Who is Rasputin? Biography, interesting facts about Grigory Rasputin. Predicting one's own death
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Biography, life story of Rasputin Grigory Efimovich
BirthBorn on January 9 (January 21), 1869 in the village of Pokrovskoye, Tyumen district, Tobolsk province, in the family of a coachman Efim Vilkin and Anna Parshukova.
Information about Rasputin's date of birth is extremely contradictory. Sources report various birth dates between 1864 and 1872. TSB (3rd edition) reports that he was born in 1864-1865.
Rasputin himself in his mature years did not add clarity, reporting conflicting information about the date of birth. According to biographers, he was inclined to exaggerate his true age in order to better match the image of the "old man".
According to the writer Edward Radzinsky, Rasputin could not have been born before 1869. The surviving metric of the village of Pokrovsky reports the date of birth on January 10 (according to the old style), 1869. This is the day of St. Gregory, which is why the baby was named so.
Beginning of life
In his youth, Rasputin was ill a lot. After a pilgrimage to the Verkhoturye Monastery, he turned to religion. In 1893, Rasputin traveled to the holy places of Russia, visited Mount Athos in Greece, then in Jerusalem. He met and made contacts with many representatives of the clergy, monks, wanderers.
In 1890 he married Praskovya Fedorovna Dubrovina, the same peasant pilgrim who bore him three children: Matryona, Varvara and Dimitri.
In 1900 he went on a new journey to Kyiv. On the way back, he lived for a long time in Kazan, where he met Father Mikhail, who was related to the Kazan Theological Academy, and came to St. Petersburg to the rector of the Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius (Stragorodsky).
In 1903, the inspector of the St. Petersburg Academy, Archimandrite Feofan (Bystrov), met Rasputin, introducing him also to Bishop Hermogenes (Dolganov).
Petersburg since 1904
In 1904, Rasputin, apparently with the assistance of Archimandrite Feofan, moved to St. Petersburg, where he acquired from a part of the high society the glory of "old man", "holy fool", "man of God" ", which "fixed the position of a" saint "in the eyes of the St. Petersburg world." It was Father Feofan who told about the "wanderer" to the daughters of the Montenegrin prince (later King) Nikolay Negosh - Militsa and Anastasia. The sisters told the empress about the new religious celebrity. Several years passed before he began to clearly stand out among the crowd of "God's people."
CONTINUED BELOW
In December 1906, Rasputin filed a petition to the highest name to change his last name to Rasputin-New, referring to the fact that many of his fellow villagers have the same last name, which may cause misunderstandings. The request was granted.
G. Rasputin and the imperial family
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, did a lot of work and spent the evening with Alix".
There are other mentions of 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 to face.
Rasputin and the Church
Later biographers of Rasputin (O. Platonov) tend to see in official investigations, carried out by the church authorities in connection with the activities of Rasputin, some broader political meaning; but the investigative documents (the case of Khlystism and police documents) show that all cases were the subject of their investigation of the very specific acts of Grigory Rasputin, which encroached on public morality and piety.
The first case of Rasputin's "Khlysty" in 1907
In 1907, following a denunciation of 1903, the Tobolsk consistory opened a case against Rasputin, who was accused of spreading false teachings similar to Khlyst's and forming a society of followers of his false teachings. The case was started on September 6, 1907, completed and approved by Bishop Anthony (Karzhavin) of Tobolsk on May 7, 1908. The initial investigation was led by priest Nikodim Glukhovetsky. On the basis of the collected "facts", Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov, a member of the Tobolsk Consistory, prepared a report to Bishop Anthony with a review of the case under consideration by Dmitry Mikhailovich Berezkin, inspector of the Tobolsk Theological Seminary.
Secret Police Surveillance, Jerusalem - 1911
In 1909, the police were going to expel Rasputin from St. Petersburg, but Rasputin got ahead of her and left for his homeland in the village of Pokrovskoye for a while.
