145. The murder of Grigory Rasputin at Yusupov Palace
I visited Yusupov Palace on the Moyka River in early June, and it's one of my favorite palaces in the city center. What I did not do the last time I was there was see the area in the basement where the most infamous events in this building's history took place - the murder of Grigory Rasputin on December 30, 1916.
Rasputin is one of the most fascinating figures in the history of early 20th century Russia. He was a holy man who had no official position with the Orthodox church, yet was able to gain a position of influence with Emperor Nicholas II and his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, by successfully treating Tsarevitch Alexei's hemophilia beginning in 1906. When the Tsar left St. Petersburg in 1915 to lead the Russian army from the field during the First World War, Rasputin's influence grew even further, to the point that he was serving as Alexandra's primary political advisor in addition to his role as spiritual advisor to the royal family. He was certainly a larger-than-life figure, with his alleged appetites for drink and women (from every social standing) giving rise to all manner of gossip.
The Russian establishment grew increasingly displeased with Rasputin's outsized influence on Nicholas and Alexandra, until some members of the upper class decided to take matters into their own hands. The five conspirators who drew up a plan to eliminate Rasputin included the resident of Yusupov Palace, Prince Felix Yusupov, who was perhaps the wealthiest person in Russia at the time and married to Nicholas II's niece Irina Alexandrovna. The other prominent conspirator was Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, who as the grandson of Alexander II was Nicholas II's first cousin. The three others included a member of the State Duma, a doctor, and an army officer. Their plan took shape at the end of 1916.
Felix first tricked Rasputin into coming to the palace with the suggestion that his wife wanted to spend some time with him. Then he convinced Rasputin to indulge in some refreshments (cake and wine) that were laced with potassium cyanide. When the poison did not seem to be working, Felix shot Rasputin, then the conspirators beat him. When Rasputin allegedly got up to run away, he was shot several additional times. This lurid tale comes from Yusupov's 1928 book describing the murder, so there is some debate about whether the sequence of events went quite like this, or if Yusupov was trying to sensationalize the events of that night. It seems a bit unusual to write a book about how you murdered someone, but it was unsurprisingly a bestseller. Maria Rasputin (one of Grigory's daughters) sued Yusupov over the events described in his book, but lost because the French court she selected had no jurisdiction.
More recent thinking suggests that Rasputin died of a single gunshot to the head, and the poisoning, beating, and multiple gunshots were fabrications. At any rate, the conspirators then loaded the body in the trunk of their car, drove north through St. Petersburg looking for a place where they could dump the corpse, and dropped Rasputin off a bridge. When his body was found the next day, an autopsy allegedly showed there was some water in his lungs, which suggests that he was still alive when he hit the water, and ultimately died of drowning.
The Yusupov Palace has set up an exhibit about the murder in the basement rooms where the act took place. The 'Rasputin tour' starts with a short video that explains what happened (in Russian, of course). The exhibit begins with some photographs of several members of the House of Yusupov, then proceeds to two rooms with wax figures recreating the scene: four of the conspirators waiting for a signal from Felix that the deed was done (or that he needed help), and Felix and Rasputin at the table with the poisoned food. The exhibit concludes with a display of photographs, documents, and books related to the murder, investigation, and aftermath (ultimately, many see Rasputin's murder as one of the precipitating factors of the Russian Revolution). It was quite exciting to see the exact spot where such an unusual chapter in Russia's history took place.
Rasputin is one of the most fascinating figures in the history of early 20th century Russia. He was a holy man who had no official position with the Orthodox church, yet was able to gain a position of influence with Emperor Nicholas II and his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, by successfully treating Tsarevitch Alexei's hemophilia beginning in 1906. When the Tsar left St. Petersburg in 1915 to lead the Russian army from the field during the First World War, Rasputin's influence grew even further, to the point that he was serving as Alexandra's primary political advisor in addition to his role as spiritual advisor to the royal family. He was certainly a larger-than-life figure, with his alleged appetites for drink and women (from every social standing) giving rise to all manner of gossip.
The Russian establishment grew increasingly displeased with Rasputin's outsized influence on Nicholas and Alexandra, until some members of the upper class decided to take matters into their own hands. The five conspirators who drew up a plan to eliminate Rasputin included the resident of Yusupov Palace, Prince Felix Yusupov, who was perhaps the wealthiest person in Russia at the time and married to Nicholas II's niece Irina Alexandrovna. The other prominent conspirator was Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, who as the grandson of Alexander II was Nicholas II's first cousin. The three others included a member of the State Duma, a doctor, and an army officer. Their plan took shape at the end of 1916.
Felix first tricked Rasputin into coming to the palace with the suggestion that his wife wanted to spend some time with him. Then he convinced Rasputin to indulge in some refreshments (cake and wine) that were laced with potassium cyanide. When the poison did not seem to be working, Felix shot Rasputin, then the conspirators beat him. When Rasputin allegedly got up to run away, he was shot several additional times. This lurid tale comes from Yusupov's 1928 book describing the murder, so there is some debate about whether the sequence of events went quite like this, or if Yusupov was trying to sensationalize the events of that night. It seems a bit unusual to write a book about how you murdered someone, but it was unsurprisingly a bestseller. Maria Rasputin (one of Grigory's daughters) sued Yusupov over the events described in his book, but lost because the French court she selected had no jurisdiction.
More recent thinking suggests that Rasputin died of a single gunshot to the head, and the poisoning, beating, and multiple gunshots were fabrications. At any rate, the conspirators then loaded the body in the trunk of their car, drove north through St. Petersburg looking for a place where they could dump the corpse, and dropped Rasputin off a bridge. When his body was found the next day, an autopsy allegedly showed there was some water in his lungs, which suggests that he was still alive when he hit the water, and ultimately died of drowning.
The Yusupov Palace has set up an exhibit about the murder in the basement rooms where the act took place. The 'Rasputin tour' starts with a short video that explains what happened (in Russian, of course). The exhibit begins with some photographs of several members of the House of Yusupov, then proceeds to two rooms with wax figures recreating the scene: four of the conspirators waiting for a signal from Felix that the deed was done (or that he needed help), and Felix and Rasputin at the table with the poisoned food. The exhibit concludes with a display of photographs, documents, and books related to the murder, investigation, and aftermath (ultimately, many see Rasputin's murder as one of the precipitating factors of the Russian Revolution). It was quite exciting to see the exact spot where such an unusual chapter in Russia's history took place.
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