Rasputin: The Mad Monk of Russia Quiz

Answer: Grigori

The full name of the infamous Russian monk was Grigori Yefimovich (sometimes spelt Efimovich) Rasputin. There are a couple of variations of the spelling, such as Gregori and Grigory. However, the most commonly used spelling is Grigori. As very little is known about Rasputin's early life, no one is certain exactly when Rasputin was born.

The best guess at Rasputin's birthday would be some time between 1865 and 1875.

Answer: Maria and Dmitri

The young Rasputin has two older siblings: a sister, Maria, and a brother, Dmitri. His older sister, Maria, was believed to have been an epileptic, who drowned in a river whilst having an epileptic fit one day. Not long after this, Rasputin and Dmitri were playing near a pond. Dmitri fell in, so Rasputin plunged in to rescue him.

The two boys were pulled out by a passerby, and shortly afterwards, Dmitri died of pneumonia. The death of both of his siblings so early in life is believed to have greatly affected Rasputin.

He named two of his three (possibly four) children after his siblings: Dmitri, born in 1897, and Maria, born in 1898.

Answer: He was a dirty and unwashed peasant from Siberia, who never fitted in with the upper classes of St. Petersburg

Rasputin was born in Pokrovskoye, a small village in Siberia, to a poor peasant family. In 1903, his religious wanderings took him to St. Petersburg, the capital of Russia at the time. While Rasputin was a very charismatic man, many accounts describe him as being filthy and smelly, with bits of food always stuck to his beard.

This, in addition to the fact that he seemed to have a certain "hold" over the Tsar and his family made him very unpopular amongst Russian peasants and nobles alike.

Answer: The Virgin Mary

History tells us that when Rasputin was about 18, he travelled to the monastery in Verkhoture (where, some say, he was introduced to the Khlysty sect). Some believe that this may have been a penance for crimes he had committed in his village. After staying at this monastery for three months, he reportedly had a vision of the Virgin Mary, which is said to have prompted him into a life of pilgrimage and religious wanderings.

Answer: No

The fact that Rasputin wasn't an "official" holy man did not work in his favour. His spiritual training was fairly limited, and his academic education was not much better (some sources claim that he couldn't even read). As far as some people were concerned, this made him a con artist. Yes, Rasputin did spend some time in a monastery, intending to become a monk, but he left after three months, and so was never ordained into any religious order.

After leaving the monastery, Rasputin returned to his village of Pokrovskoye, where he married a woman named Praskovia Fyodorovna, and had three children (Dmitri, Maria and Varvara). He also reportedly spent a great amount of time in the company of a man named Makariy, a holy man, who is believed to have had an enormous influence on Rasputin. He left thereafter, and travelled to places such as Greece, Mount Athos, and Jerusalem. During this time, he made a name for himself as a healer and for his abilities to predict the future. In 1903, Rasputin travelled to St Petersburg.

In the book "The Life and Times of Grigori Rasputin," the author, Alex de Jonge, explains "mystics, holy men, gurus, indeed certain kinds of creative artists, devote years to the disciplined development of their gifts; a sense of the spiritual alone is not enough. One element of Rasputin's talents that everyone who sought his healing powers remarked upon was his great ability to calm people in distress." [ http://it.stlawu.edu/~rkreuzer/indv5/rasp.htm]

Answer: Anna Vyrubova

Anna Vyrubova, born in 1884, to a well-known musical composer. She was Tsarina Alexandra's best friend, as well as a confidante and lady-in-waiting. Vyrubova was positively devoted to Rasputin. This was after she was nearly killed in a derailment accident on a train travelling from Tsarskoe Selo to St Petersburg.

Her body had been crushed beyond all recognition, and all the doctors who saw her said that her chances of survival were incredibly slim. According to sources, Rasputin was contacted as a last resort. Arriving at her deathbed, he held her hand, and repeated the mantra "Annushka, Annushka, rise!" At this time, Anna suddenly awoke from her coma, at which time Rasputin predicted that, although she was cured and would live for a long time to come (she died in 1964), she would be crippled for the rest of her life, which turned out to be true.