In 1910, his daughters moved to St. Petersburg to Rasputin, whom he arranged to study at the gymnasium. At the direction of the Prime Minister, Rasputin was placed under surveillance for several days.
At the beginning of 1911, Bishop Feofan invited the Holy Synod to officially express displeasure to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in connection with the behavior of Rasputin, and a member of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Anthony (Vadkovsky) reported to Nicholas II about negative impact Rasputin.
On December 16, 1911, Rasputin had a skirmish with Bishop Hermogenes and Hieromonk Iliodor. Bishop Germogen, acting in alliance with hieromonk Iliodor (Trufanov), invited Rasputin to his courtyard, on Vasilyevsky Island, in the presence of Iliodor, "convicted" him, hitting him with a cross several times. An argument ensued between them, and then a fight.
In 1911, Rasputin voluntarily left the capital and made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
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
In January 1912, the Duma declared its attitude towards Rasputin, and in February 1912, Nicholas II ordered V.K. and the palace commandant Dedulin and handed over to him the File of the Tobolsk Ecclesiastical Consistory, which contained the beginning of the Investigative Proceedings regarding Rasputin's accusation of belonging to the Khlyst sect". On February 26, 1912, at an audience, Rodzianko suggested that the tsar expel the peasant forever. Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky) openly wrote that Rasputin is a whip and participates in zeal.
The new (replaced Eusebius (Grozdov)) Tobolsk Bishop Alexy (Molchanov) personally took up this matter, studied the materials, requested information from the clergy of the Intercession Church, and repeatedly talked with Rasputin himself. Based on the results of this new investigation, the conclusion of the Tobolsk Spiritual Consistory was prepared and approved on November 29, 1912, and sent to many high-ranking officials and some deputies of the State Duma. In conclusion, Rasputin-New is called "a Christian, a spiritually minded person and seeking the truth Christ's." There were no more official accusations against Rasputin. But this did not mean at all that everyone believed in the results of the new investigation. Rasputin's opponents believe that Bishop Alexy "helped" him in this way for selfish purposes: the disgraced bishop, exiled to Tobolsk from the Pskov see as a result of the discovery of a sectarian St. John's monastery in the Pskov province, stayed at the Tobolsk see only until October 1913, that is, only a year and a half, after which he was appointed Exarch of Georgia and elevated to the rank of Archbishop of Kartalinsky and Kakhetinsky with the title of member Holy Synod. This is seen as the influence of Rasputin.
However, researchers believe that the elevation of Bishop Alexy in 1913 took place only due to his devotion to the reigning house, which is especially evident from his sermon delivered on the occasion of the 1905 manifesto. Moreover, the period in which Bishop Alexy was appointed Exarch of Georgia was a period of revolutionary ferment in Georgia.
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:
Rasputin, G. E. Life of an experienced wanderer. - May 1907.
G. E. Rasputin. My thoughts and reflections. - Petrograd, 1915..
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 literate, to put it mildly, not quite. 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'm alive, 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
In 1910, the Tolstoyan M. A. Novoselov published several critical articles about Rasputin in Moskovskie Vedomosti (No. 49 - “The spiritual guest performer Grigory Rasputin”, No. 72 - “Something else about Grigory Rasputin”).
In 1912, Novoselov published in his publishing house the pamphlet "Grigory Rasputin and mystical debauchery", which accused Rasputin of whiplash and criticized the highest church hierarchy. The brochure was banned and confiscated at the printing house. The newspaper "Voice of Moscow" was fined for publishing excerpts from it. After that, the State Duma followed up with a request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the legality of punishing the editors of Golos Moskvy and Novoye Vremya.
In the same 1912, Rasputin's acquaintance, the former hieromonk Iliodor, began to distribute several letters of scandalous content from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the Grand Duchesses to Rasputin.
Copies printed on a hectograph went around St. Petersburg. Most researchers consider these letters to be forgeries. Later, Iliodor, on the advice of Gorky, wrote a libelous book "Holy Devil" about Rasputin, which was published in 1917 during the revolution.
