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Rasputin, the mystery man.

Peasants are poor farmers who have low social standing who rent or own small pieces of

land used for cultivation. Russian peasants are also known as serfs. They are agricultural laborers

who work on the estates of their lords. This paper seeks to discuss one famous serf called Grigori

Rasputin.

Grigori Rasputin was a peasant in Russia who was also a healer of mystical faith. He was

also a close and trusted a friend to Russia’s last Tsar Nicholas the second, together with his

family. Rasputin’s death of birth has been a bone of contention, with biographers stating it could

be between the 1860’s to 1870’s. His daughter, however, says Rasputin was born on January

23rd in 1871.

Rasputin’s early life started in a small village called Pokrovskoye in a family of a peasant

and a coach driver. Rasputin had eight siblings, with him being the fifth born in a family of nine.

Only him and his sister Feodosiya survived childbirth. The 1897 census done in his village

proved that nearly all inhabitants were illiterate. Rasputin himself never went to school as he was

seen as an outcast, one with mysterious talents.

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Historians concluded that Rasputin's name meant “where two rivers join”, describing his

area of birth in Siberia. Rasputin enrolled in the Russian Verkhoture Monastery with the idea of

becoming a monk but left at nineteen years of age to marry Proskovia Fyodorovna, with whom

they bore three children named Dmitri, Varvara, and Matryona. Two of his children, however,

died after birth. Rasputin abruptly decided to leave his village and his family and head out to

Greece.

Rasputin’s wanderings made him travel to Jerusalem and Greece. He ended up in St

Petersburg, where he proclaimed to be a holy man, who had the power to heal and do future

predictions. His endeavors brought him to meet Nicholas the second and Alexandra Feodorovna,

his wife, who wanted medical assistance for their son Alexi. Rasputin confidently cured Alexis

of hemophilia, making him become a close friend to the family.

Rasputin’s healing prowess was considered by many, the use of hypnotism, though others

speculated his prowess in hypnotism. Part of his mystery as a healer was the fact that not so

many people were sure that he was as powerful, had the ability to heal people and predict the

future as he said to be. The act of healing Nicholas’s son made him a personal advisor and close

confidante to him. The aristocrats, however, did not support the idea of a peasant advising one of

the highest offices in the land. He was seen as an avid drunk and a promiscuous man. Rasputin’s

image before royal people appeared saintly though others saw him as a sex-craving drunkard

peasant who was destroying Russia and putting the monarchy to shame. Rasputin’s political

favors were always granted with exchange for sex with the high society women.
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Rasputin’s careless lifestyle was the fuel igniting hatred towards him. After a failed

poison attempt, Rasputin was shot dead and his body was thrown into the Neva River. He was

discovered after three days. Rasputin’s last prophecy predicted that if government officials killed

him, the Russians would kill the whole imperial family. His prophecy was manifested fifteen

months later were Nicholas, his wife, and children, were killed by assassins in the event of the

revolution in Russia.

In conclusion, Rasputin was a man of great mystery and power. He often used his

abilities for the good of people, but abused them to achieve his own personal agenda. Rasputin’s

birth is still a mystery, making him be more peculiar and mysterious. A man loved and despised

at the equal measure, Rasputin grew from a small peasant boy to being an advisor to the imperial

family, which led him to his death.

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Works cited.

Cook, Andrew. To Kill Rasputin: The Life and Death of Grigori Rasputin. Stroud:

History Press, 2011. Internet resource.

Shukman, Harold. Rasputin. New York: The History Press, 2011. Internet resource.