Answer: 1905

Rasputin was first introduced to the royal family in 1905, when they were desperately seeking the help of a healer to cure Alexei's bleeding (due to the fact that he had haemophilia). It was Anna Vyrubova who introduced him to the Tsarina Alexandra.

Answer: He was able to stop the bleeding of the Tsarevich Alexei (due to hemophilia)

Nicholas and Alexandra already had four daughters: Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, and had greatly desired an heir to the throne. In 1904, Tsarina Alexandra finally gave birth to a long awaited son, Tsarevich Alexei. In 1905, whilst on holiday with his family, the young Alexei was hurt (he fell off a horse), and bled internally for days. This was due to him having haemophilia, a disease widespread amongst European royalty at the time, and passed onto him by his mother, Alexandra (females are only carriers of this disease, and don't actually suffer from it). Desperate and guilt-ridden (due to the fact that SHE had been the carrier of the disease), Alexandra, having heard of Rasputin's abilities as a healer, sought his help.

Miraculously, Rasputin was able to stop Alexei's bleeding; something no other doctor had been able to do. While many theories behind Rasputin's "healing powers" have since emerged, at the time, he was the only person that Alexandra believed could help her son. Every time Alexei had an external or internal injury, Rasputin was called upon to heal him. Rasputin had a great hold over the Tsar and Tsarina, and soon became not only their son's healer, but an advisor and confidante.

Answer: All of these reasons

All of the above listed reasons led to Rasputin's increased unpopularity.

Rasputin had an appetite for alcohol, and, according to sources, could often be seen staggering around completely and utterly inebriated. Part of Rasputin's preaching included the idea that one attained grace and salvation through sinning, which he believed was reason for drinking as heavily as he did.

Rasputin's various sexual conquests deserve an entire essay. Many rumours claiming that he had seduced the Tsarina and her four daughters, as well as Anna Vyrubova, were circulated (although the odds of this being true are fairly slim). Whilst drunk, it's reported that Rasputin was often brag about his various sexual conquests, and it was no secret that he kept many mistresses, and had seduced several women. Some sources say that Rasputin would often bribe high-society women into sleeping with him in return for political favours. He was once even accused of raping a nun.

During World War I, the Tsarina was left to run the country because Tsar Nicholas II had personally taken command of the Russian army. During this time, Rasputin's influence over the Tsarina increased dramatically, and he was appointed her personal advisor. This didn't help, because she was German, and suspected of being a spy for the German army. Rumours flew about the amount of influence he had over Russian politics, and the idea that he would happily accept bribes if the price was right.

All this licentious behaviour ultimately led to his death, and many argue that if it had not been for his influence, the Russian Revolution might not have happened as it did.

Answer: World War I

It was during World War I that Rasputin's influence over Alexandra, and thus Russian politics, increased exponentially. When World War I broke out in 1914, Russia was very unprepared - some soldiers even had to fight barefoot! Russian industry was not up to speed, and military supplies and food were in short supply. Tsar Nicholas II was eventually forced to join his troops at the front, to try and increase morale, leaving the Tsarina in charge of the country.

It was at this time that her dependence on Rasputin, and his influence of the entire country, grew.

Answer: The Khlysty

Even while he was alive, rumours that Rasputin belonged to an outlawed sect known as the Khlysty were rife. According to his daughter, Maria, he did "look into it" at one point in his life after leaving the monastery in Verkhoture. Alexander Guchkov, a Chairman of the Duma, once officially charged Rasputin of being a member of this sect. This had the potential to turn into a very large and highly publicised scandal, and the Tsar had to call for investigations into this "skeleton in the closet." However, inevitably, the charges against Rasputin were dropped, and Guchkov was fired from his position.

The Khlysty were a sect that believed in self-flagellation (the act of "punishing" yourself as a means of religious penance), and were also reported to have been involved in sexual orgies as a means of "cleansing sin through sin."
For more information, see http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/k/khlysty.html

Answer: December 1916

Rasputin was murdered over the evening of 16th December and the early morning of 17th December 1916. This, scarily enough, is in accordance with Rasputin's chilling prophecy, in a letter to the Tsar, Nicholas II, a few weeks before his death.

