On the night of December 30, 1916 (December 17, old style), Grigory Rasputin was killed in Petrograd.

Even after 105 years, not all the circumstances of his death are known.

The role that he played in the history of Russia is also considered contradictory.

"A man under the king"

The official date of birth of Grigory Rasputin is January 21, 1869, however, according to the professor of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, Doctor of Historical Sciences Vitaly Zakharov, other dates are often called (from 1863 to 1865).

Rasputin was born in the Pokrovskaya settlement of the Tobolsk province.

His father, according to various versions, was a landless peasant, coachman or miller.

Gregory grew up as a sickly child, but despite this, he began to work early and help his parents with the housework.

After a while, something (according to Gregory, a kind of vision) pushed him to the pilgrimage.

Rasputin visited the holy places of Russia and visited Athos.

Some authors argue that already in his youth, Rasputin showed some abilities, due to which he gained a reputation as a seer and healer.

“He was, though not too educated, but an unusual and bright person who led a rather peculiar way of life.

He spent six months in his village, where he had a family and a household, and in the autumn-winter period he went on pilgrimage, visiting many churches and monasteries.

He met with different people and gained different experiences, "- told RT writer, author of the book" Grigory Rasputin-New "Alexei Varlamov.

According to the expert, when Rasputin once visited Kazan, a wealthy merchant's wife gained confidence in him, who introduced Gregory to the local bishop, who, in turn, gave the wanderer a letter of recommendation to St. Petersburg to Bishop Sergius (the future patriarch).

“Sergius did not like Rasputin, nevertheless Rasputin stayed in St. Petersburg and met two sisters - Montenegrin princesses who had married Russian grand dukes.

Through these women, whom he made a strong impression on, Rasputin also met the royal family, ”explained Varlamov.

  • Grigory Rasputin

  • RIA News

As Tatyana Mironova, Doctor of Philology, noted in a conversation with RT, in St. Petersburg Rasputin “showed the gift of seeing a person and his psychology,” which surprised those around him and contributed to the formation of a circle of fans around him.

According to historians, in the eyes of society, Rasputin acquired a reputation as an "elder", "seer" and "healer."

“Rasputin's influence intensified when the royal family, trying to help the heir to the throne, Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia, became disillusioned with official medicine and turned to unofficial medicine.

One of the doctors involved was Rasputin.

Among researchers, there is still debate as to whether he possessed certain abilities, or was just an adventurer and charlatan.

It is difficult to say objectively, but, in my opinion, he had some abilities, for example, the ability to hypnosis.

Perhaps he really somehow influenced the boy and tried to stop the bleeding, ”said Vitaly Zakharov.

As Alexei Varlamov noted, the tsar and tsarina were religious people, and Rasputin was interesting to them as a good storyteller and interlocutor.

“It was a man under the king who told not only religious things, but also talked about how the people lived.

Rasputin had a sober peasant mind, ”said the expert.

At the same time, in his opinion, Rasputin's influence on state policy was not of a direct nature.

“There was a lot of talk about the fact that Rasputin allegedly tried to influence the appointment of people to certain positions.

I worked for ten years in the department of manuscripts of the Russian State Library.

There are two letters from Rasputin.

I analyzed them from the point of view of graphology and I can say that these are fakes.

They were written by an intelligent person who was only trying to imitate folk speech and folk handwriting.

Of course, such a note did not oblige anyone to anything, but when the minister received something like that, he grew a grudge against Rasputin, ”said Tatyana Mironova.

  • Grigory Rasputin with a group of court ladies

  • RIA News

According to Vitaly Zakharov, there is evidence that Rasputin led a scandalous and riotous lifestyle in St. Petersburg, and this was used to discredit the royal family.

Although, according to Tatyana Mironova, there were cases when Rasputin was allegedly seen drinking with dissolute women in places where he really could not be, and such episodes were inflated in the press.

Mironova believes that we can talk about the use of doubles.

As noted by Zakharov, twice against Rasputin a case was initiated on his possible involvement in the Khlyst sect, but both times it was terminated.

