Grigori
Rasputin, a monk, was a spiritual advisor to Czar Nicholas 11 and his
wife Alexandra. The elite found his presence a menace. Soon, he was
murdered
Photos: Rasputin; the monk surrounded by his admirers
By
Shevlin Sebastian
On
the night of December 16, 1916, Grigori Rasputin, a monk who was very
close to Czar Nicholas 11 and his wife Alexandra, was invited to the
Moika Palace at St. Petersburg, which belonged to Prince Felix
Yusupov. Felix was regarded as one of the richest men in Russia and
was married to Irina, the only niece of Czar Nicholas 11.
When
Rasputin entered the palace he heard a gramophone recording of the
American song, ‘Yankee Doodle’.
“What’s
this?” said Rasputin. “Is someone giving a party?”
Felix
said, “My wife is entertaining a few of her friends.”
Owing
to the bitter cold, Felix said, “Let’s have a cup of tea.”
Then
he invited Rasputin to come to the basement. It had a fireplace. In
front of it was a round table, with three wooden chairs. Rasputin sat
on one of the chairs. There, according to Felix’s autobiography,
‘Lost Splendor’, (1928), he gave Rasputin cakes to eat, which had
been laced with cyanide. Rasputin ate a couple. But, to Felix’s
surprise, Rasputin remained normal. After a while, Rasputin asked for
Madeira wine, which had also been poisoned. Again, Rasputin drank it
and showed no signs of distress.
Felix’s
co-conspirators were waiting upstairs. They included the Grand Duke
Dmitri Pavlovich and the right-wing politician Vladimir Purishkevich.
Felix
excused himself and went upstairs. He borrowed a revolver from
Dmitri. Then he went down and shot Rasputin in the chest. Rasputin
fell to the floor.
Thinking
that he had died, the trio went over to Rasputin's apartment, with
one of them wearing Rasputin's hat and coat, to show that Rasputin
had returned home.
But
when Felix returned to the basement, suddenly, Rasputin jumped up and
attacked him. Felix was shocked but managed to flee upstairs.
In
his book, Felix wrote, “This devil who was dying of poison, who had
a bullet in his heart, must have been raised from the dead by the
powers of evil. There was something appalling and monstrous in his
diabolical refusal to die.”
Rasputin
followed Felix up the stairs and managed to make his way out into the
snow-banked courtyard. He staggered from side to side. But it was
then that Purishkevich came out and shot him dead. The group then
wrapped Rasputin’s body in a sheet of cloth, went to the Petrovsky
Bridge and dropped the body into the Malaya Nevka River.
The
next day an investigation was launched. When a couple of labourers
noticed blood on the railing of the Petrovsky Bridge, they informed
the police.
Rasputin’s
body was found 200 metres downstream. Following a post-mortem by Dr
Dmitry Kosorotov, a senior autopsy surgeon, he mentioned that there
were three gunshot wounds to the forehead.
Eventually,
Rasputin was buried on January 2. The funeral was attended by the
royal family and a few others. Rasputin's wife, children and his
mistress were not invited, although his daughters met the Royal
family later that day.
However,
when the Tsar abdicated the throne in March, 1917, Rasputin’s body
was exhumed and burned by a group of soldiers so that his burial site
did not become a rallying point for supporters of the old regime.
The Background
The
reason for the murder was because there was a lot of resentment
against Rasputin because of his undue influence with the Czar as well
as Alexandra.
He
seemed an unlikely person to reach the inner circle. Rasputin was
born in 1869 in the village of Pokrovskoye, 433 kms from Moscow. When
he grew up, he worked on his father’s farm. Later, he married a
local woman Praskovya Dubrovina and had three children Maria, Dmitri
and Varvara.
Rasputin’s
life changed in 1892 when he spent a few months at a monastery.
The
monks observed that he had a religious fervour as well as a personal
charisma. Soon, he met some Russian Orthodox clergymen as well as
members of the Imperial Family.
Later,
through the family members, he met the Czar. And the latter was
impressed.
The
Czar wrote a letter to one of his ministers in 1906 in which he said,
“A few days ago I received a peasant from the Tobolsk district,
Grigori Rasputin, who brought me an icon of St. Simon Verkhoturie. He
made a remarkably strong impression both on Her Majesty and on myself
so that instead of five minutes our conversation went on for more
than an hour.”
Soon,
Rasputin became their spiritual advisor. But he had the most impact
on Alexandra who was deeply anxious because her only son Alexei
suffered from haemophilia.
He
would regularly pray over Alexei. Author Douglas Smith, in his book,
‘Rasputin: Faith, Power and the Twilight of the Romanovs,’
(2016), wrote, “Rasputin’s assurances calmed the anxious, fretful
mother and filled her with unshakeable confidence, and she, in turn,
transferred this confidence to her ailing son, literally willing him
back to health.”
One
reason for Alexei’s improved health could be that Rasputin ensured
that there were no doctors around him. And that turned out to be the
right decision. Among the many medicines they used was aspirin which
tended to thin the blood. As a result, Alexei improved rapidly. And
Rasputin’s position became even more entrenched.
Soon,
Rasputin was making recommendations for ministerial appointments and
that angered the elite. His behaviour away from the court was nothing
short of scandalous. He was often drunk and widely promiscuous,
sleeping with prostitutes as well as society women. The press wrote
about his affairs and it scandalised the public. There were rumours
also that Rasputin was sleeping with Alexandra, too. It all became a
bit too much. And finally, Felix and his fellow conspirators decided
to finish him off.
When
the Russian Revolution took place in 1917, Felix and his wife
emigrated to France and lived a life of attending dance balls and the
ballet. But he seemed to have no regrets about the killing of
Rasputin. In 1967, just before he died, at the age of 80, a French TV
interviewer asked him, “When you think about Rasputin, what
sentiments come to your mind?”
“Disgust,”
said Felix coolly.
-----------------
Rasputin
in modern life
For
modern audiences, they became aware of Rasputin thanks to the 1978
disco superhit song by the pop group, Boney M.
Here
are the lyrics:
There
lived a certain man in Russia long ago
He
was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow
Most
people looked at him with terror and with fear
But
to Moscow chicks, he was such a lovely dear.
He
could preach the Bible like a preacher
Full
of ecstasy and fire
But
he also was the kind of teacher
Women
would desire.
Ra
Ra Rasputin
Lover
of the Russian queen
There
was a cat that really was gone
Ra
Ra Rasputin
Russia's
greatest love machine
It
was a shame how he carried on.
But
when his drinking and lusting and his hunger
for
power became known to more and more people
the
demands to do something about this outrageous
man
became louder and louder.
"This
man's just got to go!" declared his enemies
But
the ladies begged, "Don't you try to do it, please."
No
doubt this Rasputin had lots of hidden charms
Though
he was a brute they just fell into his arms.
Then
one night some men of higher standing
Set
a trap, they're not to blame
"Come
to visit us," they kept demanding
And
he really came.
Ra
Ra Rasputin
Lover
of the Russian queen
They
put some poison into his wine
Ra
Ra Rasputin
Russia's
greatest love machine
He
drank it all and he said, "I feel fine."
Ra
Ra Rasputin
Lover
of the Russian queen
They
didn't quit, they wanted his head
Ra
Ra Rasputin,
Russia's
greatest love machine
And
so they shot him till he was dead
Oh,
those Russians...
(The
Martyrs' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India)
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