In 1913-1914. The Supreme Council of the VVNR made an attempt at an agitation campaign about the role of Rasputin at court. Somewhat later, the Council made an attempt to publish a pamphlet directed against Rasputin, and when this attempt failed (the pamphlet was censored), the Council took steps to distribute this pamphlet in a typed typewriter.
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 seriously wounded by Khionia Guseva, who had come from Tsaritsyn. Rasputin testified that he suspected Iliodor of organizing the assassination attempt, but could not 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. Guseva 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 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 (officially, the investigation did not attribute him to the murder).
Information about the murder is contradictory, was confused both by the killers themselves and by pressure on the investigation by 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 photography, a control shot in 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, treated to red wine and a pie poisoned with potassium 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 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 assigned famous professor 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 the 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 there was no water or foamy fluid in the airways. Rasputin was thrown into the water already dead ”, - The conclusion of the forensic expert Professor D.N. Kosorotov.
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 they assume 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 that time, there were two MI6 officers in St. Petersburg who could have committed the murder: school friend Yusupov 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, Reiner was awarded the Order british empire, he destroyed his papers before his death in 1961. Compton's chauffeur's journal records that he brought Oswald to Yusupov (and 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 murder: “ Although not everything went according to plan, our goal was reached... Reiner is covering his tracks and will no doubt contact you for briefings.» According to modern British researchers, the order for three British agents (Reiner, Alley and Scale) to eliminate Rasputin came from Mansfield Smith-Cumming (the first director of MI6).
The investigation lasted two and a half months until the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II on March 2, 1917. On that day, Kerensky became Minister of Justice in the Provisional Government. On March 4, 1917, he ordered the investigation to be hastily terminated, while the investigator A. T. Vasiliev (arrested during 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
In 2004, the BBC showed documentary"Who killed Rasputin?", which brought new attention to the murder investigation. According to the version shown in the film, the "glory" and the idea of this murder belongs exclusively to Great Britain, the Russian conspirators were only performers, a control shot in the forehead was fired from a revolver of British officers Webley .455.
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 feared the influence of Rasputin on 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.
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.
The burial was found, and Kerensky ordered Kornilov to organize the destruction of the body. For several days the coffin with the remains stood in a special carriage. Rasputin's body was burned on the night of March 11 in the furnace of the steam boiler of the Polytechnic Institute. An official act was drawn up on the burning of Rasputin's corpse.
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."
Rasputin played a dark role in last years reign of Nicholas II and finally undermined the prestige of the ruling dynasty.
After the war with Germany began in 1914, Nikolai most spent time at the front - at his headquarters in Mogilev. While he was away, many state affairs His wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, was in charge. She was a smart, strong-willed, but superstitious woman. Just then, the influence of the famous Rasputin increased at the court.
The real name of this man was Grigory Efimovich Novykh, and he received the nickname Rasputin for his wild life. He came from Siberian peasants, in his youth wandered around the monasteries, joined the sect of whips. Cunning and clever, he became known as the Siberian "prophet" and "holy old man." Rumors about him reached St. Petersburg, and Rasputin was summoned to the capital. First, he penetrated the salons of the St. Petersburg aristocracy, where examples of Rasputin's "holiness" were passed from mouth to mouth, they talked about his "wonderful gift" - to heal the sick. So this rogue ended up in the royal palace.
Rasputin managed to convince the suspicious empress that only he could provide "divine" support for the reign of Nicholas II and save the young heir to the throne Alexei, who was suffering incurable disease- hemophilia (blood incoagulability). Rasputin deftly played on the affection of parents for their son and assured that without his prayers the heir would die. Soon, the untidy drunkard, nicknamed the "royal lamp-maker", gained unlimited influence on the imperial couple. On the advice of the illiterate Rasputin, ministers and other high-ranking officials of the state were appointed and removed. He carried out profitable financial "combinations" for himself, provided protection for bribes. Rasputin was surrounded by a crowd of half-mad admirers and, using his power and connections, spent whole days in drunken revelry, which quickly became widely known.