The accusations against the "elder" did not find any indisputable confirmation.

"Killed with the best intentions"

“Although his influence was only indirect, Rasputin became a public person and irritated many people, from the Tsar's relatives to the Duma, the army and other state institutions.

Rasputin seemed like an upstart.

It was not for the rank of a simple peasant to attract such attention to himself.

In addition, he was too sharp on his tongue, sometimes indulged in tactless statements, behaved familiarly with educated people.

There was no modesty in him, he provoked society, there was too much of him, ”said Alexey Varlamov.

According to Vitaly Zakharov, Rasputin believed that Russia should not enter the First World War, as it would inevitably hit the peasantry and lower its standard of living.

This position was interpreted by a part of society as Germanophilic.

“The suspicion arose that German agents were exerting pressure on the tsar through Rasputin.

It is difficult to say whether it was true or not, ”he stressed.

According to experts, many blank spots remain in the history of organizing the murder of Rasputin.

According to the most common version, its script was developed by the 29-year-old prince Felix Yusupov, who was married to the emperor's niece.

Yusupov, in his own words, wanted "to rid Russia of her evil genius."

According to the testimony of contemporaries, Yusupov first allegedly wanted to resort to the services of hired killers, but when he doubted the reliability of such a method, he turned to potential like-minded people for help: Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich and Lieutenant of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment Sergei Sukhotin.

Participants in the conspiracy were also the right-wing State Duma deputy Vladimir Purishkevich, who publicly criticized Rasputin, and the captain of the medical service Stanislav Lazovert.

  • Felix Yusupov

  • © Wikimedia commons

On the night of December 30, 1916, Rasputin was lured into Yusupov's palace (according to some sources, under the pretext of meeting Prince Felix's wife, Irina).

According to one version, they wanted to poison the "elder" with potassium cyanide mixed into cakes.

However, the poison either did not work, or one of the conspirators at the last moment replaced it with another substance.

Critics of the version with an attempt at poisoning indicate that Rasputin did not eat sweets and there was no point in offering him cakes in principle.

Later, Felix Yusupov allegedly shot Rasputin with a revolver.

The "elder" soon came to his senses and tried to escape, but was finished off by Purishkevich.

The corpse was thrown into the river from the Petrovsky Bridge.

But there are other versions of the murder: for example, that the key role in this event was played not by Yusupov and Purishkevich, but by Dmitry Pavlovich, or that a British intelligence officer Oswald Reiner, who personally fired a control shot at the "elder", was actually behind the liquidation of Rasputin.

According to historians, none of the versions today can be considered fully proven.

  • Wax figures of Felix Yusupov and Grigory Rasputin at the scene of the murder.

    Exposition in the Yusupov Palace on the Moika

  • © Wikimedia commons

Rasputin's body was soon discovered in the river.

Felix Yusupov and Dmitry Pavlovich were placed under house arrest, but their actions were widely supported by part of society.

As a result, the punishment of the alleged participants in the crime was not too severe.

Dmitry Pavlovich was sent to Persia, and Yusupov - to his family estate in Kursk.

Purishkevich left for the front, and the authorities did not dare to touch him.

The February Revolution interrupted the murder investigation.

According to a number of testimonies, Rasputin predicted that soon after his death at the hands of the nobles, the royal dynasty in Russia would be interrupted.

“Rasputin was killed with the best intentions of patriots, monarchists and statesmen, who believed that he was a German spy and was a threat to Russia.

They planned to strengthen the monarchy, but everything turned out exactly the opposite, "- said Alexei Varlamov.

“Rasputin himself was a passionate man, not without sin, but he sincerely loved Russia, the Russian people, the church and the monarchy.

However, contrary to his aspirations, he caused a conflict between the tsar on the one hand and the army, the Duma, the church and other Romanovs on the other.

This led to the isolation of the royal family, and the people rejoiced in the abdication of Nicholas II in 1917.

One of the reasons for the unpopularity of the emperor was Rasputin, who, unwillingly, compromised the monarchy, ”the historian summed up.