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Rasputin: The Man and the Myth Few people in the 20 th Century have been more notorious, yet more mysterious, than the Siberian peasant who burst upon the world's stage in 1905, Gregory Yefimovich Novykh. Gregory is better known today as Rasputin. Rasputin literally translates to the debauched one, a moral corrupter. To the Imperial Family of Russia, he was simply Father Gregory. Rasputin was known for seeming to dominate the last Tsar of Russia, causing the downfall of both men.
Gregory Rasputin, the man was anything but simple. There still exists considerable controversy amongst scholars as to who he was, what his influence over the tragic Romanov dynasty really was, and perhaps most of all, what power he possessed to heal Nicholas and Alexandra's only son. (Massie 490 - 495). Rasputin is known as the Siberian mystic healer, whose life has been retold countless number of times throughout history. People often talk of Rasputin's mystery and discrepancies associated with the depiction of Rasputin's life. Because he lived in a world beyond the reach of the written word, little is known about the first 40 years of Rasputin's life.
What is known, has been retold through family stories and mysterious tales of his healing powers and visions. This means that, depending on the teller of the story, Rasputin might be a holy monk on one occasion, then an actor or phony without any connection to God on another. (Pathy, Rasputin par. 7 - 9). Some facts have been confirmed by historians though. There is a general understanding that Rasputin was born between 1864 and 1865.
His birth place and home was the village of Pokrovskoe, presently Time' Oblast. Located in Siberia, Pokrovskoe can be found on the Tour River. As a child Rasputin was often considered mischievous, however he was not very intelligent. He acquired very little education as a child and even as an adult he was illiterate. However like many aspects of Rasputin's life there is little history known of his early years, especially his childhood. (Pathy, Rasputin par. At the age of 18, Rasputin went through a religious transition, eventually traveling to the monastery at Verkhoture.
Here, he was introduced to the Russian religion Skoptsy. Skoptsy is a religion in which people believe the only way to reach God is through sin; sin to drive out sin. (Massie 495). Rasputin became extraordinarily fascinated with this religion, however he did not take further interest in it because of its lack of popularity. After traveling to the monastery and spending some time there, he did not become a monk. Even though he did not stay at the monastery to become a monk, this trip already set him on the path to At the age of 19 Rasputin returned to his hometown of Pokrovskoe and married Praskovia Fyodorovna. They had three children: Dimitri in 1897, Maria in 1898, and Varvara in 1900.
Rasputin's first son died at infancy and his youngest son had a mental illness. Both of the girls were surprisingly healthy and lived with Gregory in St. Petersburg most of their young lives. (Pathy, Rasputin par. 12 - 13). To support his family Rasputin, like most men, turned to farming. It was said Rasputin chose the employment of farming over any other options because of the peaceful time he had to think about his life and where he was going in life. One day, while working in the fields, Rasputin claimed to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary.
According to his vision, she instructed him to become a pilgrim. He did not delay this pilgrimage and only a few short hours later bid his young family farewell and set out on his journey, eventually walking some two thousand miles, to the Orthodox monastery at Mount Athos in Greece. (Pathy, Rasputin par. 17; Massie 496 - 497). When he returned to his village, his semi-religious beliefs appeared to be very impressive. He attracted large crowds when he preached, although his version of the Gospel, containing only half-learnt truths about sin and salvation, was considered un-Orthodox. Also Rasputin also allegedly began to practice what he preached as well. (Pathy, Rasputin par. 18). Marriage did not settle Rasputin.
Rasputin was a womanizer and although Praskovie knew of this womanizing she never complained; He has enough for all, she would say. (Massie 498). And so since the married life obviously did not satisfy Rasputin he continued to wander, traveling to places of religious significance such as Mt. Athos, Greece and Jerusalem. A self proclaimed holy man, Rasputin held the power to heal the sick and predict the future. His fame grew far and wide, and soon people traveled from long distances in search of his insight and healing powers. In return for his services, people brought presents of food and money.
While Rasputin paved his road to success little did he know what lay ahead of him. (Massie 498; Clarson 505 - 506). In late 1903 Empress Alexandra found herself pregnant with her second child. Intense praying and spiritualism accompanied her throughout the pregnancy, she prayed for a healthy baby. Finally on July 30, 1904, a little boy was born, Alexandra was overjoyed. Nicholas and Alexandra called him Alexis in memory of the second Romanov Tsar.