"Rasputinism" alienated Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna from even staunch supporters of an unlimited monarchy and led them to an alliance with the bourgeoisie. Among the bourgeois-landlord aristocracy, the idea arose of a palace conspiracy against the tsar in order to prevent new revolution and save the monarchy. The conspirators wanted to remove Nicholas from power, send the Empress to a monastery, proclaim the young Alexei emperor, and appoint the royal brother Michael as regent until Alexei came of age. But first of all, it was decided to remove Rasputin.
To this end, one of the conspirators - Prince Felix Yusupov - managed to ingratiate himself with him. On the night of December 17-18, 1916, he invited Rasputin to his apartment, where, in the presence of the monarchist Vladimir Purishkevich and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, he put an end to the "elder". However, Rasputin turned out to be very tenacious: the poison with which the cakes served at the table were pumped up had little effect, and he had to shoot. But even being wounded, Rasputin still made attempts to hide from his killers.
Further plans for a palace coup were thwarted by the February bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1917, which overthrew the Russian monarchy.
This man was loved by the entire royal family and hated by the educated society of Russia. Perhaps he was the only one who brought such hatred upon himself. Rasputin was called the servant of the Antichrist. During his life and after his death, there were many rumors and gossip about him. And to this day, many are wondering: who was he after all - a saint or an adventurer?
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin ( real name- New) was born into a peasant family in the village of Pokrovsky, Tobolsk province. As the only assistant to his father, he started working early: shepherded cattle, was a cab driver, fished, and helped to harvest. There was no school in Pokrovsky, and Gregory was illiterate until the beginning of his wandering. In general, he did not stand out among other peasants, except for his morbidity, which in peasant families was assessed as inferiority and gave rise to ridicule. At the age of 19 he married a peasant woman Praskovya Fedorovna. She bore him three children.
However, something prompted Rasputin to drastically change his life. He began to pray often and fervently, quit drinking and smoking. Starting in the mid-1890s, Rasputin began to wander around the country, earning his living with any work that turned up. He visited dozens of monasteries, visited an Orthodox monastery on the sacred Greek Mount Athos, twice reached Jerusalem. Rasputin learned a lot in his wanderings, but for some reason he did not fully learn to read and write. He wrote constantly with gross errors in almost every word.
Repeatedly the wanderer helped the sick, even those who were considered incurable. Once, in a Ural monastery, he healed a "possessed woman" - a woman who suffered from severe seizures.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Rasputin was already respectfully called the "old man." So he was nicknamed not for his age, but for his experience and faith. In those days, he came to St. Petersburg. People who did not find complete solace in the state church reached out to the Siberian "old man". They visited Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, listened to his stories and instructions. The visitors were especially impressed by the eyes of the elder, as if looking into the very soul of the interlocutor.
Bishop Feofan became interested in Rasputin. He was struck by a special religious ecstasy into which the elder fell from time to time. Such a deep prayerful mood, said the bishop, he met only in rare cases among the most prominent representatives of Russian monasticism.
1908 - thanks to the bishop, Rasputin met with the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna herself. Count Vladimir Kokovtsov conveyed the content of this conversation in the following way: “Rasputin began to say that it was especially difficult for her and the sovereign to live, because they could never know the truth, since there were more and more flatterers and selfish people around them, who could not say what was needed to make it easier for the people. It is necessary for the Tsar and her to be closer to the people, to see him more often and to believe him more, because he will not deceive the one whom he considers almost equal to God himself, and will always tell his real truth, not like ministers and officials who do not care about the people's tears and his needs. These thoughts sunk deep into the soul of the Empress.
Over time, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin began to be called the "friend" of the royal couple. He treated their children, especially the hemophilic heir Alexei. The “old man” kept himself with the king and queen surprisingly freely and naturally. He called them simply “Mom” and “Dad”, and they called him Grigory. “He told them about Siberia and about the peasant needs, about his wanderings,” wrote the lady-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova. “When he left after an hour of conversation, he always left Their Majesties cheerful, with joyful hopes and hope in their souls.”
