(real name - New)

(1864, according to other sources 1865-1916) Russian political adventurer

Among all the adventurers of the world, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin occupies one of the most famous places. There are many legends about him, and historians are still trying to figure out where is fiction and where is the truth.

He was born in the village of Pokrovsky, Tyumen district, Tobolsk province. His father, Efim Novykh, had a fairly strong economy, but he drank heavily and went bankrupt.

Grigory Novykh from his youth led such a dissolute life that he was nicknamed the Dissolute. This nickname later became his last name - Rasputin.

He left the village for the city of Tobolsk, worked in a hotel as a sex worker, and married Praskovya, a servant there, who bore him three children - a son and two daughters. But marriage did not change him. He continued to drink, began to steal, and was even seen stealing horses. Once he was caught at the crime scene, beaten and decided to be sent to Eastern Siberia.

Around the age of thirty, Grigory Rasputin changed his way of life. By that time, he had visited many holy places in Russia, including Athos, the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, came to Moscow for pilgrimage, and when he returned home, he prayed and bowed so hard that he even broke his forehead on the floor.

Since then, fame has gone about him as a holy elder who has miraculous powers and heals diseases. Soon these rumors reached Petersburg, Rasputin became famous in aristocratic houses, and soon he was called to the palace.

The heir to the royal throne, Tsarevich Alexei, suffered from hemophilia, a disease in which blood does not clot. As soon as he accidentally hurt himself, bleeding began, which the doctors could not stop for a long time. The Tsarevich was generally in poor health, and his mother was very afraid for him. She was ready to believe anything and bring anyone closer to her who could help her son.

So Grigory Rasputin ended up in the royal palace. In fairness, it must be said that he did not achieve this in any way, he lived far from the capital and did not even think that he would go down in history as a close friend of the royal family. "Friend" and "Gregory" he was called Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, on whom he had a strong influence. Grigory Rasputin really knew how to influence people. He certainly had the ability of a hypnotist and knew the Bible very well. Rasputin did not invent anything new, he spoke long-known Christian truths, but in his mouth they sounded like prophecies. The queen and other ladies of high society listened to his every word and obeyed him in everything.

The tsarina's trust in Grigory Rasputin became boundless after she became convinced that the "elder" actually helped her son. Eyewitness accounts have survived that only Rasputin could stop the boy from severe bleeding, saved his life more than once, relieved pain even by phone.

In the capital, he was treated differently. Some idolized him, others were skeptical, at first they were perplexed, then they became more and more indignant, watching how the royal family kissed the hands of this rude, arrogant peasant and fulfilled all his requirements. The reason for this admiration was simple.

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin managed to convince the queen, and through her the king, that as long as he, God's righteous man, is next to the royal family, everything will be in order with the heir.

Historians believe that Nicholas II, although he treated Rasputin more restrained than his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, nevertheless also completely trusted him and was partly under his influence. For him, Grigory Rasputin was a representative of the people, reflecting its essence and moods. The Tsar had for a long time nurtured the idea of ​​rapprochement with his people, and now, in the person of Grigory Rasputin, he, as it seemed to him, had established this alliance.

Grigory Rasputin would probably have remained a strange "whim" of the royal family (after all, there were many such "elders" and "prophets" in history), if he led a more worthy lifestyle and did not interfere in politics. Appearing in the capital and in the palace as a meek, pious peasant, he soon got the taste of a free and rich life, began to behave like any rude, uneducated person, to whom everything is permitted. Rasputin arranged orgies and drunken brawls in his apartment, in restaurants, could offend people, boasted of his closeness to the queen and said that the king does everything as he tells him. There were scandals after scandals, the queen became aware of them, but she did not believe anything and believed that evil people, ill-wishers, wanted to discredit the harmless "old man" and "friend" in her eyes.

Using his undivided influence on the queen, Grigory Rasputin begins to inspire her who should be removed and who should be appointed to this or that position in the government. His influence on the royal family increased especially in last years tsarist regime (1914-1916). Rasputin's apartment turned into a haven for all sorts of charlatans, swindlers, dark businessmen - from bankers to speculators. The so-called period of “ministerial leapfrog” began: the former ministers were replaced by frank henchmen of the “old man”.

The tsar indulged Rasputin's "representations", as it seemed to him that this strengthened his power. He even went so far as to depose his uncle, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich Romanov, from the post of supreme commander-in-chief at the insistence of the tsarina, and hence Rasputin, during World War I. He did this, despite the great authority of the Grand Duke in the army and society. The reason was also simple and obvious to everyone. The Grand Duke was an ardent enemy of Rasputin and tried to open the eyes of the king to the actions of this adventurer.

When the opponents of Grigory Rasputin realized that no reasonable arguments would help, they decided to kill the "old man". He suspected this and handed over to the queen his will and prediction, in which he wrote that if one of the king's relatives killed him, then not a single person from the royal family would live more than two years. The queen was in a panic and strengthened the protection of the "old man". But it did not help.

The murder of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was desired by many, but several people took part in it: Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, a brilliant young man, "Olympian", as he was called because he took part in Olympic Games in Stockholm, some time ago, he was predicted to be the husband of the eldest daughter of the king, Princess Olga; members of the conspiracy were also a member of the State Duma Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich and Prince Felix Yusupov.

They lured Grigory Rasputin to the St. Petersburg palace of Prince Yusupov on the Moika. The murder was thought out in every detail, but it turned out to be not as simple as they had imagined before. At first, Rasputin was treated to cakes stuffed with poison, but the poison had no effect on him (there is evidence that they were given ordinary powder instead of poison). Then they shot at Rasputin and drowned the wounded man in the hole.

M. Rodzianko, chairman of the IV State Duma, wrote interestingly about this, who believed that he should reveal to his contemporaries and descendants the truth about Grigory Rasputin.

Historians, on the other hand, consider the "Rasputinism" an external manifestation of the crisis of the feudal system that was taking place in a country where bourgeois changes had already begun.

The significance of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin in the history of the Russian state of the 20th century is great. In his fate, as in a mirror, all the contradictions with which this century was rich were reflected. He sought power by any possible means, suffered defeats and again found himself in the favorites. With his unexpected appearance at the court, Rasputin, as it were, predicted the end of one era and the beginning of another, when history would be made by people like him, ordinary and at first unknown to anyone.

Archimandrite Feofan (Bystrov) meets Rasputin, introducing him also to Bishop Hermogenes (Dolganov).

Petersburg since 1904

The house on Gorokhovaya where Rasputin lived (with windows to the courtyard)

G. Rasputin and the imperial family

1908 Royal Village. Rasputin with the Empress, four children and a governess.

The date of the first personal meeting with the emperor is well known - on November 1, 1905, Nicholas II wrote in his diary:

November 1st. Tuesday. Cold windy day. From the shore it froze to the end of our channel and an even strip in both directions. Been very busy all morning. Breakfast: book. Orlov and Resin (Dej.). Walked. At 4 o'clock we went to Sergievka. We drank tea with Milica and Stana. We got acquainted with the man of God - Grigory from the Tobolsk province. In the evening I went to bed, worked hard and spent the evening with Alix.

There are other references to Rasputin in the diaries of Nicholas II.

Rasputin gained influence on the imperial family, and above all on Alexandra Feodorovna, by helping her son, heir to the throne, Alexei, fight hemophilia, a disease that medicine was powerless against.

Rasputin and the Church

Later biographers of Rasputin (O. Platonov) tend to see some broader political meaning in the official investigations conducted by the church authorities in connection with Rasputin's activities; but the investigative documents (the case of Khlystism and police documents) show that all the cases were the subject of their investigation of the very specific acts of Grigory Rasputin, which infringed on public morality and piety.

The first case of Rasputin's "Khlysty" in 1907

Secret file of the Tobolsk spiritual consistory about the peasant Grigory Rasputin.

On January 23, 1912, by order of the Minister of the Interior, Makarov, Rasputin was again placed under surveillance, which continued until his death.

The second case of Rasputin's "Khlysty" in 1912

Decree of Nicholas II

It should also be noted that opponents of Rasputin often forget about a different elevation: Bishop Anthony of Tobolsk (Karzhavin), who brought the first case of “Khlystism” against Rasputin, was moved in 1910 from cold Siberia to the Tver cathedra and was elevated to the rank of archbishop on Easter. But they remember that this translation took place precisely because the first file was sent to the archives of the Synod.

Prophecies, writings and correspondence of Rasputin

During his lifetime, Rasputin published two books:

The books are a literary record of his conversations, since the surviving notes of Rasputin testify to his illiteracy.

The eldest daughter writes about her father: “... my father was not fully literate, to put it mildly. He began to take his first writing and reading lessons in St. Petersburg.

