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THIS DAY IN HISTORY DECEMBER 30

1916
December 30

Rasputin is murdered

Sometime over the course of the night and the early morning of December
29-30, 1916, Grigory Efimovich Rasputin, a self-proclaimed holy man, is
murdered by Russian nobles eager to end his influence over the royal
family.

Rasputin, a Siberian-born muzhik , or peasant, who underwent a religious

conversion as a teenager and proclaimed himself a healer with the ability to
predict the future, won the favor of Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra
through his ability to stop the bleeding of their hemophiliac son, Alexei, in
1908. From then on, though he was widely criticized for his lechery and
drunkenness, Rasputin exerted a powerful influence on the ruling family of
Russia, infuriating nobles, church orthodoxy, and peasants alike. He
particularly influenced the czarina, and was rumored to be her lover. When
Nicholas departed to lead Russian forces in World War I, Rasputin effectively
ruled the country through Alexandra, contributing to the already-existing
corruption and disorder of Romanov Russia.

Fearful of Rasputin’s growing power (among other things, it was believed by

some that he was plotting to make a separate peace with the Germans), a
group of nobles, led by Prince Felix Youssupov, the husband of the czar’s
niece, and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, Nicholas’s first cousin, lured
Rasputin to Youssupov Palace on the night of December 29, 1916.

First, Rasputin’s would-be killers gave the monk food and wine laced with
cyanide. When he failed to react to the poison, they shot him at close range,
leaving him for dead. A short time later, however, Rasputin revived and
attempted to escape from the palace grounds, whereupon his assailants
shot him again and beat him viciously. Finally, they bound Rasputin, still
miraculously alive, and tossed him into a freezing river. His body was
discovered several days later and the two main conspirators, Youssupov and
Pavlovich were exiled.

Not long after, the Bolshevik Revolution put an end to the imperial regime.
Nicholas and Alexandra were murdered, and the long, dark reign of the
Romanovs was over.

READ MORE: Could Anyone Have Saved the Romanovs?

Citation Information

Article Title
Rasputin is murdered

Author
History.com Editors

Website Name
HISTORY

URL
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/rasputin-is-murdered

Access Date
February 1, 2023

Publisher
A&E Television Networks

Last Updated
December 21, 2020

Original Published Date

November 16, 2009

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