For more than 10 years, Rasputin was one of the closest people to the royal family. The Romanovs believed him, but at the same time they repeatedly collected information about the Siberian wanderer and especially checked the information that they very often presented to them in order to push them away from the old man.
Nicholas II sometimes consulted with Rasputin on the appointment of certain important dignitaries. And although his opinion was taken into account, it was far from always decisive. The king reckoned with him, but made decisions on his own.
Many of the prominent officials who were looking for promotions were now trying to please the Siberian peasant, fawning over him. Millionaires, ministers and aristocrats frequented the elder's apartment along with beggarly petitioners.
But if the monarch consulted with Gregory on the appointment of officials, then he listened to his political advice much less frequently. For example, in 1915-1916 the State Duma sought the right to appoint ministers. Rasputin persuaded the tsar to bow to the demands of the time. Nicholas II agreed, but never did so.
The emperor did not welcome the frequent appearances of the "old man" in the palace. Moreover, soon rumors began to circulate in St. Petersburg about the extremely obscene behavior of Rasputin. It was rumored that, using his huge influence on the empress, he took bribes for the promotion of people in the service, although the commission of the Provisional Government could not establish a single real case (but there were many rumors about this) when, according to Rasputin's notes, a request was fulfilled that violated the law.
Investigator of the Provisional Government Commission V. Rudnev writes: “When examining the papers of the Minister of Internal Affairs Protopopov, several typical letters from Rasputin were found, always talking only about some interests of private individuals for whom Rasputin was fussing. Among the papers of Protopopov, as well as among the papers of all other high-ranking persons, they did not find a single document indicating the influence of Rasputin on foreign and domestic policy.
Many people came to Rasputin with requests to pray for their deeds, telegrams and letters were sent to him. However, most of all, of course, direct contact with him was valued. Unbiased sources testify that at a personal meeting he charmed people with some kind of special confidence, the ability to present himself, benevolence and simply kindness.
Many noted the deep insight and intuition of the elder. He could aptly characterize a person immediately after meeting. A subtle psychological instinct for people struck many in him. Rasputin's special psychological abilities also underlay the ability to cure diseases. A number of cases are documented that confirm his gift as a healer. These cases are also confirmed by the materials of the commission of the Provisional Government.
Rasputin showed the ability to heal many times in his life. Rudnev established the undoubted fact that the seizures of the "dance of St. Witt" were cured in the son of Rasputin's secretary, Aron Simanovich, while all the manifestations of the disease disappeared forever after two sessions. The “old man” undoubtedly possessed some kind of hypnotic gift, knew how to inspire what he wanted, and was especially successful in healing women and children, who, as you know, are more easily amenable to outside influence. As already mentioned, with the greatest force he showed his gift in the treatment of the prince, who suffered from hemophilia, thereby winning the trust and deep recognition of the empress.
In addition to prayerful help and healing, people went to Rasputin with purely material requests, petitions, complaints of insults and oppression.
The Commission of the Provisional Government, which interrogated hundreds of people who visited Rasputin, established that he often received money from petitioners for satisfying their petitions. Usually, these were wealthy people who asked Gregory to transfer to highest name their request or apply to a particular ministry. They gave money of their own free will, but he did not spend it on himself, but distributed it to the same petitioners, only more victorious.
Rasputin's apartment in Petrograd, where he spent most of his time, according to eyewitnesses, was overflowing with all kinds of poor people and various petitioners who, believing rumors that he had a huge influence on the tsar, came to him with their needs.
In fact, the doors of his apartment were open to all the public. Rasputin rarely refused a request for help if he saw that the person was really in need.
But along with this kind of characterization of the activities of the "man of God" Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, there was another, absolutely opposite. Some time after his arrival in Petersburg in secular society rumors began to spread about the rampant behavior of the "old man" and the "prophet", his communication with various rabble, ugly revels (for which they called Grigory Rasputin).