In total, there are 100 canonical prophecies of Rasputin. The most famous was the prediction of the death of the Imperial House: "As long as I live, the dynasty will live."

Some authors believe that there are mentions of Rasputin in the letters of Alexandra Feodorovna to Nicholas II. In the letters themselves, Rasputin's surname is not mentioned, but some authors believe that Rasputin in the letters is indicated by the words "Friend", or "He" with capital letters, although this has no documentary evidence. The letters were published in the USSR by 1927, and by the Berlin publishing house Slovo in 1922. The correspondence has been preserved in State Archive RF - Novoromanovsky archive.

Anti-Rasputin press campaign

Assassination attempt on Khionia Guseva

On June 29 (July 12), 1914, an assassination attempt was made on Rasputin in the village of Pokrovsky. He was stabbed in the stomach and severely wounded by Khioniya Guseva, who had come from Tsaritsyn. . Rasputin testified that he suspected Iliodor of organizing the assassination attempt, but was unable to provide any evidence of this. On July 3, Rasputin was transported by ship to Tyumen for treatment. Rasputin remained in the Tyumen hospital until August 17, 1914. The investigation into the assassination attempt lasted about a year. Gusev was declared mentally ill in July 1915 and freed from criminal liability by being placed in a psychiatric hospital in Tomsk. On March 27, 1917, on the personal instructions of A.F. Kerensky, Guseva was released.

Murder

Rasputin's body recovered from the water.

Photo of a corpse in the morgue

Letter to V.K. Dmitry Pavlovich to his father V.K. Pavel Alexandrovich about the attitude to the murder of Rasputin and the revolution. Isfahan (Persia) April 29, 1917. Finally, the last act of my stay in Petr [grad] was a completely conscious and thoughtful participation in the murder of Rasputin - as the last attempt to enable the Sovereign to openly change course, without taking responsibility for the removal of this person. (Alix wouldn't let him do that.)

Rasputin was killed on the night of December 17, 1916 in the Yusupov Palace on the Moika. Conspirators: F. F. Yusupov, V. M. Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, British intelligence officer MI6 Oswald Reiner (English) Russian (officially, the investigation did not attribute him to the murder).

Information about the murder is contradictory, it was confused both by the killers themselves and by pressure on the investigation by the Russian, British and Soviet authorities. Yusupov changed his testimony several times: in the police of St. Petersburg on December 16, 1916, in exile in the Crimea in 1917, in a book in 1927, given under oath in 1934 and in 1965. Initially, Purishkevich's memoirs were published, then Yusupov echoed his version. However, they radically differed from the testimony of the investigation. Starting from naming the wrong color of the clothes in which Rasputin was dressed according to the killers and in which he was found, and up to how many and where the bullets were fired. For example, forensic scientists found 3 wounds, each of which is fatal: in the head, liver and kidney. (According to British researchers who studied the photograph, a test shot to the forehead was made from a British Webley .455 revolver.) After a shot in the liver, a person can live no more than 20 minutes, and is not able, as the killers said, to run down the street in half an hour or an hour. Also, there was no shot in the heart, which the killers unanimously claimed.

Rasputin was first lured into the cellar by being treated to red wine and a pie poisoned with cyanide. Yusupov went upstairs, and, returning, shot him in the back, causing him to fall. The conspirators went out into the street. Yusupov, who returned for a cloak, checked the body, suddenly Rasputin woke up and tried to strangle the killer. The conspirators who ran in at that moment began to shoot at Rasputin. Approaching, they were surprised that he was still alive, and began to beat him. According to the killers, the poisoned and shot Rasputin came to his senses, got out of the basement and tried to climb over the high wall of the garden, but was caught by the killers, who heard the rising barking of a dog. Then he was tied with ropes hand and foot (according to Purishkevich, first wrapped in a blue cloth), taken by car to a pre-selected place near Kamenny Island and thrown off the bridge into the Neva hole in such a way that the body was under the ice. However, according to the materials of the investigation, the discovered corpse was dressed in a fur coat, there was no fabric or ropes.

The investigation into the murder of Rasputin, which was led by the director of the Police Department, A. T. Vasiliev, progressed quite quickly. Already the first interrogations of Rasputin's family members and servants showed that on the night of the murder, Rasputin went to visit Prince Yusupov. Policeman Vlasyuk, who was on duty on the night of December 16-17 on a street not far from the Yusupov Palace, testified that he had heard several shots at night. During a search in the courtyard of the Yusupovs' house, traces of blood were found.

On the afternoon of December 17, a passer-by noticed bloodstains on the parapet of the Petrovsky Bridge. After divers explored the Neva, the body of Rasputin was found in this place. The forensic medical examination was entrusted to the famous professor of the Military Medical Academy D.P. Kosorotov. The original autopsy report has not been preserved; the cause of death can only be hypothesized.

“During the autopsy, very numerous injuries were found, many of which were already inflicted posthumously. The entire right side of the head was shattered, flattened due to bruising of the corpse during the fall from the bridge. Death followed from profuse bleeding due to a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The shot was fired, in my opinion, almost point-blank, from left to right, through the stomach and liver, with crushing of this latter in the right half. The bleeding was very profuse. The corpse also had a gunshot wound in the back, in the region of the spine, with crushing of the right kidney, and another wound point-blank, in the forehead, probably already dying or deceased. The chest organs were intact and were examined superficially, but there were no signs of death from drowning. The lungs were not swollen and respiratory tract there was no water, no foamy liquid. Rasputin was thrown into the water already dead.

The conclusion of the forensic expert Professor D.N. Kosorotova

No poison was found in Rasputin's stomach. Possible explanations for this are that the cyanide in the brownies has been neutralized by the sugar or heat from the oven. His daughter reports that after the assassination attempt, Gusev Rasputin suffered from high acidity and avoided sweet foods. He was reportedly poisoned with a dose capable of killing 5 people. Some modern researchers suggest that there was no poison - this is a lie to confuse the investigation.

There are a number of nuances in determining the involvement of O. Reiner. At the time, there were two MI6 officers in St. Petersburg who could have committed the murder: Yusupov's school friend Oswald Reiner and Yusupov Palace-born Captain Stephen Alley. Both families were close to Yusupov, and it is difficult to say who exactly killed. The former was suspected, and Tsar Nicholas II explicitly mentioned that the killer was Yusupov's school friend. In 1919, Rayner was awarded the Order of the British Empire, he destroyed his papers before his death in 1961. Compton's chauffeur's journal records that he brought Oswald to Yusupov (and to another officer, Captain John Scale) a week before the murder, and the last time - on the day of the murder. Compton also directly hinted at Rayner, saying that the killer is a lawyer and was born in the same city with him. There is a letter from Alley written to Scale 8 days after the assassination: "Although not everything went according to plan, our goal was achieved ... Rayner is covering his tracks and will no doubt contact you for briefing." According to modern British researchers, the order for three British agents (Reiner, Alley and Scale) to eliminate Rasputin came from Mansfield Smith-Cumming (English) Russian (first director of MI6).

The investigation lasted two and a half months until the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II on March 2, 1917. On this day, Kerensky became Minister of Justice in the Provisional Government. On March 4, 1917, he ordered the investigation to be hastily terminated, while investigator A.T. Vasilyev (arrested during the February Revolution) was transferred to the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was interrogated by the Extraordinary Investigative Commission until September, later emigrated.

English conspiracy version

According to researchers motivated by the film and published books, Rasputin was killed with the active participation of the British intelligence service Mi-6, the killers confused the investigation in order to hide the British trail. The motive for the conspiracy was the following: Great Britain was afraid of Rasputin's influence on the Russian Empress, which threatened to conclude a separate peace with Germany. To eliminate the threat, a conspiracy brewing in Russia against Rasputin was used.
It also states that the next assassination of the British secret services immediately after the revolution planned the assassination of I. Stalin, who most loudly strove for peace with Germany.

The funeral

Rasputin was buried by Bishop Isidore (Kolokolov), who knew him well. In his memoirs, A. I. Spiridovich recalls that Bishop Isidore served the funeral mass (which he had no right to do).

It was said later that Metropolitan Pitirim, who was approached about the funeral, rejected this request. In those days, a legend was started that the Empress was present at the autopsy and the funeral service, which also reached the English Embassy. It was a typical gossip directed against the Empress.

At first they wanted to bury the dead man in his homeland, in the village of Pokrovsky. But because of the danger of possible unrest in connection with sending the body across half the country, they buried it in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoye Selo on the territory of the temple of Seraphim of Sarov built by Anna Vyrubova.

Three months after Rasputin's death, his grave was desecrated. At the place of burning, two inscriptions are inscribed on a birch, one of which is on German: "Hier ist der Hund begraben" ("A dog is buried here") and further "Here the corpse of Rasputin Grigory was burned on the night of March 10-11, 1917."

