# Rasputin **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 15, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543 "2003-03-15T06:13:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/91b2a8/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_Sandwhich)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/1 "2003-03-15T06:13:50Z")
On the Bizzare Deaths thread, slortar writes: “The story of Rasputin’s assasination is a personal favorite. Failed poisoning, failed shooting, crossdressers…” slortar then goes on about his Russian History prof giving a lecture about the guy. He certainly was a character, and I can recall my high school history teacher talking about him. Is the “Mad Monk” part of the standard curriculum in high school and college? ---
**Author:** ![kgriffey79](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@kgriffey79](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kgriffey79)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/2 "2003-03-15T15:27:06Z")
I took AP European History my sophomore year and my teacher went off on the guy. He told us the story about his assasination. But passed it off as legend. I’m not sure if this is part of standard curriculum. I go to a private high school and this guy is in love with history, so he goes off on stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/3 "2003-03-15T16:19:20Z")
I have taught AP European history before and Rasputin was definitely a part of my discussion of WWI and the Russian Revolution. He had enormous impact on both Tsar Nicholas and especially the Empress Alexandra because of his seeming ability to control the hemophilia that the prince Alexei suffered. He overstepped his bounds when he started giving militiary advice to the royal couple regarding Russian generals. Many people thought he was acting on behalf of Germany, because of course his advice was lousy. It also didn’t help matters that Alexandra was German herself, and therefore of suspect loyalty. Rasputin ended up being assassinated (yes it took a loooong time to complete the deed) by a Russian prince who was convinced that he was sabotaging the Russian war effort. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/4 "2003-03-15T22:00:00Z")
I learned about Rasputin marginally in high school world history, but more than the basics I had to find out on my own. Interesting fellow, that one. When my dad’s hair and beard get too long, we call him Rasputin. He gets those “helter skelter” eyes once in a while, when he’s angry, and the resemblance is uncanny. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/5 "2003-03-15T22:02:54Z")
One too many commas. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/6 "2003-03-16T03:58:36Z")
Yep, Rasputin is a HUGE figure in Russian history. Or at least, 20th century pre-communist Russian history. There are some who blame the downfall of the Tsarist system on him. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/7 "2003-03-16T10:51:20Z")
Rasputin and the fall of the Tsar was not mentioned much in my history classes in school. I am from Indiana FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/8 "2003-03-16T11:02:19Z")
Everything I needed to know, I learned from Boney M. He was indeed “Russia’s greatest love-machine”. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/9 "2003-03-16T15:37:33Z")
I was upset to learn that the story of his death was fabricated.(I’ve got cites in books at home. But, I’ll have to get one of the web later) ``` The story was spread by several factions because it served their ends. It made the killer look macho instead of wimpy. It made Rasputin even more supernatural. His enemies could use his inhuman toughness as proof of his diabolical power. His followers could use it as proof of divine power. ``` Remember that the prince’s hemophilia was kept secret. The public had no idea why the Empress was keeping this drunken, lecherous, unwashed lunatic in the palace. I’ve got a copy of a political cartoon depicting Rasputin as a wild-bearded hillbilly leading orgies in the palace. To me, the fascinating question is whether Rasputin was a madman or a conman. IMHO, the evidence points to a lunatic who honestly believed he was doing God’s work and loved the royal Family. BTW- The Mad Monk and I share the same birthday, January 22nd. My Mother’s family is of Ukranian descent, so there is even some resemblance between Grigori and I. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/10 "2003-03-16T17:45:30Z")
Let’s not forget “The Onion’s” parody in the book they wrote on the 20th century: “The Committee to Kill Rasputin has announced that they should have completed the deed by 1924” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/11 "2003-03-16T20:14:11Z")
My guess is that he was shot and drowned, but the poisoned cakes and stabbings and all that were mere embellishments. The most reliable person in on the conspiracy was Grand Duke Dmitri, and he refused to discuss it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/12 "2003-03-16T22:49:40Z")
“I’m going to tell the Empress, Felix! I’m going to tell the Empress!” I was not taught of Rasputin in a Catholic high school. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/13 "2003-03-17T00:16:08Z")
As I recall reading, there definately were gunshot wounds, they definatley had been hit with fists, and he appears to have tried to have broken his bonds, but there was never a toxicology test, so the poison is quite likely a myth. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasputin/161543/14 "2003-03-17T02:04:28Z")
I remember reading in _Time_ Magazine in the 1970s that Rasputin was the latest hot trend in soul music— as exemplified by that Boney M tune. “Rah rah Rasputin…” He also put in an appearance on the album cover of _One Nation Under a Groove_ by Funkadelic. A photograph of him was captioned “Rasputin Raps” and a word balloon had him saying, “Ah, dese Funkadelic is very good for America!” Rasputin’s rep for sexual prowess is connected to his membership in a bizarre Russian Orthodox sex cult, the Khlysti. They carried out ritual orgies which included ecstasy-inducing dances of men and women in a circle and mutual whipping, ending wholesale copulation. The Italian philosopher Julius Evola made a study of this connection in his book _Eros and the Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex_, p. 112-114. > [@](#): > > Rasputin, both personally and in his behavior, was repulsive rather than attractive; an influence of a different category, at least partly connected to the experience of the Khlysti and most likely also based on his exceptional inclinations, constituted the foundation of his power and fascination; these he exercised even in the circles of the high Russian aristocracy, which were otherwise not open to a dirty, primitive peasant. Rasputin was, to some extent, attached to the techniques of the Khlysti and often made use of the dance, which he considered a buildup to coitus; he had a predilection for gypsy music, which, when genuine, is one of the few types that still retain a frenetic and elemental disposition. It is said that the women whom Rasputin chose to dance with “had the feeling that they were taking part in the mystical influence of which the starets had often spoken.” As the rhythm became more and more frenetic, it could be seen how “the face of the woman dancing lit up, how her glances little by little became veiled, her eyelids grew heavy and, in the end, closed.” The starets then carried away the almost unconscious woman to copulate with her. In most cases, the memory that the woman retained of what had happened was almost mystical ecstasy. However, there were also those who brought back an impression of deep horror, and there was even one case of semimadness as an outcome.