They even talked about his too close relationship with the empress, which greatly undermined the authority of the king. However, society was even more outraged by the influence that this Siberian peasant had on the tsar in solving state issues.
Hostility towards Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was experienced by all educated sections of the population. The monarchist nobles and the intelligentsia, both revolutionary and liberal, agreed on his negative role in the royal court, calling him the evil genius of the Romanovs. On September 19, 1916, Black Hundreds deputy Vladimir Purishkevich delivered an impassioned speech against Rasputin in the State Duma. He exclaimed ardently: "The dark peasant should not rule Russia any longer!"
On the same day, the plan was born to kill Rasputin. After listening to Purishkevich's accusatory speech, Prince Felix Yusupov approached him with this proposal. Then several more people joined the conspiracy, including Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich.
The murder of Rasputin was scheduled for December 16, 1916. F. Yusupov invited Rasputin to his mansion. At the meeting, according to Russian custom, they kissed each other. Rasputin unexpectedly mockingly exclaimed: “I hope this is not a Judas kiss!”
They wanted to poison him with potassium cyanide. He ate several cakes with poison - and no consequences. After consulting, the conspirators decided to shoot Rasputin. Yusupov fired first. But Rasputin was only wounded. He rushed to run, and then Purishkevich shot several times at him. The elder fell only after the fourth shot.
The murderers lowered the bound body of Rasputin into a hole in the Malaya Nevka ice near Krestovsky Island. As it turned out later, he was thrown under the ice while still alive. When the body was found, they found that the lungs were full of water: Rasputin tried to breathe and choked. right hand he freed her from the ropes, her fingers folded for the sign of the cross.
The names of the killers immediately became known to the police. However, they got off very easily - Yusupov was sent to his own estate, the Grand Duke - to the front, and Purishkevich was not touched at all.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin was modestly buried in Tsarskoye Selo. But he did not rest there for long. After the February Revolution, his body was dug up and burned at the stake.
According to Pavel Milyukov, the peasants said this: “So, for once, a peasant got to the royal choir - to tell the kings the truth, and the nobles killed him.”
During his lifetime and after, attempts were repeatedly made to investigate his activities. But, covering the problem from the point of view of some political forces, almost all of them were tendentious. As the historian O. Platonov wrote in his study: “There is not a single article, let alone a book, where Rasputin's life is considered consistently, historically, based on a critical analysis of sources. All the writings and articles about Rasputin that exist today are a retelling - just in different combinations - of the same historical legends and anecdotes, most of which are outright fiction and falsification.
Unfortunately, despite the thoroughness and detail of research, Platonov's book is also not free from tendentiousness. As you can see, it is almost impossible, in the absence of consistent and credible evidence, to objectively characterize Grigory Efimovich Rasputin. Only the trace that he left in the history of Russia will remain undoubted.
Grigory Efimovich Rasputin (New, 1869-1916) - public figure late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, who gained fame as a healer, an "old man", able to heal people from serious ailments. Was close to family last emperor, especially his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. In 1915-1916, he had a direct influence on the political decisions made in the country. His name is shrouded in a halo of secrets and mysteries, and historians still cannot give an accurate assessment of Rasputin: who is this - a great soothsayer or a charlatan.
Childhood and youth
Grigory Rasputin was born on January 9 (21), 1869 in the village of Pokrovka, Tobolsk province. True, in different sources there are other years, for example, 1865 or 1872. Gregory himself never added clarity to this issue, never naming the exact date birth. His parents were simple peasants who devoted their entire lives to working on the land. Gregory was their fourth and only surviving child. WITH early childhood the boy was sick a lot and was often alone, unable to play with his peers. This made him withdrawn and prone to solitude. It was in childhood that Gregory began to feel his chosenness before God and attachment to religion. There was no school in his native village, so the boy grew up illiterate. But he knew a lot in work, often helping his father.