Answer: Prince Felix Yusupov

Prince Felix Yusupov was the chief conspirator in the plot to murder Rasputin. He was the charismatic husband of the Tsar's niece, Irina - despite the fact that his sexual interests included transvestism. The plan to murder Rasputin involved Yusupov luring Rasputin to his house with the promise of good food and a possible sexual liaison. Rasputin, who was known for having a strong sexual appetite, lapped this up, and accepted the offer. Cakes and wine were laced with cyanide in preparation of Rasputin's visit, which the conspirators hoped would kill him.

There were four other conspirators involved in the plot. Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, a previous fiancee of the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, and a first cousin of the Tsar; Vladimir Purishkevich, a member of the Duma, the Russian parliament at the time, who stated that "...the tsar's ministers who have been turned into marionettes, marionettes whose threads have been taken firmly in hand by Rasputin and the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna..."
[https://www.cs.tcd.ie/~peircen/xhtml/death_part_1.htm]; Lieutenant Sukhotin, a military officer; and finally, Dr. Lazavert, a physician, and the conspiracy-appointed chauffeur, who transported Rasputin's not-so-dead body to the river where he was to be dumped.

Answer: Three gunshot wounds

Even though Rasputin eventually died of gunshot wounds some sources claim that he drowned, or that his cause of death was hypothermia. Prince Felix Yusupov and his co-conspirators tried all the other methods on him beforehand, but they simply didn't work!

Rasputin was lured into the home of Felix Yusupov, where he was offered two of his favourite treats: sweet cakes and wine. Large amounts of cyanide had been added to both the wine and the cakes. Two hours later, Rasputin was still alive and kicking, and looking no worse for wear. Yusupov began to get a tad panicky, excused himself, and came back a few minutes later with a pistol, and shot Rasputin. Yusupov then left to celebrate with his fellow conspirators.

However, returning a few hours later, he discovered to his shock that Rasputin's body was still warm. Suddenly, Rasputin jumped to his feet and lunged at Yusupov, attempting to strangle him. He then made a break for it. The other conspirators ran downstairs to see Rasputin darting across the courtyard, trying desperately to escape. They fired at him, and shot him three times in the back. Miraculously, he was still alive... The conspirators took Rasputin back into the house, and started clubbing and beating him. They then loaded him into the boot of a car, drove it out to the Malaya Nevka River, and dumped it through a hole in the ice.

Answer: Rasputin stated that only after several attempts had already been made on his life would he finally be killed

The following is the highly creepy and prophetic letter that Rasputin addressed to the Tsar and his family a mere few weeks before his death.

"I write and leave behind me this letter at St. Petersburg. I feel that I shall leave life before January first... If I am killed by common assassins, and especially by my brothers the Russian peasants, you Tsar of Russia, have nothing to fear, remain on your throne and govern, and you, Russian Tsar, will have nothing to fear for your children, they will reign for hundreds of years in Russia...if it was your relations who have wrought my death, then no one in the family, that is to say, none of your children or relations, will remain alive for more than two years. They will be killed by the Russian people...You must reflect and act prudently. Think of your safety and tell your relations that I have paid for them with my blood. I shall be killed. I am no longer among the living.
Pray, pray, be strong, think of your blessed family.
Grigori"

[http://members.tripod.com/Pharaoh30/index-6.html]

Rasputin was accurate in that he stated that he would not live to see the New Year, 1917: he was murdered in December of 1916, which made that prophecy true. Rasputin also said that if he was killed by one of the Tsar's relations, the Romanov family would not live past another two years. Again, creepily correct. Prince Felix Yusopov was married to the Tsar's beautiful niece, Irina. And to fulfil the second part of the prophecy, the Tsar and his family were killed by the Bolsheviks in the July of 1918.

Rasputin also stated that if he was murdered by a noble, Russia would see no more for the next 25 years. Brothers would kill brothers, and they would hate each other. This, of course, refers to the long and bloody Russian Revolution, starting with the overthrow of the Tsar and his family, and culminating in Joseph Stalin becoming the dictator of Russia.