No other figure in Russian history has ever received the amount of vilification and disapproval heaped upon Grigory Rasputin. The self-appointed monk, who received practically little education in the intricacies of the Russian orthodox faith, came from the rural areas of Russia and achieved great recognition as ‘staretz’ or holy man in the high circles of St Petersburg society. From rags to social prominence the life of Grigory Rasputin holds many of the events leading …showed first 75 words of 1338 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1338 total…the frozen Neva River. The cause of death was drowning. The aristocrat’s attempts to save the tsarist regime by murdering Rasputin had failed, two months later Nicholas II was overthrown, the imperial family were imprisoned and many of the Romanov cousins were arrested during the Russian revolution of 1917 and 2 years later Nicholas and his entire family were executed by a firing squad. Rasputin’s final prediction had been fulfilled and his dark legacy immortalised.