Grigori Rasputin

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (21 January [<a href="/facts/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates/kb3020Wy">O.S.</a> 9 January] 1869 – 30 December [<a href="/facts/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates/kb3020Wy">O.S.</a> 17 December] 1916) was a Russian <a href="/facts/Mysticism/3Rfb7zEd">mystic</a> and <a href="/facts/Faith_healer/tUI3s8mV">faith healer</a>. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of <a href="/facts/Nicholas_II_of_Russia/l4PRkopq">Nicholas II</a>, the last <a href="/facts/Emperor_of_all_the_Russias/IKwkRYnQ">Emperor of Russia</a>, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the <a href="/facts/Russian_Empire/hg1g5SpV">Russian Empire</a>.
Rasputin was born to a family of <a href="/facts/Peasant/LpXfJ1HH">peasants</a> in the <a href="/facts/Siberia/oaCoPEjF">Siberian</a> village of <a href="/facts/Pokrovskoye%2c_Tyumen_Oblast/P9aVfFzo">Pokrovskoye</a>, located within <a href="/facts/Tyumensky_Uyezd/QrL13DwG">Tyumensky Uyezd</a> in <a href="/facts/Tobolsk_Governorate/dtHjUxjk">Tobolsk Governorate</a> (present-day <a href="/facts/Yarkovsky_District/E1JNH7hQ">Yarkovsky District</a> in <a href="/facts/Tyumen_Oblast/f4G31D6I">Tyumen Oblast</a>). He had a religious conversion experience after embarking on a <a href="/facts/Pilgrimage/e0Gvd7TV">pilgrimage</a> to a monastery in 1897 and has been described as a monk or as a <a href="/facts/Strannik/WI6d8UK3">strannik</a> (wanderer or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the <a href="/facts/Russian_Orthodox_Church/AHbnwM6p">Russian Orthodox Church</a>. In 1903 or in the winter of 1904–1905, he travelled to <a href="/facts/Saint_Petersburg/pNuCBxaM">Saint Petersburg</a> and captivated a number of religious and social leaders, eventually becoming a prominent figure in Russian society. In November 1905, Rasputin met Nicholas II and his empress consort, <a href="/facts/Alexandra_Feodorovna_(Alix_of_Hesse)/oKoCEG00">Alexandra Feodorovna</a>.
In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a faith healer for Nicholas' and Alexandra's only son, <a href="/facts/Alexei_Nikolaevich%2c_Tsarevich_of_Russia/2Mj5ufWF">Alexei Nikolaevich</a>, who suffered from <a href="/facts/Haemophilia_in_European_royalty/aE7brchY">haemophilia</a>. He was a divisive figure at court, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary and prophet, and by others as a religious <a href="/facts/Charlatan/7Ae3cg37">charlatan</a>. The extent of Rasputin's power reached an all-time high in 1915, when Nicholas left Saint Petersburg to oversee the <a href="/facts/Imperial_Russian_Army/eUBgLeFn">Imperial Russian Army</a> as it was engaged in the <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">First World War</a>. In his absence, Rasputin and Alexandra consolidated their influence across the Russian Empire. However, as Russian military defeats mounted on the <a href="/facts/Eastern_Front_(World_War_I)/jEzn7l88">Eastern Front</a>, both figures became increasingly unpopular, and in the early morning of 30 December [<a href="/facts/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates/kb3020Wy">O.S.</a> 17 December] 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative Russian noblemen who opposed his influence over the imperial family.
Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the <a href="/facts/House_of_Romanov/bcQ0S7jM">House of Romanov</a> shortly after his assassination. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on common rumors; he remains a mysterious and captivating <a href="/facts/Grigori_Rasputin_in_popular_culture/lSmEsG79">figure in popular culture</a>.

Grigori Rasputin open-in-new

Grigori Rasputin