Rasputin

Grolier Rasputin, Grigory Yefimovich -------------------------------(ruhs-poo'-tin, gri-gohr'-ee yi-fee'-muh-vich) The scandalous behavior of Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin, b. c.1865, d. Dec. 30 (N.S.), 1916, and the influence he wielded over the Russian imperial family served to erode its prestige and contributed directly to the collapse of the Romanov dynasty shortly after his own death. Originally surnamed Novykh, he was born into a peasant family in Siberia and spent much of his youth in debauchery,receiving the name Rasputin ("debaucher"). He entered the church, however, and gained a reputation as a faith healer. Appearing at the imperial court about 1907, Rasputin soon became a favorite of Empress ALEXANDRA FYODOROVNA and through her influenced NICHOLAS II. Rasputin's hold over Alexandra stemmed from his hypnotic power to alleviate the suffering of the hemophiliac crown prince, Aleksei, and from her belief that this rude priest was a genuine representative of the Russian people. Rasputin's conduct became increasingly licentious and shocking to the Russian public, however. When Nicholas took personal command of Russian troops in 1915, Alexandra and Rasputin were virtually in charge of the government. Several conservative noblemen, recognizing Rasputin's destructive influence on an already deteriorating government, assassinated him. They first poisoned and then shot him; when these efforts failed, they drowned Rasputin in the Neva River. FORRESTT A. MILLER Bibliography: Rasputin, Maria, and Barham, Patte, Rasputin: Personal Memoir (1977);

The Man Behind the Myth, a

Rodzianko, Mikhail V., The Reign of Rasputin: by Catherine Zvegintzoff (1927; repr. 1973);

An Empire's Collapse, trans.

Wilson, Colin, Rasputin and the Fall of the Romanovs (1964). #