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On a cold winter night in 1916,

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Felix Yusupov anxiously prepared [br]to pick up his dinner guest.

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If all went as planned, [br]his guest would be dead by morning,

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though four others had already tried[br]and failed to finish him off.

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The Russian monarchy [br]was on the brink of collapse,

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and to Yusupov [br]and his fellow aristocrats,

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the holy man they’d invited to dinner [br]was the single cause of it all.

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But who was he,

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and how could a single monk [br]be to blame for the fate of an empire?

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Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin [br]began his life in Siberia,

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born in 1869 to a peasant family.

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He might have lived a life of obscurity [br]in his small village,

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if not for his conversion [br]to the Russian Orthodox Church

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in the 1890s.

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Inspired by the humbled monks [br]that wandered endlessly

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from holy site to holy site,

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he spent years on pilgrimages [br]across Russia.

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On his travels, strangers were captivated [br]by Rasputin’s magnetic presence.

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Some even believed he had mystical gifts [br]of prediction and healing.

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Despite Rasputin’s heavy drinking, [br]petty theft, and promiscuity,

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his reputation as a monk [br]quickly spread beyond Siberia

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and attracted both laypeople [br]and powerful Orthodox clergymen.

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When he finally reached the capital, [br]St. Petersburg,

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Rasputin used [br]his charisma and connections

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to win favor with the imperial family’s [br]spiritual advisor.

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In November 1905,

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Rasputin was finally introduced [br]to Russian Tsar Nicholas II.

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Nicholas and his wife Alexandra [br]devoutly believed in the Orthodox Church,

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as well as in mysticism [br]and supernatural powers,

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and this Siberian holy man [br]had them transfixed.

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It was a particularly tumultuous period [br]for Russia and their family.

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The monarchy [br]was barely clinging to control

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after the Revolution of 1905.

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Their political struggles [br]were only intensified by personal turmoil:

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Alexei, the heir to the throne,

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had a life-threatening blood disease [br]called hemophilia.

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When Alexei suffered [br]a severe medical crisis in 1912,

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Rasputin advised his parents [br]to reject treatment from doctors.

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Alexei’s health improved, [br]cementing the royal family’s belief

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that Rasputin had magical healing powers,

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and guaranteeing [br]his privileged place on the royal court.

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Today, we know that [br]the doctors had prescribed aspirin,

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a drug that worsens hemophilia.

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After this incident, [br]Rasputin made a prophecy:

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if he died, [br]or the royal family deserted him,

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both their son and their crown [br]would soon be gone.

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Outside the royal family, [br]people had mixed views on Rasputin.

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On one hand, peasants regarded him [br]as one of their own,

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amplifying their often-unheard voice [br]to the monarchy.

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But nobles and clergymen [br]came to despise his presence.

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Rasputin never ceased [br]his scandalous behavior,

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and they were skeptical [br]of his so-called powers

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and thought he was corrupting [br]the royal family.

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By the end of World War I,

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they were convinced [br]the only way to maintain order

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was to eliminate this sham [br]of a holy man.

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With this conviction,

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Yusupov began [br]to plot Rasputin’s assassination.

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Though the exact details [br]remain mysterious,

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our best guess at how it all unfolded [br]comes from Yusupov’s memoirs.

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He served Rasputin a number of pastries, [br]believing they contained cyanide.

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But unbeknownst to Yusupov,

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one of his co-conspirators [br]had a change of heart,

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and substituted the poison [br]with a harmless substance.

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To Yusupov’s shock, [br]Rasputin ate them without ill effect.

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In desperation, [br]he shot Rasputin at point-blank range.

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But Rasputin recovered, [br]punched his attacker, and fled.

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Yusupov and his accomplices pursued him,

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finally killing Rasputin [br]with a bullet to the forehead

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and dumping his body [br]in the Malaya Nevka river.

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But far from stabilizing [br]the monarchy’s authority,

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Rasputin’s death enraged the peasantry.

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Just as Rasputin prophesied,

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his murder was swiftly followed [br]by that of the royal family.

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Whether the downfall [br]of the Russian monarchy

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was a product of the monk’s curse,

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or the result of political tensions [br]decades in the making,

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well, we may never know.