has miraculous power, and this is nothing more than a gift of God, a manifestation of grace, the action of the Holy Spirit in a person, is it possible for such a person to be a fornicator or an adulterer?

If you believe the opponents of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin-New, the Lord allowed terrible, cynical lawlessness to triumph, seduction and fornication to occur, covered by conversations about faith and the Name of God for many years. And this happened on such an incredible scale that one would be taken aback, apparently, by just the list of seduced victims, if one could be presented to human judgment. Of course, one could give a long philosophical argument on the topic of the ambiguity, confusion and inconsistency of human nature, that “from time immemorial, truth and falsehood have been rolling on the same wheel throughout the world.” But, as Grigory Efimovich once exclaimed: “And God, what about God!?” After all, to claim that Divine grace was contained in a dirty, vicious, foul-smelling vessel, defiled by fornication, is not this blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?