The heir became the center of the family's attention as a delighted Imperial couple reveled in the joy of finally having an heir they could call their own. Despite the couple's delight, within months of Alexis' birth a dark cloud settled over the Imperial nursery. Alexis's body, once injured, would not stop bleeding. The Tsarevich was another victim of the dreaded disease inherited from his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, hemophilia. Nicholas accepted this new trial with stoic fatalism, Alexandra blamed herself for her son's affliction. The Tsar's brother-in-law, Grand Duke Alexander Michaelovich, once said that Alexandra refused to surrender to fate...
she talked incessantly of the ignorance of the physicians. She professed an open preference for medicine men. (Baker 76). She turned toward religion... but her prayers were tainted with a certain hysteria. The stage was set for the appearance of a miracle worker In the midst of this tragedy within the Imperial family, Rasputin appeared in St. Petersburg.
Initially, Rasputin moved prudently in the Russian capital's aristocratic circles. He tried, unsuccessfully, to restrain his debauched, womanizing ways, yet temptation was overwhelming. Within months, Rasputin, the saintly sinner, had achieved recognition and a small following in St. Petersburg. Besides gaining the friendship of Grand Duchess Militza and Anastasia, Rasputin also gained the trust of Anna Vyrubova, Empress Alexandra's trusted companion.
It was under the recommendation of the Grand Duchesses and Anna Vyrubova that Rasputin was summoned to appear before. (Massie 506 - 508). Alexandra. Rasputin was introduced to Nicholas and Alexandra by Grand Duchess Militza on October 31, 1905. Militza, a daughter of the King of Montenegro who had married into the Russian Imperial Family, was renowned for her interest in spiritualism and the newest holy men who constantly paraded through the capital. She was eager to show off her latest discovery. "Today we got to know a man of God, Gregory, from Tobolsk Province the Emperor recorded simply in his diary. (Massie 507). He had no way of knowing how fateful the meeting would be. (Massie 506 - 508).
Rasputin does not appear to have made much of an impression at first. Nicholas and Alexandra had far more to worry about that this new holy peasant. Several years after their first meeting with Gregory, during one of their son's crisis, they first turned to Rasputin, asking for his prayers. Rasputin prayed daily, and their son, deathly ill and overcome with the devastating effects of the disease, quickly recovered.
This was to be a pattern repeated over and over again: Alexis fell ill, Rasputin prayed, Alexis recovered. (Pathy, Rasputin par. 26). Faced with such incontrovertible evidence, Nicholas and Alexandra came to believe that God had sent Rasputin to save their only son. Their dependence on the Siberian peasant grew greater with each passing year, as cure after cure built one upon the other into a seemingly undeniable record of divine intervention. (Clarson As Rasputin's fame, and, in many cases, disgrace, spread across St. Petersburg and the Empire, Russia was left in disbelief.
Wild tales of his drunken excesses and orgies kept gossips busy for hours. He himself possessed a peasant's love of the tall tale, and greatly embellished his own accounts of his dealings with the Imperial Family. Although his visits to the Alexander Palace were infrequent, no one was prepared to believe the truth, preferring rumor to fact. And, because Alexis hemophilia remained a carefully guarded secret within the Imperial Family, no one understood why Nicholas and Alexandra continued to tolerate the presence of this ill-mannered, vulgar, filthy man at Court. (Pathy, Rasputin par Nicholas's secret police quickly informed the Tsar of these rumors. An atoning Rasputin was summoned to appear before the infuriated Tsar, however Alexandra defended him in fear her son would die. Nicholas punished Rasputin by sending him back to the provinces, but no sooner had Rasputin left when another bleeding crisis almost killed Alexis.
Rasputin's influence over the boy guaranteed the monk's return to St. Petersburg. His position within the imperial circle was never again challenged. Alexandra grew completely dependent on the man, who not only became her son's faith healer, but also the Empress' confidant. The evil monk's presence among the Tsar and his family would further alienate them from the capital and all those circles that had traditionally been the mainstay of tourism.
Nicholas and Alexandra were doomed from that point on. (Pathy, Rasputin par. The outbreak of the First World War, and the Emperor's decision to take command of the Army himself, left the Empress - and, many believed, Rasputin - at the head of the Government. Although Rasputin rarely offered political advice (he had no understanding of politics) and often only echoed the views of the Empress herself, everyone believed that he was now the power behind the Throne, hiring and...
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