The Power of Rasputin

Grigori Rasputin was born in 1869 or 1872, a fact disputed among historians; and he grew up a peasant in a family in Siberia, Russia. He and his brother both fell in a river and almost drowned but were pulled out by a passerby, and his brother died of pneumonia due to the incident. This detail perhaps foreshadows his death, which coincidentally was a death from drowning. Not much else is known about his childhood, but there is one story telling of his supernatural power. He apparently was able to point out a man who stole a horse without knowing any other information, and he was afraid to steal because he thought everyone had the ability to know when someone had stolen something.

In his adult life, he initially tried to become a monk but these plans fell through when he left to get married at nineteen to Proskovia Fyodorovna. They had three children together. He also had a fourth child with an unknown woman. Though he was married, he led a rather scandalous romantic life that included many prostitutes. To top that off, he had a drinking problem. No one really knows why he had these problems. Maybe it had something to do with his home life or his supernatural powers separating him from everyone else. However, Rasputin also was thought to have a supernatural power to heal, something that did not go unnoticed by the czar and tsarina. Soon, he was living and working in close quarters with the royal family

due to his gifts. I believe that because of this, Grigori Rasputin had a direct influence on Russia during the time he was alive.

After Rasputin failed at being a monk, he began to wander. In 1906 he arrived in St. Petersburg and by this time many people had heard of his supernatural gifts. Years later, he met Czar Nicholas...

... middle of paper ...

...

First World War. “Who’s Who – Grigori Rasputin.” First World War, 22 August 2009. Web. 7

February 2014.

History Learning Site. “Gregory Rasputin.” History Learning Site. Web. 7 February 2014.

The Mystica. “Rasputin.” The Mystica. Web. February 7 2014.

Osborn, Andrew. “Grigory Rasputin, the 'Mad Monk' who was hard to kill.” The Telegraph, 7

April 2011. Web. 7 February 2014.

Page | 13

Mad-Monk-who-was-hard-to-kill.html>

“Prominent Russians: Grigori Rasputin.” Russiapedia. Web. March 12 2014.