Death of Grigori Rasputin

Death of Grigori Rasputin.

I adore history, and Saint Petersburg is such a historic place, which is one of the reasons why it is one of my favourite cities.

Who was he?

My first encounter with G. Rasputin is from the Disney movie Anastasia (who was also a real person), but Rasputin didn’t live in the underworld and have a bat, nor did he get exiled by the Tsar, although that would’ve been a lot better than the truth. Rasputin was a mystic and a self-proclaimed Holy Man. Rasputin grew up in Siberia and later got the nickname of the “Mad Monk”.

Relationship to the Russian Royal Family.

Rasputin befriended the family of Tsar Nicholas II because he was the only one able to help his haemophiliac son Alexis.

Through this friendship, Rasputin was able to gain a large influence over the decisions made in politics and the Royal household. When the First World War occurred, Nicholas II thought his troops would be able to perform better in the war if their Tsar fought with them. This left his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, in charge of the country. And Rasputin’s influence grew much stronger during this period.

Who was Felix Yusupov?

Before we get to the subject of Rasputin’s death, there is a key character who was involved.

Felix Yusupov was an aristocrat, prince and count from the Yusupov family. His family were richer than any of the Romanov family (the Royal family). Felix Yusupov attended Oxford, and led a flamboyant life. When he inherited the family fortune after his brothers death, Felix decided to put money towards charitable work and helping the poor. During the war, he converted a wing of his palace into a hospital to help soldiers that were injured.

Death of Rasputin.

What happened on the night of Rasputin’s death will never be certain, but one of the most popular accounts is of Felix Yusupov.

Rasputin died on the grounds of Felix Yusupovs house in 1916. The story begins like this:

Felix was worried for his close friends, the Royal family, and decided, with others, that it was time to bring an end to Rasputin. The plan was that Rasputin would come to Felix’s house and have tea with him in the basement, while his fellow conspirators would wait upstairs.

Felix invited Rasputin to his house in December 1916. When Rasputin came over, Felix ushered him into the basement and tried giving Rasputin cakes that were poisoned with cyanide. At first Rasputin declined the offer, but then started eating one after the other, and asked for a glass of wine that was also poisoned, and ended up having three glasses. Rasputin showed absolutely no sign of distress even though he consumed enough poison to kill 5 people.

At around 2:30am, Felix excused himself and went upstairs where his fellow conspirators were waiting. He took a gun from one of his friends, and went back downstairs and shot Rasputin in the chest.

Rasputin’s body was left in the basement while the Felix and his acquaintances drove to Rasputin’s house, while one of them wore his coat, to make it look like Rasputin came home that night.

When Felix came back, he went to check on Rasputin’s body, and to check his pulse, there was no pulse but according to Felix’s accounts of that night, he noticed a tremble of Rasputin’s eyelid. This made Felix question whether Rasputin was actually dead or not. Rasputin’s eyes opened, glowing green, jumped up, and had foam forming in his mouth. Rasputin tried to strangle Felix, but he got free, and they both ran outside. Felix aimed at Rasputin’s body that was running away from him, and then there were two shots, but they weren’t from Felix.

Rasputin’s body fell to the snow covered ground, and a puddle of blood formed around him. In Felix’s accounts, he doesn’t know who shot Rasputin and who finally was able to kill him.

There is a theory that two spies from Britain, were located in St Petersburg with the mission to eliminate Rasputin, and it may have been them that killed Rasputin.

Rasputin was a mystery while alive, and it is no surprise that his death is a mystery as well, and will continue to be. The most mysterious thing that happened, wasn’t his death, but his prophecy of his death.

Rasputin came to the Russian court and made this prophecy

“I am to be killed, if I am killed by my own people, by the peasants, then you will continue to rule in peace and harmony. However, if I am killed by the noble class, then within 2 years, you and your children and all the royal family will be no more”

Whether you believe this or not, Rasputin as a person will always be a mystery and there will always be new theories surrounding him.