Rasputin, the man who wouldn't die

Rasputin, the man who wouldn't die December 30th of 1916

Gregory Yefimovich Rasputin Was born on January 21st 1869 in Siberia, Russia, to a peasant family and led a simple life until he reached the age of 28

When it's alleged that he had a religious awakening during a pilgrimage and after that became a wandering self-proclaimed holy man Throughout Rasputin's life, there were constant rumors of him being involved in debauchery drunkenness, womanizing , strange occult rituals , and belonging to a mysterious cult But despite all this by 1906, Rasputin was a popular high society figure in St.

Petersburg And had become friends with Tsar Nicholas II and his family. By now, he had become known simply as..

Rasputin, and the Tsar's wife Queen Alexandra increasingly saw him as a prophet and a visionary who could heal her hemophiliacs son Alexei Over the next ten years Rasputin's influence over the royal family and their political decisions grew and grew This caused much resentment amongst the Russian people and politicians There were attempts to curtail his power and it was even an assassination attempt for on July 12th 1914 a 33 year old deeply religious peasant woman called Chuniya Guseva stabbed Rasputin in the stomach while he was visiting his home village of pokrovskoye Rasputin was seriously wounded and nearly died. Guseva claims that Rasputin was a false prophet and an Antichrist.

She was later judged insane and sent to a mental asylum for her crime. World War one was going badly for Russia due to poor leadership and logistical problems But December 1916 its armed forces were on the brink of collapse During this time both Rasputin and the royal family had become incredibly unpopular Many feared that Rasputin's influence over the royal family was seriously affecting the war effort, So a group of nobles and politicians plotted to kill him This was led by Prince Felix Yusupov and his young friend Grand Duke, Dmitry Pavlovich On the night of December 29th, 1916 the two of them invited Rasputin to a small party at the mojko royal palace

What happened next is open to debate as much of it has become hearsay sensationalism half-truths an urban legend as Rasputin was always seen by the public as a Mysterious figure and his death soon became a tale of his mystic almost superhuman powers the popular account about his death Is that waiting for him at the palace were Prince Felix Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovic while upstairs were several co-conspirators including the renowned opposition politician Vladimir Perez, Govich

Once at the palace Prince Yusupov offered Rasputin tea and cakes that had been laced with enough cyanide to kill 3 or 4 men But this seemed to have no effect on him. So the Prince gave him some Madeira wine also laced with cyanide But again, this seemed to have no effect on him. Even after drinking three glasses apart from getting him a little more drunk Then Prince Yusupov went to get a Revolver and came back and shot Rasputin in the chest Rasputin promptly collapsed on the floor and seemed to be dead Prince Yusupov

Then left the palace with the other Co-conspirators one of whom was wearing Rasputin's hat and coat in the hope that it would give the impression that Rasputin had left the palace to return home a Short while later the princes returned to the palace and much to his surprise the supposedly dead Rasputin lept up and attacked them Then Rasputin staggered into the palace courtyard where it is said he was shot two more times It is then claimed that Rasputin was beaten by Prince Yusupov with a dumbbell and in the early hours of the morning of December 30th 1916 was carried to a nearby bridge and thrown into the freezing Malaya NEFCO river below

It is said that Rasputin was last seen very much alive Thrashing about in the freezing cold water as he floated downriver clinging to a lump of ice two days later on January 1st 1917 Rest Bouton's dead body was found under the ice-covered River approximately 650 feet downstream from the bridge Some of the details of his murder may have been untrue or exaggerated But what we do know for certain comes from the official autopsy carried out on Rasputin's body we know that Rasputin had been shot three times and one of those shots was in the forehead at very close range and was the cause of his death

That the coroner could find no trace of any poison anywhere in his body He also concluded that Rasputin was most likely dead when his body was dropped into the river There were also deep cuts and bruising on his body But they were not believed to be from a beating as commonly claimed but to have been done postmortem When Rasputin's body was dumped into the river through a fishing hole that had been carved into the iced-over river Prince Felix, Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovic's role in rasputin's murder was quickly discovered

Queen  Alexandra was so angered by the murder that she wanted both of them shot straight away by Firing Squad (World War 1) without trial But instead Prince Yusupov was exiled to his country estate an Archduke Pavlovic was sent to serve in a Russian army. Garrison in Persia as for Rasputin He was buried On January 2nd 1917 the day after his body was discovered at a small local church at a ceremony attended by the royal family and a few close friends Shortly afterwards, the Russian Revolution occurred its are nicholas ii was forced to abdicate bringing an end to the russian empire.