who was the guy (whose name started with an R, i believe) who was poisoned, shot, tried to be drowned, swam across a river (or some kind of water), and ended up drowning in water maybe a foot deep because of exhaustion?
I think it’s safe to say his name wasn’t “Lucky”
sorry, no clue
Rasputin. Crazy russian monk.
Rasputin.
I believe you’re talking about Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin. In 1916, Prince Felix Yusupov lured him down to the cellar and fed him poisoned cakes and wine. When this did not have the desired effect, Yusupov shot him at point-blank range. When he regained consciousness, Rasputin leapt up and tried to strangle Yusupov, then escaped the cellar and began crawling through the yard.
Some of Yusupov’s buddies appeared and began shooting and bludgeoning him. Finally they tied Rasputin up and tossed him in the freezing river, where he drowned.
.:Nichol:.
As I understand, Rasputin’s demise was greatly exaggerated by his killers. For the moment, the exact details of the truth escapes me, but IIRC, the murder was actually much more simply acomplished. One of the killers admitted much later that he had made up much of the tale, sort of to make Rasputin the villian seem demonic and supernaturally strong.
Perhaps someone else knows the true details. If not, I’ll look in one of my books for a cite.
yeah, that’s the guy i was thinking of.
The most credible witness, Grand Duke Dmitri, refused to even discuss the murder, so his side of the story went to the grave with him.
BTW, you might find it interesting-there is a fringe movement to have Rasputin canonized! :eek:
Rah! Rah! Rasputin!
With thanks to Boney M. Get the song if you can–it’s a really fun '70s disco tune.
Rasputin was not a monk. Rasputin was never a monk. He never entered into vows and even had a wife (whom he ignored, of course). Rasputin was one of any number of peripatetic self-proclaimed “holy men” with which 19th-century Russia was rife. (Russia of WWI was still culturally 19th-century Russia.)