One of the most notorious characters in modern Russian history was a religious charlatan and opportunist known as Rasputin. For more than ten years he maintained a hold over Czar Nicholas II and his wife through his ability to relieve the pain of their son Alexis' hemophilia, a painful and often fatal blood disease.
Rasputin's real name was Grigory Yefimovich Novykh. He was born in Pokrovskoye, Siberia, about 1872. All his life he remained an illiterate peasant. His reputation for wild, licentious living earned him the nickname Rasputin, meaning "debauched one." For a time he studied at a monastery. He did not become a monk. Instead he married and fathered four children.He turned up in St. Petersburg, the Russian capital, in 1903 and soon insinuated himself into the royal family. Alexandra, wife of Nicholas II, was especially fond of him and his mysterious powers.
During World War I Nicholas went to the front to command Russian troops. This gave Rasputin the chance to become the most powerful man at court. He appointed church officials and cabinet ministers and even intervened in military matters. Finally a group of conspirators lured him to a private home. There, on the night of Dec. 29-30, 1916,they killed him. A few weeks later the Russian Revolution ended the rule of the Romanov dynasty.
