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