The fate of the Rasputin family

The rest of the Rasputin family was brutally dealt with by the Soviet authorities. In 1922, his widow Praskovya Fedorovna, son Dmitry and daughter Varvara were disenfranchised as "malicious elements." Even earlier, in 1920, the house and the entire peasant economy of Dmitry Grigorievich were nationalized. In the 1930s, all three were arrested by the NKVD, and their trace was lost in the special settlements of the Tyumen North.

Orgy

Rasputin and his admirers (St. Petersburg, 1914). In the top row (from left to right): Den Yu. A., 1914 Rasputin settled in an apartment on the street. Gorokhovaya, 64 in St. Petersburg. Various gloomy rumors quickly began to spread around St. Petersburg about this apartment, they say, Rasputin turned it into a brothel and uses it to conduct his "orgies". Some said that Rasputin keeps a permanent “harem” there, while others collect it from case to case. There was a rumor that the apartment on Gorokhovaya was used for witchcraft, etc.

From the memories of witnesses

… One day Aunt Agn. Fed. Hartmann (my mother's sister) asked me if I would like to see Rasputin closer. …….. Having received the address on Pushkinskaya St., on the appointed day and hour, I appeared at the apartment of Maria Alexandrovna Nikitina, my aunt's friend. Entering the small dining room, I found everyone already assembled. At the oval table, served for tea, there were 6-7 young interesting ladies. I knew two of them by sight (we met in the halls Winter Palace, where Alexandra Fedorovna organized the sewing of linen for the wounded). They were all in the same circle and were talking animatedly among themselves in an undertone. After making a general bow in English, I sat next to the hostess at the samovar and talked to her.

Suddenly, there was a general sigh - Ah! I looked up and saw in the door, located on the opposite side from where I entered, a powerful figure - the first impression - a gypsy. A tall, powerful figure was clad in a white Russian shirt with embroidery on the collar and clasp, a twisted belt with tassels, black loose-fitting trousers, and Russian boots. But there was nothing Russian in it. Black thick hair, big black beard, a swarthy face with predatory nostrils of the nose and some kind of ironically mocking smile on the lips - a face, of course, spectacular, but somehow unpleasant. The first thing that attracted attention was his eyes: black, red-hot, they burned, penetrating through, and his gaze at you was felt simply physically, it was impossible to remain calm. It seems to me that he really had a hypnotic power that subjugated himself when he wanted it. …

Here everyone was familiar to him, vied with each other trying to please, to attract attention. He cheekily sat down at the table, addressed each by name and “you”, spoke catchy, sometimes vulgarly and rudely, called to him, sat him on his knees, felt, stroked, patted on soft places and all the “happy” ones were thrilled with pleasure. ! It was disgusting and insulting to look at this for women who were humiliated, who had lost both their feminine dignity and family honor. I felt the blood rush to my face, I wanted to scream, bang my fist, do something. I was sitting almost opposite the “distinguished guest”, he perfectly felt my condition and, laughing mockingly, each time after the next attack stubbornly stuck his eyes into me. I was a new, unknown object to him. …

Brashly addressing one of those present, he said: “Do you see? Who made the shirt? Sasha! (meaning Empress Alexandra Feodorovna). No decent man would ever betray the secrets of a woman's feelings. My eyes grew dark from tension, and Rasputin's gaze unbearably drilled and drilled. I moved closer to the hostess, trying to hide behind the samovar. Maria Alexandrovna looked at me anxiously. …

“Mashenka,” a voice rang out, “do you want some jam? Come to me." Masha hastily jumps up and hurries to the place of conscription. Rasputin crosses his legs, takes a spoonful of jam and knocks it over on the toe of his boot. “Lick” - an imperative voice sounds, she kneels down and, bowing her head, licks off the jam ... I could not stand it anymore. Squeezing the mistress's hand, she jumped up and ran out into the hallway. I don’t remember how I put on my hat, how I ran along the Nevsky. I came to my senses at the Admiralty, I had to go home to Petrogradskaya. She roared for half the night and asked me never to question me about what I saw, and I myself neither with my mother nor with my aunt remembered this hour, I did not see Maria Alexandrovna Nikitina either. Since then, I could not calmly hear the name of Rasputin and lost all respect for our "secular" ladies. Once, while visiting De-Lazari, I came up to the phone call and heard the voice of this scoundrel. But she immediately said that I know who is speaking, and therefore I don’t want to talk ... ..

Grigorova-Rudykovskaya, Tatyana Leonidovna

The Provisional Government conducted a special investigation into the Rasputin case. According to one of the participants in this investigation, V. M. Rudnev, seconded by order of Kerensky to the "Extraordinary Investigative Commission to Investigate the Abuses of Former Ministers, Chief Executives and Other High Officials" and then a deputy prosecutor of the Yekaterinoslav District Court:

... the richest material for elucidating his personality from this side turned out to be in the data of that very covert observation of him, which was conducted by the security department; at the same time, it turned out that Rasputin's amorous adventures do not go beyond the framework of nightly orgies with girls of easy virtue and chansonnet singers, and sometimes with some of his petitioners.

Matryon's daughter in her book Rasputin. Why?" wrote:

... that for all his impregnation with life, the father never abused his power and ability to influence women in the carnal sense. However, one must understand that this part of the relationship was of particular interest to the ill-wishers of the father. I note that they received some real food for their stories.

... Then he would go to the phone and call all kinds of ladies. I had to do bonne mine mauvais jeu - because all these ladies were of an extremely dubious quality ...

Estimates of Rasputin's influence

According to the memoirs of the courtiers, Rasputin was not close to the royal family and generally rarely visited the royal palace. So, according to the memoirs of the palace commandant V. N. Voeikov, the head of the palace police, Colonel Gerardi, when asked how often Rasputin visits the palace, answered: “once a month, and sometimes once every two months.” In the memoirs of the maid of honor A. A. Vyrubova, it is said that Rasputin visited the royal palace no more than 2-3 times a year, and the tsar received him much less often. Another lady-in-waiting, S.K. Buxhowden, recalled:

“I lived in the Alexander Palace from 1913 to 1917, and my room was connected by a corridor with the chambers of the Imperial children. I never saw Rasputin during all this time, although I was constantly in the company of the Grand Duchesses. Monsieur Gilliard, who also lived there for several years, also never saw him.

From the memoirs of the Director of the Police Department A. T. Vasiliev (he served in the "Okhranka" of St. Petersburg since 1906, and headed the police in 1916/17):

Many times I had the opportunity to meet with Rasputin and talk with him on various topics.<…>Mind and natural ingenuity gave him the opportunity to soberly and penetratingly judge a person who had only once met him. This was also known to the queen, so she sometimes asked his opinion about this or that candidate for a high position in the government. But from such harmless questions to the appointment of ministers by Rasputin is a very big step, and neither the tsar nor the tsarina, no doubt, never took this step.<…>And yet people believed that everything depended on a piece of paper with a few words written by Rasputin's hand ... I never believed in this, and although I sometimes investigated these rumors, I never found convincing evidence of their veracity. The cases I relate are not, as one might think, my sentimental inventions; they are evidenced by the reports of agents who worked for years as servants in Rasputin's house and, therefore, knew his daily life in the smallest detail.<…>Rasputin did not climb into the front ranks of the political arena, he was pushed there by other people seeking to shake the foundation of the Russian throne and empire ... These harbingers of the revolution sought to make a scarecrow out of Rasputin in order to carry out their plans. Therefore, they spread the most ridiculous rumors, which created the impression that only through the mediation of a Siberian peasant can one achieve a high position and influence.

The publication of reports about Rasputin in the press could be limited only partially. According to the law, articles about the imperial family were subject to preliminary censorship by the head of the office of the Ministry of the Court. Any articles in which the name of Rasputin was mentioned in combination with the names of members of the royal family were banned, but articles where only Rasputin appeared could not be banned.

On November 1, 1916, at a meeting of the State Duma, P. N. Milyukov delivered a speech critical of the government and the "court party", in which the name of Rasputin was also mentioned. Milyukov took the information he gave about Rasputin from articles in the German newspapers Berliner Tageblatt of October 16, 1916 and Neue Freye Press of June 25, regarding which he himself admitted that some of the information reported there was erroneous. On November 19, 1916, V. M. Purishkevich delivered a speech at a meeting of the Duma, in which he attached great importance Rasputin. The image of Rasputin was also used by German propaganda. In March 1916, German zeppelins scattered over the Russian trenches a caricature depicting Wilhelm leaning on the German people, and Nikolai Romanov leaning on Rasputin's genitals.

According to the memoirs of A. A. Golovin, during the First World War, rumors that the Empress was Rasputin's mistress were spread among the officers of the Russian army by employees of the opposition Zemstvo-City Union. After the overthrow of Nicholas II, the chairman of Zemgor, Prince Lvov, became chairman of the Provisional Government.

