How Did Rasputin Die? Russian Aristocrat Murdered Self-Proclaimed Holy Man To End Influence Over Imperial Family

Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin, dubbed the "Mad Monk," was murdered. According to reports, the motive was due to his growing influence on the imperial family of Russia. However, strange stories claimed that Rasputin was a man who wouldn't die.

How Did Rasputin Die

Rasputin was just a peasant who underwent a religious conversion and proclaimed himself a holy man. He immediately won the favor of Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra when he stopped the bleeding of their hemophiliac son, Alexei, in 1908, History reported.

Rasputin angered nobles, church orthodoxy, and peasants while significantly impacting the Russian royal dynasty. He was said to be the czarina's lover and had a special impact on her. Rasputin virtually dominated the nation through Alexandra after Nicholas left to command the Russian army in World War I, adding to the corruption and chaos in Romanov Russia.

On the night of Dec 29, 1916, a group of nobles led by Prince Felix Youssupov, the husband of the czar's niece, and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, Nicholas's first cousin, lured Rasputin to Youssupov Palace out of fear of his expanding power. There were also rumors that he was plotting to make a separate peace with the Germans.

They gave Rasputin food and wine laced with cyanide for their first attempt. However, he didn't react to the poison and survived.

So, his assassins shot him at close range, leaving him for dead. However, Rasputin soon recovered and attempted to leave the palace grounds.

At this point, his attackers shot him once more and brutally assaulted him. Then they tied Rasputin, who was amazingly still alive, and threw him into a freezing river.

Several days later, his body was found. The culprits, Youssupov and Pavlovich, were banished.

The imperial regime was overthrown not long after by the Bolshevik Revolution. After the deaths of Nicholas and Alexandra, the Romanovs' protracted, gloomy rule ended.

Who Is Grigory Efimovich Rasputin?

Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin was born in 1869 in the village of Pokrovskoye on the Tura River.

Despite a few run-ins with the law for misbehavior in his teens, he seemed headed for an unremarkable existence. He wed Praskovya Dubrovina, a local woman, and fathered Maria, Dmitri, and Varvara, Smithsonian Magazine.

When Rasputin spent several months in a monastery in 1892, his life was forever altered, leading him to fame worldwide. Rasputin never received holy orders, despite his later moniker "The Mad Monk." Rasputin maintained contact with his family and helped support his wife financially. Men in Rasputin's position typically gave up their prior lives and connections. His daughters eventually lived with him in Saint Petersburg.

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Rasputin caught some people's attention because of his intense religiosity and endearing personality, including the Russian Orthodox clergypersons and senior members of the Imperial family, who introduced him to Nicholas II and his wife, Alexandra.

Nicholas wrote to one of his ministers in October 1906 that he received a peasant named Grigori Rasputin. He admitted that Rasputin made a strong impression on him and Her Majesty. They were supposed to only converse for five minutes, but their conversation lasted over an hour.

Rasputin filled this function by having the ability to understand the Imperial couple's inner hopes and give them what they wanted to hear. The Imperial pair had previously sought unusual spiritual counsel from other sources. He urged Nicholas to be more self-assured in his position as czar, and Alexandra discovered that his advice eased her concerns. To the surprise of the Russian elite, Rasputin was by the First World War also offering political counsel and suggesting ministry positions.

Rasputin's alleged assistance in treating the hemophilia of the czar and czarina's only child, Alexei, solidified their friendship. The supposed healing abilities of Rasputin are still being disputed today.