5 Interesting Facts You Didn't Know About Rasputin

Grigori Rasputin Colorized by Marina Amaral

Grigori Rasputin is well known for his connections with Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra and their family. Overtime, he has gained the reputation of a being mad monk with healing powers and undeniable sexual allure. But is that true? Here's 5 facts about Rasputin that you didn't know before.

1. He was a mystic healer. Well, sort of. He was of the Orthodox Christian faith and was incredibly spiritual. He claimed to have had a religious experience and travelled the country teaching faith gaining him the reputation as a wandering mystic. He came into contact with Tsar Nicholas and tried to help heal his son, Alexei, of haemophilia and it seemed to work. There is dispute over whether this was down to his mystical powers, hypnosis or simply change of medication.

The Russian Royal Family During the First World War © IWM (Q 69052)

2. He did not, as the cartoon Anastasia suggests, kill Tsar Nicholas and his family. Rasputin actually died in 1916 and the Russian Royal Family perished in 1917 at the hands of the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution.

3. It was hard to kill Rasputin. Nobody really knows the full story of how he died and the story is likely to have been exaggerated. But Boney M's song about him pretty much nails the widely accepted story of his death. He was indeed poisoned and shot, multiple times in fact, as they so cheerfully sing. However he was also beaten and thrown into a river but I guess that might be a bit too dark to put into a pop song.

Grigori Rasputin © IWM (Q 81770)

4. His penis is in a museum. Yep. You read that right. Somehow following his death it was allegedly cut off and has eventually made it's way into the Museum of Russian Erotica (apparently).

5. He was a ladies man. Despite his rugged appearance, Rasputin gained a lot of sexual attention from women around him. In Rasputin:A Short Life, Welch describes how he used to visit a bath house to have a grand old time with his 'little ladies'. You might be surpised that a holy man was so promiscuous but Rasputin believed it didn't matter "if you fornicate a little" and believed that "without sin there is no repentance".

Do you know any more wild facts about Rasputin?

Further Reading:
Frances Welch, Rasputin: A Short Life
The Mad Monk: The Grigori Rasputin Story https://historycooperative.org/mad-monk-grigori-rasputin-story/
Is this the foot-long preserved penis of Rasputin? https://metro.co.uk/2009/10/01/is-this-the-foot-long-preserved-penis-of-rasputin-454549/