The first revolution and the counter-revolutionary era following it (1907-1914) revealed the whole essence of the tsarist monarchy, brought it to " last line”, revealed all its rottenness, vileness, all the cynicism and depravity of the royal gang with the monstrous Rasputin at its head, all the atrocities of the Romanov family - these pogromists who flooded Russia with the blood of Jews, workers, revolutionaries ...

Opinions of contemporaries about Rasputin

... oddly enough, the question of Rasputin involuntarily became the central issue of the near future and did not leave the scene for almost the entire time of my chairmanship in the Council of Ministers, bringing me to resignation with a little over two years.

In my opinion, Rasputin is a typical Siberian warnak, a vagabond, smart and trained himself in a certain way of a simpleton and holy fool, and plays his role according to a learned recipe. In appearance, he lacked only a prisoner's coat and an ace of diamonds on his back. By manners - this is a man capable of anything. Of course, he does not believe in his antics, but he has worked out for himself firmly learned methods by which he deceives both those who sincerely believe in all his eccentricities, and those who deceive themselves with their admiration for him, meaning in fact only to achieve through it of those benefits that are not given in any other way.

How did contemporaries imagine Rasputin? Like a drunken, dirty peasant who infiltrated the royal family, appointed and dismissed ministers, bishops and generals, and for a whole decade was the hero of the Petersburg scandalous chronicle. In addition, there are wild orgies in Villa Rode, lustful dances among aristocratic fans, high-ranking henchmen and drunken gypsies, and at the same time incomprehensible power over the king and his family, hypnotic power and faith in one's special purpose. That was it.

If there had been no Rasputin, then the opponents of the royal family and the preparers of the revolution would have created him with their conversations from Vyrubova, from me, from anyone you want.

Nikolai Alekseevich Sokolov, the investigator in the case of the murder of the royal family, writes in his book-forensic investigation:

The head of the Main Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs, Pokhvisnev, who held this position in 1913-1917, shows: “According to the established procedure, all telegrams addressed to the Sovereign and Empress were presented to me in copies. Therefore, all telegrams that went to the name of Their Majesties from Rasputin, were known to me at one time. There were a lot of them. Of course, it is not possible to recall their contents in sequence. In all honesty, I can say that Rasputin's enormous influence with the Sovereign and the Empress was established with complete evidence by the content of the telegrams.

Hieromartyr Archpriest Philosopher Ornatsky, rector of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, describes in 1914 the meeting of John of Kronstadt with Rasputin as follows:

Father John asked the elder: “What is your last name?” And when the latter answered: "Rasputin", he said: "Look, by your last name it will be for you"

Attempts to canonize Rasputin

Religious veneration of Grigory Rasputin began around 1990 and went from the so-called. The Mother of God Center (which changed its name over the next years).

Some extremely radical monarchical Orthodox circles have also, since the 1990s, expressed thoughts about the canonization of Rasputin as a holy martyr. The proponents of these ideas were:

1. Editor of the Orthodox newspaper "Blagovest" Anton Evgenievich Zhogolev.
2. Dushenov Konstantin - editor-in-chief of Orthodox Russia.
3. "Church of John the Evangelist", etc.

Despite this, over the past ten years, religious admirers of Grigory Rasputin have issued at least two akathists to him, and also painted about a dozen icons.

• By a strange coincidence, Rasputin met Tsar Nicholas II in the same year (1905) as Papus (who came to Russia in 1905). Rasputin, like Papus, had a strong religious influence on the tsar: Papus initiated the tsar into martinism, treated his family and allegedly predicted his death ... they say the same about Rasputin. Both died at the end of 1916, with a difference of only about two months.

Rasputin in culture and art

According to the research of S. Fomin, during March-November 1917, the theaters were filled with dubious productions, and more than ten libelous films about Grigory Rasputin were released. The first such film was a two-part "sensational drama" "Dark forces - Grigory Rasputin and his associates"(production of the joint-stock company G. Liebken). The picture was delivered in record time, within a few days: on March 5, the newspaper "Early morning" announced it, and already on March 12 (! - 10 days after the abdication!) She came out on the screens of cinemas. It is noteworthy that this first libelous film as a whole failed and was successful only in the outskirts of small cinemas, where the audience was simpler ... The appearance of these films led to the protest of a more educated public because of their pornography and wild erotica. In order to protect public morality, it was even proposed to introduce film censorship (and this was in the first days of the revolution!), Temporarily entrusting it to the police. A group of filmmakers petitioned the Minister of Justice of the Provisional Government A. F. Kerensky to ban the demonstration of the tape "Dark forces - Grigory Rasputin", stop the flow movies and pornography. Of course, this did not stop the further spread of the kinorasputiniada across the country. Those who "overthrew the autocracy" were in power, and they needed to justify this overthrow. And then S. Fomin writes: “The Bolsheviks approached the matter more fundamentally after October 1917. Of course, the film waste about Rasputin received a second wind, but much broader and deeper steps were taken. Forged by P. E. Shchegolev and others were published. multi-volume Protocols of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry created by the Provisional Government, from beginning to end forged by the same P. Shchegolev with the “red count” A. Tolstoy, “Diaries” by A. Vyrubova. ... Only by about 1930, this campaign began to wane - the new generation entering adulthood in the USSR was already sufficiently “processed”.

Rasputin and his historical meaning had a great influence on both Russian and Western culture. Germans and Americans are to some extent attracted to his figure as a kind of "Russian bear", or "Russian peasant".
In with. Pokrovskoye (now - Yarkovsky district of the Tyumen region) operates a private museum of G.E. Rasputin.

List of literature about Rasputin

• Avrekh A. Ya. Tsarism on the eve of the overthrow.- M., 1989. - ISBN 5-02-009443-9
• Amalrik A. Rasputin
• Varlamov A. N. Grigory Rasputin-New. ZhZL series. - M: Young Guard, 2007. 851 pages - ISBN 978-5-235-02956-9
• Vasiliev A. T. Protection: Russian secret police. In the book: "Protection". Memoirs of leaders of political investigation. - M.: New Literary Review, 2004. Volume 2.
• Watala E. Rasputin. Without myths and legends. M., 2000
• Bokhanov A. N. The truth about Grigory Rasputin. - M: Russian Publishing Center, 2011. 608 p., 5000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-4249-0002-0

Gatiyatulina Yu. R. Museum of Grigory Rasputin // Revival historical center Tyumen. Tyumen in the past, present and future. Abstracts of reports and messages scientific and practical conference. - Tyumen, 2001. S. 24-26. - ISBN 5-88131-176-0

