RASPUTIN - THE HEALING LOVER!

 "There lived a certain man in Russia long ago,
He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow,
Most people looked at him with terror and with fear,
But to Moscow chicks he was such a lovely dear,
He could preach the Bible like a preacher,
Full of ecstasy and fire,
But he also was the kind of teacher,
Women would desire."

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin has perhaps been the best known Siberian to date. Born on 10 Jan 1869 at Pokrovskoye, Siberia, he remained an illiterate despite having attended some school but did manage to don the mantle of a mystic. He entered a monastery but decided against becoming a monk and instead married Proskovia Fyodorovna at the tender age of 19 and produced three children from her. He also had a fourth child from another woman.

Rasputin was restless and his destiny had bigger things in store for him. He left his home and travelled to many places including Greece and the Middle East. He claimed to have holy healing powers and to an extent he did have those. While in St Petersburg, he was taken by a bishop to the then Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Fedorovna. The Tsar had a son, the only son rather, Alexis, who suffered from haemophilia (a disease in which blood does not clot if a wound takes place, resulting in possible death of the patient). Miraculously, in 1908 when Alexis was gravely ill, bleeding was stopped by Rasputin. He did something which no one before him had been able to do. He instantly became dear to the royal couple and was therafter a regular sight in the palace.

In 1915, Nicholas II assumed the command of the Russian Army and fought on the Eastern Front, leaving domestic affairs to his spouse to manage. Tsarina Alexandra sacked her old faithful ministers one by one and paid heed to only Rasputin's advice in matter personal as well as state affairs. As far as the Tsarina was concerned, Rasputin was the man sent by God in answer to her fervent prayers to save her only son. However, it is said that his grip over state affairs was exaggerated as those who differed with Tsar's decisions on important appointments, made him a scapegoat simply because they could not muster enough courage to directly face and challenge the Tsar.

Rasputin was very close to the Tsaritsa's closest friend, Anya Vyrubova. Her devotion to him was absolute, which was reinforced after she had a terrible accident in which the rail she was travelling by, derailed. She survived but what remained of her was just a lump of flesh; her body was crushed and mangled. Rasputin came to her bedside, stood over Anya as she lay there, held her hand, focused his inner energy and pronounced, "Annushka, Annushka, rise!". Anya suddenly awoke from her coma, opened her eyes and tried to rise from her bed. It was a miracle. Rasputin privately told the audience there that although she would live, she would remain a cripple. And so it came to be.

Over a period of time, he made many enemies in church and in palace. He was seen as a "dark force" who was ruining Russia.

"But when his drinking and lusting and his hunger
for power became known to more and more people,
the demands to do something about this outrageous
man became louder and louder."

"This man's just gotta go!" declared his enemies,
But the ladies begged "Don't you try to do it, please",
No doubt this Rasputin had lots of hidden charms,
Though he was a brute, they just fell into his arms,
Then one night some men of higher standing,
Set a trap, they're not to blame,
"Come to visit us" they kept demanding,
And he really came."

One night in December 1916, Rasputin was invited by Prince Felix Felixovich Yussupov. The excuse was the opportunity for Rasputin to meet Felix's wife, Irina, who was very attractive and was Tsar's niece. He was offered wine laced with poison. He drank it but the poison did not affect him. He was then killed by Felix with three to four shots.

"They put some poison into his wine
Ra Ra Rasputin,

Russia's greatest love machine,
He drank it all and said "I feel fine"
Ra Ra Rasputin,
Lover of the Russian queen,
They didn't quit, they wanted his head
Ra Ra Rasputin,
Russia's greatest love machine,
And so they shot him till he was dead."

Felix always maintained that he had killed Rasputin to save Russia. Certainly, Felix had never shown any patriotic leanings before, so his murder of Rasputin is hard to explain from a political standpoint. There might have been a personal reason for Felix's desire to get rid of him. Besides Felix, who was the mastermind of the plot, the Tsar's first cousin and ward Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich Romano and a member of the Imperial Duma, Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich, were also involved in Rasputin's killing.

Even today stories abound about this mysterious man who is considered shady by many. Some believe he had true healing powers while some dismiss him as just a manipulator who worked his way around the royalty for his personal gains. 

You may like to see the original performed by Boney M at Rasputin by Boney M.