RASPUTIN, GREGORY EFIMOVITCH Russian monk. was born in 1371 in the village of near Tyumen. in the province of Tobolsk. Siberia. He was the son of a poor peasant whose disorderly behaviour resulted in his being given the name of Rasputin. meaning "debauchee." He received no education. and till the end of his life was unable to write properly. He spent the first part of his life till the age of 33 in his native village: he married in 1895 a well-to-do girl. Olga Chanigoif, and they had two daughters and a son. In 19C4 Rasputin resolved to change his mode of living. He left his family and devoted himself to religious exercises. declaring to his people that he was inspired by God. His passionate nature. his great physical strength and the superstitious atmosphere in which he had been brought up. gave an unexpected direction to his religious exaltation. He adopted the views of the sect known under the name of "Khlysty," the leading idea of whose teaching was that salvation could be achieved only by repentance.
"Sin in order that you may obtain forgiveness"—was the practical rule which he drew from this doctrine. "A particle of the :Supreme Being is incarnated in me"—he told his hearers.
"Only through me you can hope to be saved ; and the manner of your salvation is this : you must be united with me in soul and body. The virtue that goes out from me is the source of light. the destruction of sin" (E. J. Dillon. The Eclipse of Russia). This extravagant and dangerous teaching, which resulted in practice in the wildest orgies, not only created for Rasputin popularity and the reputation of a holy man among his fel, peasants. but opened before him the doors of 5.7.,me of the fashionable Russian houses and even of the Imperial Palace. Looking for new experiences Rasputin left his native villa.c.-. and made long pilgrimages to various holy places. and even to Mount Athos and Jerusalem. He spent some time in monasteries and applied himself to the study of holy books his lack of elementary education reduced the results cf Ls labours almost to nothing. He only retained by heart comprehensible passages. and often used them He had. however. a strong magnetic power, the in±.:ence of which was recognized by his bitterest oppo7e:_ts.
In 19c7. during a stay in St. Peter::::77-= (Leningrad Rasty_:tin was introduced to the archimandrite Ft02._11 rector c: logical academy and confessor to the empress. who interest in the story of his conversion. archimandrite. with the assistance of the grand duchesses KiLitza and. Anastasia. pre sented Rasputin at court. and he produced a deep impression on the empress and emperor. The mystic atm_os;chere which always prevailed at the Russian Court. and which was especially
strengthened by the disasters of the Japanese War. the internal troubles in 19c5 and the constant fear for the health of the tsarevich. created a favourable background for the apprance of such a man. His disdain for all rules. of good behaviour. his prophecies. and. above all. the eventual improve- in the health of the 2-.=d duke Alexis. which more than cr result from his influence when medicine was ineffecr.T.iii. for him a commanding innuence over the empress.
For some time Rasputin was satisfied by his social success, and at first he did not interfere in politics. But his activity was felt in church questions. His friendship with the famous monk. Heliodor. and the bishop of Saratov. Hermogen. which resulted in a complete rupture between :hem in a series of scancials. had a painful echo in the country. The appointment of Varnava. an illiterate peasant and a friend of Rasputin. to be Tobolsk in 1911. and the servility with which the Holy S _7 followed the wishes of the favourite. provoked a strong - among all classes of society. An unsuccessful attempt to kill made by a certain Guseva in 1914. incited by only strengthened his influence. No important nomination was made without his approval. and the most unexpected people rose to the highest offices as the result of his influence. Rasputin was too ignorant to have any opinion on political questions: he was in most cases a mere instniment of the reactionaries. Num berless stories of the debauchery practised at the Court. in which the name of Rasputin was co::.pied not only with some of the court ladies but even with that of the empress herself. became a common topic of conversation in all classes of Russian society. At length a small group of men of the highest social positicn. which included the grand duke Dimitri Pavlovich. Prince poll and Purichkevich determined to end the empire of He was invited to a supper at the Yussupoff Palace on Dec. 1916, and shot dead. after an attempt at poisoning him with a strong dose of potassium cyanide mixed with wine had not pro duced the desired effect_ The empress had the body transferred to the park of Tsarskoe Selo. where a special chapel was erected. and she went every night to pray on See Letters of the Tsaritsa to the T StI7 rgr= r5 (1923) ; and further letters published in The Manchester Guardian. Tan. g and Feb. 7. 19:4: also Prince Yussoupoff, Raspmfin: His Malignant Influence and his Assassination (Eng. ed. 1927) ; M. V. Rodzianko, Reign of Rasputin (1927) ; R. Fulop-Miller, Rasputin, the holy devil (1928).