• E. F. Dzhanumova. My meetings with (Grigory) Rasputin
• N. N. Evreinov. Rasputin's secret. L .: "Past", 1924 (M: "Book Chamber", 1990 reprint: ISBN 5-7000-0219-1)
• V. A. Zhukovskaya. My memories of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin 1914-1916.
• Iliodor (Trufanov S.) Holy hell. Notes on Rasputin. With a preface by S. P. Melgunov. Printing house t-va Ryabushinsky. - M., 1917 XV, 188 p.
• Zhevakhov N. Memoirs. Volume I. September 1915 - March 1917]
• Kokovtsov V. N. From my past. Memoirs 1903-1919 Volumes I and II. Paris, 1933. Chapter II
• Miller L. The royal family is a victim of dark power. Melbourne, 1988. ("Lodya": reprint) ISBN 5-8233-0011-5
• Nikulin L. God's adjutant. Chronicle novel. - M., 1927 "Worker" No. 98 - "Worker" No. 146
• The fall of the tsarist regime. Verbatim records of interrogations and testimony given in 1917 at the Extraordinary Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government. - M.-L., 1926-1927. At 7 t.
• Pikul V. Evil spirits ("At the last line")
• O. Platonov. Life for the Tsar (The Truth about Grigory Rasputin)
• Polishchuk V. V., Polishchuk O. A. Tyumen of Grigory Rasputin-New // Slovtsovsky Readings-2006: Proceedings of the XVIII All-Russian Scientific Regional Studies Conference. - Tyumen, 2006. S. 97-99. - ISBN 5-88081-558-7
• Purishkevich V. M. Diary for 1916 (The Death of Rasputin) // “The Life of the Prodigal Elder Grishka Rasputin”. - M., 1990. - ISBN 5-268-01401-3
• Purishkevich V. M. Diary (in the book "The Last Days of Rasputin"). - M.: "Zakharov", 2005
• Radzinsky E. Rasputin: Life and Death. - 2004. 576 s - ISBN 5-264-00589-3
• Rasputin M. Rasputin. Why? Memories of a daughter. - M.: "Zakharov", 2001, 2005.
• Rasputin theme on the pages of publications of our days (1988-1995): index of literature. - Tyumen, 1996. 60 p.
• Fulop-Miller, René Holy demon, Rasputin and women- Leipzig, 1927 (German) René Fülöp-Miller „Der heilige Teufel“ – Rasputin und die Frauen, Leipzig, 1927 ). Reissued in 1992. M.: Respublika, 352 pages - ISBN 5-250-02061-5
• Ruud Ch. A., Stepanov S. A. Fontanka, 16: Political investigation under the tsars.- M .: Thought, 1993. Chapter 14. "Dark forces" around the throne
• Holy Devil: Collection. - M., 1990. 320 s - ISBN 5-7000-0235-3
• Simanovich A. Rasputin and the Jews. Memoirs of the personal secretary Grigory Rasputin. - Riga, 1924. - ISBN 5-265-02276-7
• Spiridovich A.I. Spiridovitch Alexandre (General). Raspoutine 1863-1916. D'après les documents russes et les archives de l'auteur.- Paris. payot. 1935
• A. Tereshchuk. Grigory Rasputin. biography
• Fomin S. The murder of Rasputin: the creation of a myth
• Chernyshov A. Who was "on the watch" on the night of the murder of Rasputin in the courtyard of the Yusupov Palace? //Lukic. 2003. Part 2. S. 214-219
• Chernyshov A. V. In search of the grave of Grigory Rasputin. (Regarding one publication) //Religion and Church in Siberia. - Issue. 7. S. 36-42
• Chernyshov A.V. Choice of the path. (Strokes to the religious and philosophical portrait of G. E. Rasputin) // Religion and Church in Siberia. - Issue. 9. S.64-85
• Chernyshov A.V. Something about the Rasputinia and the publishing situation of our days (1990-1991) // Religion and Church in Siberia. Collection of scientific articles and documentary materials. - Tyumen, 1991. Issue 2. pp. 47-56
• Shishkin O. A. Kill Rasputin. M., 2000
• Yusupov F. F. Memoirs (The End of Rasputin) Published in the collection "The Life of the Prodigal Elder Grishka Rasputin". - M., 1990. - ISBN 5-268-01401-3
• Yusupov F.F. The End of Rasputin (in the book "The Last Days of Rasputin") - M .: "Zakharov", 2005
• Shavelsky G. I. Memoirs of the last protopresbyter of the Russian army and navy. - New York: ed. them. Chekhov, 1954
• Etkind A. Whip. Sects, literature and revolution. Department of Slavic Studies, University of Helsinki, New Literary Review. - M., 1998. - 688 s (Book review - Alexander Ulanov A. Etkind. Whip. A bitter experience of culture. "Znamya" 1998, No. 10)
• Harold Shukman. Rasputin. - 1997. - 113 p. ISBN 978-0-7509-1529-8.

Documentaries about Rasputin

• The Last of the Kings: The Shadow of Rasputin (Last of the Czars. The Shadow of Rasputin), dir. Teresa Cherf; Mark Anderson, 1996, Discovery Communications, 51 min. (released on DVD in 2007)
• Who killed Rasputin? (Who Killed Rasputin?), dir. Michael Wadding, 2004, BBC, 50 min. (released on DVD in 2006)

Rasputin in theater and cinema

It is not known for certain whether there were any newsreel footage of Rasputin. Not a single tape has survived to this day, on which Rasputin himself would be captured.

The very first silent feature short films about Grigory Rasputin began to appear in March 1917. All of them, without exception, demonized the personality of Rasputin, exposing him and the Imperial Family in the most unattractive light. The first such film, titled "Drama from the Life of Grigory Rasputin", was released by the Russian film magnate A. O. Drankov, who simply made a film montage of his 1916 film "Washed in Blood", based on the story "Konovalov" by M. Gorky. Most of the other films were made in 1917 by the then largest film company " Joint-stock company G. Liebken. In total, more than a dozen of them were released and there is no need to talk about any of their artistic value, since even then they caused protests in the press because of their "pornographic and wild eroticism":

• Dark forces - Grigory Rasputin and his associates (2 episodes), dir. S. Veselovsky; in the role of Rasputin - S. Gladkov

• Holy devil (Rasputin in hell)

• People of sin and blood (Tsarskoye Selo sinners)

• The love affairs of Grishka Rasputin

• Funeral of Rasputin

• Mysterious murder in Petrograd on December 16

• Trading House Romanov, Rasputin, Sukhomlinov, Myasoedov, Protopopov & Co.

• Royal guardsmen

etc. (Fomin S. V. Grigory Rasputin: investigation. vol. I. Punishment with the truth; M., Forum publishing house, 2007, pp. 16-19)

However, already in 1917, the image of Rasputin continued to appear on the movie screen. According to IMDB, the first person to embody the image of an old man on the screen was actor Edward Connelly (in the film The Fall of the Romanovs). In the same year, the film "Rasputin, the Black Monk" was released, where Montagu Love played Rasputin. In 1926, another film about Rasputin was released - “Brandstifter Europas, Die” (in the role of Rasputin - Max Newfield), and in 1928 - three at once: “Red Dance” (in the role of Rasputin - Dimitrius Alexis), “Rasputin is a saint sinner" and "Rasputin" - the first two films where Rasputin was played by Russian actors - Nikolai Malikov and Grigory Khmara, respectively.

In 1925, A. N. Tolstoy's play The Empress's Conspiracy was written and immediately staged in Moscow (published in Berlin in 1925), which depicts the murder of Rasputin in detail. In the future, the play was staged by some Soviet theaters. In the Moscow theater I. V. Gogol in the role of Rasputin was Boris Chirkov. And on Belarusian television in the mid-60s, based on Tolstoy's play, a television play "The Collapse" was filmed, in which Roman Filippov (Rasputin) and Rostislav Yankovsky (Prince Felix Yusupov) played.

In 1932, the German "Rasputin - a demon with a woman" was released (in the role of Rasputin - the famous German actor Konrad Weidt), and the Oscar-nominated "Rasputin and the Empress", in which the title role went to Lionel Barrymore. Rasputin was released in 1938, starring Harry Baur.

Once again cinema returned to Rasputin in the 1950s, which were marked by productions with the same name Rasputin, released in 1954 and 1958 (for television) with Pierre Brasseur and Nartsms Ibanes Menta in the roles of Rasputin, respectively. In 1967, the cult horror film "Rasputin the Mad Monk" was released with the famous actor Christopher Lee as Grigory Rasputin. Despite many errors from a historical point of view, the image he created in the film is considered one of the best film incarnations of Rasputin.

The 1960s also saw the release of Rasputin's Night (1960, with Edmund Pardom as Rasputin), Rasputin (1966 TV show starring Herbert Stass) and I Killed Rasputin (1967), where the role was played by Gert Fröbe, known for his role as Goldfinger, the villain from the James Bond film of the same name.

In the 70s, Rasputin appeared in the following films: "Why the Russians Revolutionized" (1970, Rasputin - Wes Carter), the TV show "Rasputin" as part of the Play of the Month cycle (1971, Rasputin - Robert Stevens), "Nikolai and Alexandra" (1971, Rasputin - Tom Baker), TV series "Fall of Eagles" (1974, Rasputin - Michael Aldridge) and TV show "A Cárné összeesküvése" (1977, Rasputin - Nandor Tomanek)

In 1981, the most famous Russian film about Rasputin was released - "Agony" Elema Klimov, where the role was successfully embodied by Alexei Petrenko. In 1984, Rasputin - Orgien am Zarenhof was released with Alexander Conte as Rasputin.

In the 90s, the image of Rasputin, like many others, began to deform. In the parody sketch of the show "Red Dwarf" - "Melting", released in 1991, Rasputin was played by Stephen Micalef, and in 1996 two films about Rasputin were released - "Successor" (1996) with Igor Solovyov in the role of Rasputin and "Rasputin", where he was played by Alan Rickman (and young Rasputin by Tamas Toth). In 1997, the cartoon "Anastasia" was released, where Rasputin was voiced by the famous actor Christopher Lloyd and Jim Cummings (singing).

In the new millennium, interest in the figure of Rasputin does not weaken. The films "Rasputin: The Devil in the Flesh" (2002, for television, Rasputin - Oleg Fedorov and "Killing Rasputin" (2003, Rasputin - Ruben Thomas), as well as "Hellboy: Hero from Hell", where the main villain is the resurrected Rasputin, have already been released, played by Karel Roden.In 2007, the film "CONSPIRACY", directed by Stanislav Libin, where the role of Rasputin is played by Ivan Okhlobystin.

