Grigori Rasputin

Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Rasputin
Born	(1869-01-22)22 January 1869 Pokrovskoye, Siberia, Russian Empire
Died	29 or 30 December 1916 (aged 47) Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Cause of death	Homicide
Nationality	Russian
Other names	The Mad Monk The Black Monk
Title	Father Grigori
Spouse(s)	Praskovia Fedorovna Dubrovina
Children	Dmitri (1895-1937) Matryona (1898-1977) Varvara (1900-1925)
Parent(s)	Efim Rasputin Anna Parshukova

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (Russian: Григорий Ефимович Распутин [ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲɪj jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ rɐˈsputʲɪn]) (21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1869 – 29 or 30 December [O.S. 16 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Tsar Nicholas II and gained considerable influence in late imperial Russia.

Born to a peasant family in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, Rasputin had a religious conversion experience after taking a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897. He has been described as a monk or as a "strannik" (wanderer, or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. After traveling to St. Petersburg, either in 1903 or the winter of 1904-5, Rasputin captivated some church and social leaders. He became a society figure, and met the Tsar in November 1905.

In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a healer for the Nicholas II and Alexandra's son Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia and was Nicholas' only heir (Tsarevitch). At court, he was a divisive figure, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary, and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan. The high point of Rasputin's power was in 1915, when Nicholas II left St Petersburg to oversee Russian armies fighting World War I, increasing both Alexandra and Rasputin's influence. As Russian defeats in the war mounted, however, both Rasputin and Alexandra became increasingly unpopular. On the night of 29-30 December [O.S. 16-17 December] 1916 Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative noblemen who opposed his influence over Alexandra and the Tsar.