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rasputin: the mad monk by Alex Burns (alex@disinfo.com) - December 20, 2000 |
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| Born Grigory Yefimovich Novykh (July 10th, 1869 - December 30th, 1916) in the peasant village of Pokrovskoe (near the Ural mountains), the enigmatic Siberian mystic and Machiavellian political rogue known as 'Rasputin' (Russian for 'debauched one' or 'the dissolute') played a key role in the downfall of the Romanov imperial dynasty. Rasputin's early life is shrouded in mystery, and the public fragments come from family oral traditions. At age eighteen he joined the outlawed heretical Khlysty (Flagellants) sect, 'stealing' their mixture of mystical piety and breathless sexual hedonism. Rasputin later travelled to the Orthodox Christian centers at Mount Athos, Grece, and Jerusalem, rapidly earning a reputation as a 'staretz' (self-proclaimed holy man and folk healer) and master hypnotist. This antinomian aspect of Rasputin later influenced 'Church of Satan' founder Anton Szandor LaVey, and counter-pointed the teachings of Graeco-Armenian magus George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff. In 1903, Rasputin surfaced in St. Petersburg, and gained influential patrons such as Archimandrite Feofan (inspector of the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary), and Germogen, bishop of Saratov. Under their auspices, Rasputin was introduced to the royal court circles in October 1906, whose members were obsessed with mysticism and occult practices. Rasputin's shrewd grasp of human psychology gradually gained him influence, and he was appointed imperial lampkeeper. Rasputin's reputation was assured when he seemed to heal Alexis (Aleksey), the only son of Czar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra (Aleksandra), of the rare blood disease Hemophilia. Perhaps the reason behind his success was Rasputin's hypnotic powers, or the possibility that Alexis suffered from a rare condition known as 'Aplastic Crisis' instead of Hemophilia. The neurotic Alexandra fell increasingly under Rasputin's spell, to the increasing concern of ultra-royalists. By 1910 the ultra-royalists and Orthodox ecclesiastics had become disillusioned with the scandals surrounding Rasputin and his drunken parties, which tainted the Imperial Family's public image. But under Czarina Alexandra's protection, Rasputin was able to increase his political dominion. Increasingly isolated by the socio-cultural shock-waves of pre-revolutionary Russia, Alexandra enabled Rasputin from 1911 onwards to replace fired Russian imperial government ministers with his supporters. When Czar Nicholas II took personal command in September 1915 of Russia's armed forces during World War I, Czarina Alexandra was left to rule alone, with Rasputin appointed as her personal advisor. An aristocratic cabal led by Prince Felix (Feliks) Youssoupov set-out to assassinate Rasputin, and on the night of December 16-17, 1916, succeeded in luring him to Moika Palace, where Youssoupov fed him Madeira tea laced with cyanide and cakes. When the poison had no effect, a panicked Youssoupov shot him several times, before his co-conspirators dumped Rasputin into the Neva river to drown. Rasputin had prophecied the decline and fall of the Romanov empire if he was assassinated, and the ultra-royalist desire for a renewed monarchy never materialized. Only ten weeks after Rasputin's death, the Romanovs were overthrown by Bolshevik revolutionary forces, who exhumed his body and burned it. The political rogue passed into the shadows of history, achieving a public status through countless books and films usually reserved for figures judged innately evil (for example, Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson). Rasputin's career cast the die for image-conscious 'spin doctors' and pious religious fundamentalists. The Twentieth Century - the 'Age of Extremes' - owes more to types like Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin than we care to admit. Learn and remember. |
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The Murder That Helped Bring Down The Empire The Great War: Interviews: Rasputin Phrenological Examples: Rasputin Rah, Rah, Rasputin Rasputin Gregory Efimovich Rasputin The Evil Monk: The Life And Times Of Gregory Efimovich Rasputin Rasputin, Grigory Yefimovich: MSN Encarta Yusupov Palace: Grigory Rasputin Rasputin: The Mysterious One Excavations Reveal Remains Where Last Czar Was Shot Alexander Palace: The Time Machine: Rasputin The Home Of Rasputin Rasputin: Poet. Magician, Healer, Prophet, Holy Monk. Was Rasputin Real? Encyclopaedia Britannica: Rasputin Thirteen Years At The Russian Court The Gregori Effimovich Rasputin Homepage The Spala Crisis Of 1912 Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned Rasputin: The Magazine Disinformation Dossier On Anton Szandor LaVey Disinformation Dossier On George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff |
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