In music

Rasputin in poetry

Commercial use of Rasputin's name

Commercial use of the name Grigory Rasputin in some trademarks began in the West in the 1980s. Currently known:

In St. Petersburg there are also:

see also

Notes

1. GOVERNMENT OF THE TYUMEN REGION. On approval of the list of unique documents to be included in the register of unique documents of the archival funds of the Tyumen region. Metric data on the birth of G. Rasputin.
2. "Great Soviet Encyclopedia" (3rd edition), Moscow, publishing house "Soviet Encyclopedia" 1969-1978. (Retrieved April 12, 2009)
3. "Rasputin: Life and Death", M.: Vagrius, 2000, 279 pages (chapter - "The Disappeared Birthday") Edvard Radzinsky (Retrieved April 12, 2009)
4. See Chapter LXI // Nikolai Zhevakhov. Memoirs of the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod, Prince N. D. Zhevakhov. T. 1. September 1915 - March 1917. - Munich: Ed. F. Vinberg, 1923.
5. Varlamov A. N. Grigory Rasputin-New. ZhZL series. - M: Young Guard, 2007. 851 pages - ISBN 978-5-235-02956-9
6. Diaries of Nicholas II (1894-1916) Diary of Nicholas II. 1905
7. Ioffe G. Z. Even the warnings of her sister Elizabeth Feodorovna that the people's dissatisfaction with Rasputin was transferred to the royal family did not in any way affect the empress. The writer and journalist Igor Obolensky writes about this in his book "Mysteries of Love. Rasputin. Chanel. Hollywood":

   To warnings that the dissatisfaction with Rasputin among the people is also transferred to the royal family, which surrounded itself with unclean hands and thoughts, and the worst thing could happen, the empress coldly replied: "All this is not true. The people love us." Leaving her sister, who made it clear that the audience was over, the Grand Duchess said: "Do not forget about the fate of Marie Antoinette, who, in the same way, the people who loved her sent along with her husband-emperor to the guillotine"...

   Grigory Rasputin is one of the most amazing people born on Russian soil. Not a single tsar, commander, scientist, statesman in Russia had such popularity, fame and influence as this semi-literate peasant from the Urals gained. His talent as a soothsayer and mysterious death are still the subject of controversy for historians. Some considered him vicious, others saw him as a saint. Who was Rasputin really?

   Speaking surname

   Grigory Efimovich Rasputin really fell to live at the crossroads of historical roads and was destined to become a witness and participant in the tragic choice that was made at that time.

   Grigory Rasputin was born on January 9 (new style - 21) January 1869 in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tyumen district, Tobolsk province. The ancestors of Grigory Efimovich came to Siberia among the first pioneers. For a long time they bore the surname Izosimov by the name of the same Izosim who moved from the Vologda land beyond the Urals. The two sons of Nason Izosimov began to be called Rasputins - and, accordingly, their descendants.

   Here is how researcher A. Varlamov writes about the family of Grigory Rasputin: “The children of Anna and Efim Rasputin died one after another. First, in 1863, after living for several months, daughter Evdokia died, a year later another girl, also named Evdokia.

   The third daughter was named Glykeria, but she lived only a few months. On August 17, 1867, son Andrei was born, who, like his sisters, was not a tenant. Finally, in 1869, the fifth child, Gregory, was born. The name was given according to the calendar in honor of St. Gregory of Nyssa, known for his sermons against fornication.
   
   With a dream of God

   Rasputin is often depicted as almost a giant, a monster with iron health and the ability to eat glass and nails. In fact, Gregory grew up as a weak and sickly child.

   Later, he wrote about his childhood in an autobiographical essay, which he called "The Life of an Experienced Wanderer": "My whole life was illness. Medicine did not help me. Every spring I did not sleep for forty nights. Sleep, as if oblivion, spent all the time" .

   At the same time, already in childhood, Grigory's thoughts differed from the train of thought of a simple layman. Grigory Efimovich himself writes about this as follows: “At the age of 15 in my village, when the sun warmed warmly, and the birds sang paradise songs, I walked along the path and did not dare to go in the middle of it ... I dreamed of God ... My soul rushed into the distance ... More than once, dreaming like that, I cried and did not know where the tears came from and why they were. I believed in good, kind, and often I sat with the old people, listening to their stories about the lives of the saints, great deeds, great deeds. "

   The Power of Prayer

   Gregory early realized the power of his prayer, which manifested itself in relation to both animals and people. Here is how his daughter Matryona writes about this: “From my grandfather, I know about my father’s extraordinary ability to handle domestic animals. when he watched how they milked, the cow became completely calm.

   Once at dinner, my grandfather said that the horse was lame. Hearing this, the father silently got up from the table and went to the stable. The grandfather followed and saw how the son stood near the horse for several seconds in concentration, then went to the hind leg and put his hand on the hamstring. He stood with his head slightly thrown back, then, as if deciding that the healing had taken place, he stepped back, stroked the horse and said: "Now you are better."

   After that incident, my father became like a miracle worker veterinarian. Then he began to treat people. "God helped."

   Guilty without guilt

   As for the dissolute and sinful youth of Gregory, accompanied by horse-stealing and orgies, these are nothing more than the later fabrications of newspapermen. Matryona Rasputina in her book claims that her father was so perspicacious from an early age that he “saw the sight” of other people’s theft several times and therefore personally excluded the very possibility of theft for himself: it seemed to him that others “see” it as well as he does. .

   I looked through all the testimony about Rasputin that was given during the investigation at the Tobolsk Consistory. Not a single witness, even the most hostile to Rasputin (and there were many), accused him of theft or horse stealing.

   Nevertheless, Gregory still experienced injustice and human cruelty. Once he was unfairly accused of stealing horses and severely beaten, but soon the investigation found the perpetrators, who were deported to Eastern Siberia. All charges against Gregory were dropped.

   Family life

   No matter how many amorous stories are attributed to Rasputin, nevertheless, as Varlamov rightly notes, he had a beloved wife: “Everyone who knew her spoke well of this woman. Rasputin married eighteen years. His wife was three years older than him, working , patient. She gave birth to seven children, of which the first three died. "

   Grigory Efimovich met his betrothed at the dances, which he loved so much. Here is how his daughter Matryona writes about this: “Mom was tall and stately, she loved to dance no less than he did. Her name was Praskovya Fedorovna Dubrovina, Parasha ...

   
   Rasputin with children (from left to right): Matryona, Varya, Mitya.

   The beginning of their family life was happy. But then trouble came - the first-born lived only a few months. The boy's death affected his father even more than his mother. He took the loss of his son as a sign he was waiting for, but he could not even imagine that this sign would be so terrible.

   He was haunted by one thought: the death of a child is a punishment for the fact that he thought so little about God. The father prayed. And prayers soothed the pain. A year later, the second son, Dmitry, was born, then - with an interval of two years - the daughters of Matryona and Varya. Father started the construction of a new house - a two-story, largest one in Pokrovsky ... "

   
   Rasputin's house in Pokrovsky

   The family laughed at him. He did not eat meat and sweets, heard different voices, walked from Siberia to St. Petersburg and back, ate alms. In the spring, he had exacerbations - he did not sleep for many days in a row, sang songs, shook his fists at Satan and ran through the frost in one shirt.

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

   This went on for about ten years. Rasputin learned about the whips (sectarians who beat themselves with whips and suppressed lust through group sex), as well as eunuchs (castration preachers) who separated from them. It is assumed that he took over part of their teachings and more than once personally "delivered" the pilgrims from sin in the bath.

   At the "divine" age of 33, Grigory begins to storm Petersburg. Having enlisted the recommendations of provincial priests, he settled with the rector of the Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius, the future Stalinist patriarch. He, impressed by the exotic character, represents the “old man” (for many years of wandering on foot, young Rasputin gave the appearance of an old man) strong of the world this. Thus began the path of the "man of God" to glory.

   
   Rasputin with his fans (mostly female fans).

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

   Hey Caesar!

   The last ruler of the Romanov dynasty was distinguished by lack of will and superstition: he considered himself Job, doomed to trials, and kept meaningless diaries, where he shed virtual tears, looking at how his country was going downhill.

   The queen also lived in isolation from the real world and believed in the supernatural power of the "people's elders." Knowing this, her friend, the Montenegrin princess Milica, took outright scoundrels to the palace. Monarchs listened to the ravings of crooks and schizophrenics with childish delight. The war with Japan, the revolution and the prince's illness finally unbalanced the pendulum of the weak royal psyche. Everything was ready for the appearance of Rasputin.

   For a long time only daughters were born in the Romanov family. To conceive a son, the queen resorted to the help of the French magician Philip. It was he, and not Rasputin, who was the first to take advantage of the spiritual naivety of the royal family. About the scale of the mess that reigned in the minds of the last Russian monarchs (one of the most educated people that time), one can judge at least by the fact that the queen felt safe thanks to the magic icon with a bell, which allegedly rang when evil people approached.

