Rasputin: The Mad Monk of Russian Tsarist Family

Grigori Rasputin, born into a Siberian peasant family, lived a quiet life until a religious awakening in 1897 transformed him into a self-proclaimed mystic. With rumored healing powers and a knack for seduction, Rasputin gained favor with the Russian royals,.Despite his proclaimed holiness, Rasputin, known as the "Mad Monk," led a sinful lifestyle, including heavy drinking and alleged affairs with noblewomen, particularly Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, causing resentment among the upper class, which escalated on the eve of World War I in 1914. His enemies, both nobility and priests, plotted against him. Rasputin survived an assassination attempt in 1914 but met his demise in 1916, poisoned, shot, and drowned. His death foreshadowed the collapse of the Romanov rule, as the Russian Empire faced revolutionary change.