At the age of 14, Rasputin became seriously ill and, being on the verge of life and death, managed to get out of a difficult condition. According to him, the miracle happened thanks to the Mother of God, who intervened and contributed to his healing. This further strengthened faith in religion and motivated the illiterate young man to learn the texts of prayers.
Transformation into a healer
After Rasputin turned 18, he went on a pilgrimage to the Verkhoturye Monastery, but he never took the veil. A year later he returned to small homeland and soon married Praskovya Dubrovina, who would later bear him three children. Marriage was not an obstacle to the pilgrimage. In 1893 he embarked on a new journey, visiting a Greek monastery on Mount Athos and Jerusalem. In 1900, Rasputin visited Kyiv and Kazan, where he met Father Mikhail, who was associated with the Kazan Theological Academy.
All these visits again convinced Rasputin of his God's chosenness and gave him a reason to devote others to his healing gift. Returning to Pokrovskoye, he tried to lead the life of a real "old man", but he was far from a real ascetic. In addition, his religious views did not fit in well with canonical Orthodoxy. It's all about the powerful temperament of Gregory, who could not do without women, wine, music and dance. "God is joy and gladness", - Rasputin stated more than once.
People from all over the country flocked to a small Siberian village, eager to find healing and getting rid of diseases. They were not embarrassed by the illiteracy of the "old man" and his complete lack of medical education. But good acting skills allowed Grigory to convincingly portray a folk healer, using advice, prayers and persuasion in his manipulations.
Arrival in St. Petersburg
In 1903, when the country was in a pre-revolutionary situation and was completely restless, Rasputin visited the capital for the first time. Russian Empire. The formal reason was connected with the search for funds necessary for the construction of the temple in his native village. However, there is another explanation for this. While working on the field, Rasputin had a vision of the Mother of God, who told him about the serious illness of Tsarevich Alexei and insisted on the imminent arrival of the healer in the capital. In St. Petersburg, he meets the rector of the theological academy, Bishop Sergius, to whom he turned for help due to lack of money. He sets him up with a confessor imperial family Archbishop Feofan.
Doctor of the heir to the throne
Acquaintance with Nicholas II took place at a very difficult time for the country and the tsar. There were strikes and protests everywhere, heating up revolutionary movement, the opposition went on the offensive, and a wave of terrorist attacks covered Russian cities. The emperor, worried about the fate of the country, was on an emotional upsurge, and on this basis he met the Siberian seer. In general, the entire revolutionary chaos was for Rasputin an excellent basis for manifesting himself. He heals, predicts, preaches, earning himself a colossal authority.
Good actor Rasputin made a strong impression on Nicholas and his family members. Especially believed in the gift of Grigory Alexandra Fedorovna, who hoped for his ability to save his only son from the disease. In 1907, Alexei's health deteriorated noticeably, and the tsar gave permission for Rasputin's approach. As you know, the boy suffered from a severe genetic disease - hemophilia, which is associated with the inability of blood to clot and, as a result, frequent hemorrhages. He was unable to cope with the disease, but he helped bring the crown prince out of the crisis and stabilize his condition. Incredibly, Gregory managed to stop the blood, in which traditional medicine was absolutely powerless. He often repeated: "The heir will live as long as I live."
Cases of whiplash
In 1907, Rasputin received a denunciation, according to which he was accused of Khlystism, one of the varieties of religious false doctrine. The case was investigated by Priest N. Glukhovetsky and Archpriest D. Smirnov. In their conclusions, they referred to the report of D. Berezkin, a specialist in sects, who relied on the insufficiency of materials due to the conduct of the case by people who did not understand Khlysty. As a result, the case was sent for further investigation and soon “fell apart”.
In 1912, the State Duma showed interest in this case, and Nicholas II ordered the investigation to be resumed. At one of the meetings, Rodzianko suggested to the emperor that the Siberian peasant be permanently removed. But a new investigation, headed by Bishop Alexy of Tobolsk, expressed a different opinion and called Gregory a true Christian, seeking the truth of Christ. Of course, not everyone believed in this and continued to consider him a charlatan.