   
   Nikki and Alix during their engagement (late 1890s)

   The first meeting of the tsar and tsarina with Rasputin took place on November 1, 1905 in the palace for tea. He dissuaded weak-willed monarchs from escaping to England (they are said to have already packed their things), which, most likely, would have saved them from death and would have directed the history of Russia in a different direction.

   The next time he presented the Romanovs with a miraculous icon (found from them after the execution), then he allegedly healed Tsarevich Alexei, who was ill with hemophilia, and eased the pain of Stolypin's daughter, who was wounded by terrorists. The shaggy man forever took possession of the hearts and minds of the august couple.

   The emperor personally arranges a shift for Gregory dissonant surname on the "New" (which, however, did not take root). Soon, Rasputin-Novykh acquires another lever of influence at court - the young lady-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova, who idolizes the "old man" (a close friend of the queen - according to rumors, even too close, sleeping with her in the same bed). He becomes the confessor of the Romanovs and comes to the tsar at any time without making an appointment for an audience.

   
   Please note that in all photographs Rasputin always holds one hand raised.

   At court, Gregory was always "in character", but outside the political scene he was completely transformed. Having bought himself a new house in Pokrovsky, he took noble St. Petersburg admirers there. There, the "old man" put on expensive clothes, became smug, gossiped about the king and nobles. Every day he showed the queen (whom he called "mother") miracles: he predicted the weather or exact time return of the king. It was then that Rasputin made his most famous prediction: "As long as I live, the dynasty will live."

   The growing power of Rasputin did not suit the court. Cases were initiated against him, but every time the “elder” very successfully left the capital, going either home to Pokrovskoye, or on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1911, the Synod spoke against Rasputin. Bishop Germogen (who expelled a certain Iosif Dzhugashvili from the seminary ten years ago) tried to drive the devil out of Gregory and publicly beat him on the head with a cross. Rasputin was put under police surveillance, which did not stop until his death.

   
   Rasputin, Bishop Hermogenes and Hieromonk Iliodor

   Secret agents watched through the windows the most piquant scenes from the life of a man who would soon be called the "holy devil." Once hushed up, rumors about Grishka's sexual adventures began to inflate with renewed vigor. The police recorded Rasputin's visits to the baths in the company of prostitutes and the wives of influential people.

   Copies of the tsarina's tender letter to Rasputin circulated around Peter, from which it could be concluded that they were lovers. These stories were picked up by newspapers - and the word "Rasputin" became known throughout Europe.

   public health

   People who believed in the miracles of Rasputin believe that he himself, as well as his death, is mentioned in the Bible itself: “And if they drink something deadly, it will not harm them; lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16-18).

   Today, no one doubts that Rasputin really had a beneficial effect on the physical condition of the prince and the mental stability of his mother. How did he do it?

   
   The queen at the bedside of the sick heir

   Contemporaries noted that Rasputin's speech was always distinguished by incoherence, it was very difficult to follow his thoughts. Huge, long-armed, with the hair of a tavern clerk and a "shovel" beard, he often talked to himself and slapped his thighs.

   Without exception, all Rasputin's interlocutors recognized his unusual look - deeply sunken gray eyes, as if glowing from within and fettering your will. Stolypin recalled that when he met Rasputin, he felt that they were trying to hypnotize him.

   
   Rasputin and the queen drink tea

   This, of course, influenced the king and queen. However, it is difficult to explain the repeated deliverance of the royal children from pain. Rasputin's main healing weapon was prayer - and he could pray all night long.

   Once upon a time Belovezhskaya Pushcha the heir began severe internal bleeding. Doctors told his parents that he would not survive. A telegram was sent to Rasputin asking him to heal Alexei from a distance. He quickly recovered, which surprised the court Aesculapius a lot.

   kill the dragon

   The man who called himself a "little fly" and appointed officials over the phone was illiterate. He learned to read and write only in St. Petersburg. He left behind only short notes filled with terrible scribbles.

   Until the end of his life, Rasputin looked like a tramp, which repeatedly prevented him from “hiring” prostitutes for daily orgies. O healthy way the wanderer quickly forgot his life - he drank, and drunk called the ministers with various "petitions", the failure of which was career suicide.

   Rasputin did not save money, now starving, then throwing it to the right and left. He seriously influenced foreign policy countries, twice persuading Nicholas not to start a war in the Balkans (inspiring the tsar that the Germans are a dangerous force, and the "brothers", that is, the Slavs, are pigs).

   
   
   A facsimile of Rasputin's letter with a request for some of his protégés

   When the first World War nevertheless began, Rasputin expressed a desire to come to the front to bless the soldiers. The commander of the troops, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, promised to hang him on the nearest tree. In response, Rasputin gave birth to another prophecy that Russia would not win the war until an autocrat (who had military education, but proved to be a mediocre strategist). The king, of course, led the army. With historical consequences.

   Politicians actively criticized the queen - the "German spy", not forgetting about Rasputin. It was then that the image of the "grey eminence" was created, solving all state issues, although in fact Rasputin's power was far from absolute. German zeppelins scattered leaflets over the trenches, where the Kaiser relied on the people, and Nicholas II on Rasputin's genitals. The priests were not far behind either. It was announced that the murder of Grishka is a boon for which "forty sins will be removed."

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

   
   Prince Felix Yusupov, murderer of Rasputin

   Rasputin's death is even more mysterious than his life. The scenery of this drama is well known: on the night of December 17, 1916, Prince Felix Yusupov, Grand Duke Dmitry Romanov (according to rumors - Yusupov's lover) and deputy Purishkevich invited Rasputin to the Yusupov Palace. There he was offered cakes and wine generously flavored with cyanide. This allegedly had no effect on Rasputin.

   "Plan B" was used: Yusupov shot Rasputin in the back with a revolver. While the conspirators were preparing to dispose of the body, he suddenly came to life, tore off Yusupov's shoulder strap and ran out into the street. Purishkevich did not lose his head - with three shots he finally knocked down the "old man", after which he only clanged his teeth and wheezed.

   To be sure, he was beaten again, tied with a curtain and thrown into the hole in the Neva. The water that killed Rasputin's older brother and sister also took the life of the fatal peasant - but not immediately. An examination of the body, recovered three days later, showed the presence of water in the lungs (the autopsy protocol has not been preserved). This indicated that Grishka was alive and simply choked.

   
   Corpse of Rasputin

   The queen was furious, but at the insistence of Nicholas II, the murderers escaped punishment. The people praised them as deliverers from the "dark forces". Rasputin was called in every way: a demon, German spy or the lover of the Empress, but the Romanovs were faithful to him to the end: the most odious figure in Russia was buried in Tsarskoye Selo.

   The February Revolution broke out two months later. Rasputin's prediction about the fall of the monarchy came true. On March 4, 1917, Kerensky ordered the body to be dug up and burned. The exhumation took place at night, and according to the testimonies of the exhumers, the burning corpse tried to rise. This was the final touch to the legend of Rasputin's superstrength (it is believed that the person being cremated can move due to the contraction of the tendons in the fire, and therefore the latter should be cut).

   
   The act of burning the body of Rasputin

   "Who are you, Mr. Rasputin?" - such a question could be asked to him by an English and German intelligence at the beginning of the 20th century. A clever werewolf or an ingenuous man? Rebellious saint or sexual psychopath? To cast a shadow on a person, it is enough just to correctly illuminate his life.

   It is reasonable to assume that the true image of the royal favorite was distorted beyond recognition by "black PR". And minus compromising evidence, we are presented with an ordinary man - an illiterate, but very cunning schizophrenic who achieved fame only thanks to a fortunate combination of circumstances and the obsession of the heads of the Romanov dynasty with religious metaphysics.

   Canonization attempts

   Since the 1990s, radical-monarchist Orthodox circles have repeatedly proposed canonizing Rasputin as a holy martyr.

   The ideas were rejected by the Synodal Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church and criticized by Patriarch Alexy II: "There is no reason to raise the question of the canonization of Grigory Rasputin, whose dubious morality and promiscuity cast a shadow on the august name of Tsar Nicholas II and his family."

   Despite this, over the past ten years, religious admirers of Grigory Rasputin have issued at least two akathists to him, and about a dozen icons have also been painted.

   Curious facts

   Rasputin allegedly had an older brother Dmitry (he caught a cold while swimming and died of pneumonia) and a sister Maria (who suffered from epilepsy and drowned in the river). He named his children after them. Grishka named his third daughter Varvara.
   Rasputin knew Bonch-Bruevich well.

   The Yusupov family originates from the nephew of the prophet Mohammed. Irony of fate: a distant relative of the founder of Islam killed a man who was called an Orthodox saint.

