Gregory Rasputin
Gregory Rasputin was born in 1869, into a Russian peasant family. He became a monk when he was an adult, and travelled around the country for many years. In 1905 he insinuated himself into the royal crowd. He was accepted by the tsar and tsarina because he could do what nobody else could- stop the bleeding of their son, who had haemophilia. In 1914, Tsar Nicholas left to fight in the war as the general, and the leading of Russia was left to Tsarina Alexandra. Unfortunately, by this time Rasputin had worked his way up into the inner circle of the family, and he governed by her side, making rash and unwise decisions.
For a supposedly holy man, Rasputin was involved in a lot of worldly things. He liked his wine and cakes, as well as good clothing. He was supposedly holy at first, but as he and the tsarina messed Russia up more and more, he became less so. He himself admitted that he was a devil, where before he had been holy. The noblewomen of the Russian court idolized him, because he was a mystic who magically solved their problems.
However, a good part of the Russian nobility disliked him. The feelings were shared with the commoners: what he and the tsarina were doing caused the country to go downhill. A group of noblemen planned to poison him one night. However, an apparently lethal dose of cyanide had no effect on him. Prince Yussoupov, losing his patience, gave up and shot Rasputin in the the back. The doctor they were working with declared him dead; this was incorrect. A few minutes later he leapt up and tried to strangle Yussoupov. The prince ran outside, hotly pursued by Rasputin, until finally the corrupt monk was shot, clubbed to death, and thrown in an icy river just to make sure he was completely dead.
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