Secular and political life
Having settled in the capital, Rasputin, together with the cure of Alexei, plunges headlong into social life, getting acquainted with the tops of St. Petersburg society. Especially secular ladies were crazy about the "old man". For example, Baroness Kusova frankly declared her readiness to follow him even to Siberia. Using the trust of the empress, Rasputin puts pressure on the tsar through her, promoting his friends to high government posts. He did not forget about his children either: his daughters, under the highest patronage, studied at one of the St. Petersburg gymnasiums.
The city began to be flooded with rumors about the exploits of Rasputin. They talked about his crazy orgies and carousing, drunken brawls, pogroms and bribes. In 1915, due to the difficult situation at the front, the tsar left St. Petersburg and went to the headquarters of the Russian army in Mogilev. For Rasputin, this was a serious chance to further strengthen his position. The slightly naive empress, who remained on business in the capital, sincerely wanted to help her husband, trying to rely on Rasputin's advice. Through him, a decision was made on military issues, the supply of the army and the appointment to government posts. There is a known case when Rasputin decided on the offensive of the Russian army, which ended in complete collapse and the death of thousands of soldiers in the swamp. The tsar's patience was finally undermined by the rumor about the secret closeness of the Empress and Rasputin, which, in principle, could not be by definition. Nevertheless, this became an occasion for the political environment of the king to think about eliminating such an odious figure.
Just at this time, the book “My Thoughts and Reflections” was published from the healer’s pen, in which he presented the reader with his memories of visiting holy places and reflections on religious, moral and ethical topics. In particular, the author devotes a lot of time to presenting his opinion about love. "Love - big figure, prophecies will cease, but love will never,” the “elder” claimed.
CONSPIRACY
The active and controversial activity of Rasputin disgusted many representatives of the then political establishment, who rejected the Siberian upstart as a foreign element. Surrounded by the emperor, a circle of conspirators formed who intended to deal with an objectionable character. At the head of a group of murderers were: F. Yusupov - a representative of one of the richest families and the husband of the tsar's niece, cousin Emperor, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, and deputy of the IV State Duma V. Purishkevich. On December 30, 1916, they invited Rasputin to the Yusupov Palace on the pretext of meeting with the emperor's niece, who was reputed to be one of beautiful women countries.
The dangerous poison cyanide was sprinkled into the offered dishes of Gregory. But he acted too slowly and did not cause the expected effect. Then Yusupov decided to resort to more effective method and fired at Rasputin, but missed. He ran away from Felix, but ran into his accomplices, who seriously injured the healer with their shots. However, even being in serious condition, he tried to save himself and attempted to escape. But he was caught, and then thrown into the cold Neva, having previously been tightly tied and packed in a bag with stones. At the insistence of Alexandra Fedorovna, the body of Grigory was raised from the bottom of the river, then it was found out that Rasputin woke up in the water and fought for his life to the last, but, exhausted, choked. At first, Rasputin was buried near the chapel of the Imperial Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, but after the Provisional Government came to power in 1917, his corpse was exhumed and burned.
Rasputin's predictions
Interestingly, shortly before the assassination, Rasputin wrote a letter to the emperor, in which he predicted his own death no later than January 1, 1917. He claimed that he would die at the hands of a relative of Nicholas II, but his family would also die and "none of the children would be left alive." Rasputin predicted the emergence and collapse of the Soviet Union (“the arrival of a new government and mountains of the slain”), as well as his victory over Nazi Germany. Some of the predictions of the “old man” also apply to our days, in particular, he saw through the veil of times the threat of terrorism for Europe and rampant Islamic extremism in the Middle East.
As known from short biography, Rasputin was born in 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 correspond to 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, a wanderer often referred to as a "saint" God's man”and“ a great ascetic ”, gets acquainted with 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 royal family”, among which were F.F. Yusupov, V. M. Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, British intelligence officer MI-6 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.
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