   After the overthrow of the Romanovs, Rasputin's activities were investigated by a special commission, of which the poet Blok was a member. The investigation was never completed.
   Rasputin's daughter Matryona managed to emigrate to France, and then to the USA. There she worked as a dancer and tiger trainer. She died in 1977.

   The rest of the family members were dispossessed and exiled to camps, where their trace was lost.
   Today the church does not recognize the sanctity of Rasputin, pointing to his dubious morality.

   Yusupov successfully sued MGM over a film about Rasputin. After this incident, the movie began to put a warning about fiction "all coincidences are accidental."

   Healer, healer, Siberian prophet, person close to Her Imperial Majesty, the personality of Grigory Rasputin, in the history of Russia, is one of the most mysterious! All known facts about him are not documented, but are based on the words of people who lived in those days. This information was passed from one person to another and distorted accordingly.

   Rasputin Grigory Efimovich, was born on 07/29/1871 (according to other sources, 01/09/1869) in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province. The place of his birth was previously almost inaccessible to many of his admirers, because of this, the data on Rasputin, in his native places, are inaccurate and fragmentary, and Grigory was mainly their author. They do not exclude the possible presence of a monastic order in him, but still there is a high probability that he simply had excellent acting skills and brilliantly played his holiness and exceptionally close Divine connection.

   
   Rasputin with children in Pokrovsky. Daughter Varvara on the left, son Dmitry on the right. Daughter Maria in her arms.

   Upon reaching the age of eighteen, Gregory went as a pilgrim to the Verkhoturye Monastery, but did not become a monk. A year later, he returned to his native village and there he married Dubrovina Praskovya Fedorovna, who bore him three children: in 1897 - Dmitry, in 1898 - Maria, in 1900 - Varvara.

   
   Maria Rasputina in exile

   
   Barbara Rasputina (probably)

   Marriage did not prevent the continuation of pilgrimage activities. Rasputin continues to visit holy places, visiting the Greek monastery of Athos and Jerusalem. He made all these journeys on foot.

   As a result of visiting such shrines, Gregory felt his divine chosenness and announces the holiness bestowed on him, and also tells everyone about his exceptional healing gift. News about the Siberian medicine man is spreading throughout Russian Empire, and now people make pilgrimages to Rasputin. People come to him from the farthest corners of Russia. It is also worth mentioning that the famous healer had no education, was illiterate, did not understand medicine at all. But thanks to his acting abilities, he could pretend to be a great healer: he calmed the desperate, helped with advice, prayers, possessed the gift of persuasion.

   Once, when Gregory was plowing a field, he had a vision of the Mother of God. She told him about the illness of Tsarevich Alexei, he was the only son of Nicholas II (he suffered from hemophilia, which was inherited from his mother), and instructed him to go to St. Petersburg and help save the heir to the throne.

   In 1905, Grigory finds himself in St. Petersburg at the most convenient moment. At that time, the church really needed "prophets" - people who inspire confidence in people. This role suited Rasputin perfectly, he had typical peasant external data, simple speech, and a sharp temper. But his opponents spread rumors that this false prophet uses religion only for profit, to satisfy his base needs and gain power.

   In 1907, Rasputin received an invitation from the imperial family, which was connected with the exacerbation of the illness of the prince. All members of the royal family carefully concealed the very fact of the presence of hemophilia in the crown prince, in order to avoid public unrest. Because of this, for some time they did not want to allow Rasputin to the heir, but during a severe exacerbation of the disease, the tsar gave his permission.

   During his subsequent life as Rasputin in Petersburg, he was closely bound by the cares of the Tsarevich. Having become a frequent guest of the imperial family, Rasputin acquires many acquaintances in high Petersburg society, and all representatives of the capital's elite were very eager to get acquainted with the Siberian healer, who was nicknamed "Grishka Rasputin" behind his back.

   In 1910, both daughters of Rasputin arrived in the capital and, under patronage, entered the gymnasium.

   
   St. Petersburg, Gorokhovaya street, the house where Rasputin lived.

   The emperor did not approve of Gregory's frequent visits to the palace. At that time, gossip spread around the capital about Rasputin's indecent way of life. There were rumors about how Gregory, using his great influence with the Empress, took bribes (in cash and in kind) for promoting certain projects or helping to grow his career. His violent drinking and real pogroms horrified the inhabitants of the capital. They also talked about Rasputin's intimate relationship with Alexandra Fedorovna, which greatly undermined the authority of the imperial family, and especially Nicholas II.

   Soon, in the imperial environment, a conspiracy against the Siberian healer matured. Felix Yusupov (husband of the royal niece), Vladimir Purishkevich (State Duma deputy) and Grand Duke Dmitry (cousin of Nicholas II). On December 30, 1916, Rasputin received an invitation to the Yusupov Palace, allegedly to meet the imperial niece, who was one of the most beautiful women in the capital. The sweets and drinks that Gregory treated himself to contained cyanide, but for some reason the poison did not work at all. Losing patience, the trio of conspirators decided to use another sure way, Yusupov fired a shot at Rasputin, but he was lucky again. Running out of the palace, he met the other two members of the conspiracy, who, in turn, shot him point-blank. Rasputin and then tried to get up and run away from his pursuers. But they tightly tied the "Siberian elder", put him in a bag with stones, took him out in a car and threw him off the bridge into the Neva hole. nye abilities of healing and the gift of foresight !!! It is not for the current "historians" to judge in a negative way about the extraordinary personality of the mighty Siberian peasant, who did everything to maintain legitimate power in the country and prevent the unrest (color revolution) staged by the West !!! Even the fact that his enemies were incited by British politicians with the help of the British special services, by its very existence, confirms the sincere patriotism of the hero of that time !!! The complete lack of will and political weakness of the tsar played a cruel joke on Rasputin, and then on the tsar himself, his dynasty and, ultimately, on Russia!!!

   As is known from a brief biography, Rasputin was born into the family of a coachman on January 9, 1869 in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk province. However, according to many biographers of this historical figure, the date of his birth is very controversial, since Rasputin himself more than once indicated different data and often exaggerated his true age in order to match the image of the “holy old man”.

   In his youth and early maturity, Grigory Rasputin travels to holy places. According to researchers, he made the pilgrimage due to frequent illnesses. After visiting the Verkhoturye Monastery and other holy places in Russia, Mount Athos in Greece, and Jerusalem, Rasputin turned to religion, maintaining close contact with monks, wanderers, healers, and clergy.

   Petersburg period

   In 1904, as a holy wanderer, Rasputin moved to Petersburg. According to Grigory Efimovich himself, he was prompted to move by the goal of saving Tsarevich Alexei, the mission of which was entrusted to the “old man” by the Mother of God. In 1905, the wanderer, who was often called "saint", "God's man" and "great ascetic", met Nicholas II and his family. The religious "elder" influences the imperial family, in particular the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, due to the fact that he helped in the treatment of the heir Alexei from the then incurable disease - hemophilia.

   Since 1903, rumors began to spread in St. Petersburg about the vicious deeds of Rasputin. Persecution by the church begins and accusations of him of "whistism". In 1907, Grigory Efimovich was repeatedly accused of spreading false teachings of an anti-church nature, as well as of creating a society of followers of his views.

   Last years

   Because of the accusations, Rasputin Grigory Efimovich is forced to leave Petersburg. During this period he visits Jerusalem. Over time, the case of “Khlystism” is reopened, but the new Bishop Alexy drops all charges against him. The cleansing of the name and reputation was short-lived, as rumors of orgies taking place in Rasputin's apartment on Gorokhovaya Street in St. Petersburg, as well as acts of witchcraft and magic, caused the need to investigate and open another case.

   In 1914, an assassination attempt was made on Rasputin, after which he was forced to be treated in Tyumen. However, later the opponents of the "friend of the royal family", among whom were F.F. Yusupov, V. M. Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, British intelligence officer MI6 Oswald Reiner, nevertheless manage to complete their plans - in 1916 Rasputin was killed.

   Achievements and legacy of a historical figure

   In addition to his preaching activities, Rasputin, whose biography is very rich, actively participated in political life Russia, influencing the opinion of Nicholas II. He is credited with persuading the emperor to refuse to participate in the Balkan War, which changed the timing of the outbreak of the First World War, and other political decisions of the king.

   The thinker and politician left behind two books “The Life of an Experienced Wanderer” (1907) and “My Thoughts and Reflections” (1915), more than a hundred political, spiritual, historical predictions and prophecies are also attributed to his authorship.

   Other biography options

   • There are many secrets and mysteries in the biography of Rasputin. For example, it is not known exactly when he was born. Questions are raised not only by the date and month of birth, but also by the year. There are several options. Some believe that he was born in the winter, in the month of January. Others - in the summer, July 29. Information about the year of Rasputin's birth is also extremely contradictory. The following versions are put forward: 1864 or 1865, and 1871 or 1872.
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