I’m sure many of you have heard the song “Rasputin” via Facebook, Tik-Tok, or Just Dance, but how many of you know the story of the man who inspired the piece? Grigori Rasputin is a name that has gone down in infamy. From humble beginnings, this man managed to ingratiate himself to the Czar’s inner circle and became one of the most powerful men in all of Russia.

Born in Pokrovskoye (Pock – Rov – sco – yee) on January 20th, 1869, Grigori started life as a peasant farmer with few prospects. During his childhood, he garnered a reputation for having mystical powers. He had a strange knack for knowing things about his neighbors that he couldn’t possibly have known and regularly claimed to see visions of angels and future events. He also seemed to have the ability to heal sick animals simply by touching them. Amongst the people in his small village, he was regarded with caution. While some believed he was sent by God and could even be the second coming of Christ, others feared he was an agent of Satan and that his supposed “good works” masked the connection he’d made to evil. His own actions seemed to fit the later narrative as he became a regular troublemaker.

Eventually, Rasputin would settle down with a woman from the village and the two had three children together: Maria, Dmitri, and Varvara.

In 1892 Grigori left his family to undertake a spiritual journey. For a time, he became entrenched with a religious sect known as the Khlysty which seemed to feed further into his personal belief that God had chosen him for a special purpose. He eventually became disillusioned with the group and moved to St Peterburg to spread his own religious beliefs. There, he started his own cult and met with Czar Nicholas II and his wife. In no time at all Rasputin became a key adviser to the Czarina. Many attribute his direct influence on her to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty.

Rasputin gained such influence in St Petersburg that the nobles began to plot against him. They believed he had gained too much influence over the Czarina but also wanted to prove wrong the belief by many that he could not be killed. Their first attempt on his life did not help this rumor. In fact, quite the opposite. In 1914 a woman was paid to stab the monk in his stomach for “corrupting and seducing the youth”. Despite excessive blood loss, he survived. According to some stories, during the second attempt on his life 2 years later, he was poisoned at a dinner hosted by some of the nobles who wanted him dead. Despite consuming the whole meal, Rasputin showed no signs of illness. The man grew angry and proceeded to shoot Rasputin several times. Despite this, the man was still breathing when they checked on him and stood up! They grabbed him and threw him into the icy river where he finally drowned.

There is speculation about this version of events, however. For one, an autopsy failed to show any signs of poison in his system. He also only had one bullet wound which was in his head. Despite this, rumors persist to this day that Rasputin rose from the grave.