Rasputin

Jonathan Kopnick 1 Jonathan Kopnick Mr. Glendenning World Studies II 05/29/09 Rasputin, the Man In The Jar In class, Rasputin interested me greatly. The man who sent the Russian throne into chaos, first grabbed me in the animated movie presentation “Anastasia”. The man continued to interest me, and after the class long discussion about his death, amputation, and acts during life I was ready to learn more about the shadowy man. In my research before the assignment, independently, I learned of the many works of art that have been attributed to the great man. These include an opera, musical, play, movie, and song; all paying homage to a man with a less than positive legacy. I will be honest, I thought that choosing Rasputin would give me an opportunity to take a lot of liberties when referring to the story of his penis (found later in the paper) yet I found out so much more about the man, that the paper went from a joke to a scholarly pursuit to find the man who took the prime sear behind the tzar. Rasputin was born in Pokrovskoye, Siberia, January 10, 1869, to a man named Yefim, he along with Rasputin valued there status as poor peasants. He was a very spiritual young man who valued sex more than a normal peer would. He was a committee of many crimes, and he was sent to “Verkhoture Monastery, as punishment for vandalism.”(Fuhrman) It was in this monastary that he was thought to be sexually abused, a possible cause of later transgressions in life. After his stay in the confines of the church, “Rasputin's captivating personality, his eyes, and a memory for biblical passages made him a local religious authority.” (Fuhrman) Rasputin committed sexual crimes within his town, and his reputation spread to the regional priest, who sent down a subordinate to get Rasputin for his crimes. Rasputin fled into the forest, not to be historically recorded until he re-emerged into society.

Jonathan Kopnick 2 Rasputin developed a reputation as a healer. He would rub and pray with his “patients” and he would spiritually heal them. Rasputin was referred to the royal family by Militsa and her sister Anastasia, to help heal the ailing Alexis who was suffering from Hemophelia. Rasputin healed the child, and he began to take hold within the social circles surrounding the czar's family. Rasputin “took pride in his peasant roots and dressed in simple country garb. Even in high society, he maintained the casual grooming of a poor Siberian farmer. He allowed his hair and beard to grow long and tangled, often flecked with food and dirt. His teeth rotted away to blackened stumps. His body often stank from sweat or cheap perfumes. His fingernails were so filthy that they looked black.“ (Crumm) Yet his grotesque appearance did nothing to detract the opposite sex. He committed atrocious sexual acts, sometimes having the woman's favor. He would use his spiritual clout to push women into no-boundary situations that were unusual and looked down upon. Rasputin challenged the establishment to punish him for his transgressions, and when he would be caught, he would repent by praying with the royal family and using the opportunity to get more influence overall. Rasputin had not made any favors with the other members of the government at the time. Stolypin, the prime minister, was offered Rasputin as a healer for his son when Stolypin realized the length of Rasputin's crimatic ways. In addition to Rasputin's past being realized, he was discovered to have tried to hypnotize the prime minister in their first official meeting. The result was the prime minister ordering Rasputin to be exiled. The act disenfranchised the prime minister from the tsar's favor, and for this the prime minister hated Rasputin even more. The prime minister was murdered, and after this "from 1913 (on) Rasputin was firmly established."(Gale) in the political oligarthy surrounding the tzar. A group of aristocrats, wanted to challenge the man who had replaced the prime minister as chief influence over the throne. The perpetrators of his murder said that ""the "Black Devil" had been invited to Yusupov Palace on the pretense of meeting Yusupov's attractive wife, Irina... ...Upon

Jonathan Kopnick 3 Rasputin's arrival shortly after midnight, he was given poisoned wine but the potassium cyanide failed to kill the priest. An anxious Yusupov allegedly shot the guest. But even that, the story goes, wasn't enough. Yet there is a contrasting view, an upcoming BBC documentary has a beef with the old way of thinking. The BBC documentary, “Who Killed Rasputin?” challenges the idea of the political establishment being the murderer. The documentary concludes that Rasputin was killed by the British Secret Service leading up to World War I. This theory supports the idea that the story of Rasputin's death has been exaggerated. The traditional story goes: Rasputin was able to run into the garden, despite his wounds. The persecutors caught him and threw him into an arm of the Neva, but according to some witnesses the story didn't end there, and Rasputin managed to get out of the river and then froze to death." (Yefimovich) After his death, "Rasputin's power continued to operate from beyond the grave. "When his body was buried in Tsarskoye Selo hundreds of worshippers came to pay tribute to their idol," Kalmykov said. "The authorities found it alarming, so the body was exhumed and subsequently cremated." (Stolyarova) Yet even after the flames, Rasputin's influence is still felt today. Supporters to this day advocate for the legitimacy of the man's teaching. Some, have even advocated for his inclusion into saint-hood, a fellow supporter saying “We are fighting not just for the canonization of Rasputin but to rehabilitate the honor of his name as a true man of faith,” (Edwards 1) Rasputin may be best known today for his physical legacy, his severed penis. The man's legendary sex-drive and attraction to his organ was legendary. “Having smashed up a smart Moscow night-club, Rasputin was challenged to prove that he was who he said he was. In response, "He unbuttoned his trousers and waved his penis at the waiters and onlookers."(The Saint Who Sinned) His penis, on display at the Russian Museum of Erotica in St. Petersburgh, has been reported to be upwards of eleven inches non-erect (accounting for shrinkage due to the pickling. The penis has never been tested for its' legitimacy but residents of Russia claim that

Jonathan Kopnick 4 simply looking at the male organ will cure impotency and will result in fertility. Rasputin continues to be a point of interest today. His life directive of finding answers through spirituality and prayer has lead to the call for his saint-hood. The healing powers he exhibited before are rumored to cure erectile dysfunction today. Yet Rasputin is far more than a crazy peasant who controlled the throne through the tzar. Instead, Rasputin should be seen for what he really was, a man who overcame an abused poor childhood to hold a high position of power where he achieved the sexual, social, political, and spiritual goals that he had wanted to achieve since his childhood. We are in debt to Rasputin, and his inspiration lives on in a jar in St. Petersburgh.

Jonathan Kopnick 5

works cited BOB EDWARDS. "Analysis: Push in Russia to canonize Grigory Rasputin." NPR Morning Edition. 2003. HighBeam Research. 28 May. 2009 . Crumm, David. "RASPUTIN: The Saint Who Sinned, by Brian Moynahan; Random House (403 pages, $30).(Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)." Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. 1997. HighBeam Research. 28 May. 2009 . DAVID CRUMM. "Getting to the heart of Rasputin." The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Sentinel Inc. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 1997. HighBeam Research. 28 May. 2009 . FUHRMANN, JOSEPH T.. "Rasputin, Grigory Yefimovich." Encyclopedia of Russian History. The Gale Group Inc. 2004. HighBeam Research. 28 May. 2009 . Galina Stolyarova. "Rasputin Remembered As Lusty Monk, Spiritual Power, THE ST. PETERSBURG TIMES." The St. Petersburg Times (Russia). 2004. HighBeam Research. 28 May. 2009 . "Grigori Efimovich Rasputin." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Thomson Gale. 2004. HighBeam Research. 28 May. 2009 . "RASPUTIN, Grigory Yefimovich." 2009. The History Channel website. 28 May 2009, 11:13 http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=220347.

"Rasputin: The Saint Who Sinned." The Economist (US). Economist Newspaper Ltd. 1998. HighBeam Research. 28 May. 2009 . SHARP, Iain. "Rah rah Rasputin." Sunday Star-Times. Independent Newspapers Limited. 2000. HighBeam Research. 28 May. 2009 .

Jonathan Kopnick 6