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10 Facts About the Mysterious and Tragic Death of Grigori Rasputin

A person was discovered on January 1, 1917, buried beneath the frozen Neva River. During the Tsarist era, Grigori Rasputin served as an advisor to the Russian emperors. In addition to severely beating and shooting him three times, his attackers also appeared to have gouged out his right eye.

Everyone speculated that Rasputin was a witch doctor and a person who was not good for the Tsar and because of his reputation he was also disliked by the Bolsheviks. It’s apparent that he had many enemies in his own country and even outside his own country. Prince Felix Yusupov claimed credit for Rasputin’s death along with four other conspirators. Today, history textbooks continue to feature Yusupov’s account. However, there are different theories about Grigori’s Rasputin, how did he really die? read on and discover. 

1. He received a death threat the day before he died

, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Rasputin got an unusual call in the early hours of December 29, 1916. He informed his daughter Maria that the voice on the other end of the queue wasn’t one he knew. Nonetheless, the message was unmistakable: Rasputin’s days were numbered.

This wasn’t Rasputin’s first death threat, as a matter of fact, he was rather used to it. A lot of people felt that he deserved to die and some went the extra mile and sent him death letters every day in his life. For some reason, this particular death threat felt different for him. 

2. There is a theory that cyanide killed him, but did it really?

Rasputin’s supposed poisoning was Yusupov’s intent. With the help of one of his accomplices, Dr. Stanislaus de Lazovert, he asked  Rasputin to his house where he served him plates full of cakes and wine that had been poisoned with cyanide. The plan was to make sure that Rasputin ate enough to kill him and though it’s true that Rasputin visited Yusupov it’s unclear if cyanide killed him. 

According to Yusupov, he gave Rasputin the poisoned cakes and wines, and Rasputin reportedly ate enough cyanide to kill an elephant. But when an autopsy was done, they didn’t find any trace of poison in his body. 

3. Yusupov pulled out his pistol and shot Rasputin in the chest

, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Yusupov pulled out his pistol and shot Rasputin in the chest after becoming frustrated that his poison was useless. Rasputin passed out on his back, his body dripping with blood, and his muscles tensed violently. To fool Rasputin’s neighbours one of the men who was working with Yusupov dressed up as Rasputin and went back to ensure that people in his area thought that it was him. 

4. What the autopsy showed

Yusupov’s story is obviously intriguing, but it doesn’t line up with the facts. Every statement in Professor Dmitry Kosorotov’s autopsy report on Rasputin’s remains is in conflict. In his memoirs, Yusupov said that he killed Rasputin by shooting him in the heart.

He even claimed to have had Dr. Lazovert examine the body to verify that the gun had indeed struck his heart. However, Kosorotov’s autopsy revealed that there were only three gunshot holes in total, and none of them had even approached the heart. Instead, the bullets entered his body through the stomach, liver, kidney, and skull, leaving behind wounds that no doctor could possibly mistake for a heart attack.

5. Apparently, Rasputin was still alive when he was thrown into the water

Rasputin was shot in the head, but according to Yusupov, he was still able to move. Even so, the conspirators tied Rasputin’s arms and legs, wrapped his body in a thick piece of linen, carried it to the top of a bridge, and threw it into the water.

Rasputin reportedly survived being thrown in, according to rumours. He apparently managed to free himself from the chains and his head was above water when he was found, in fact, his daughter said that her father had drowned. 

6. They found a lot of wounds on his body

Kosorotov would later claim that it appeared that the wounds were created after Rasputin had passed away. This wasn’t the outcome of a bloody fight. It was the heinous mutilation of a dead body, a terrible beating that is never addressed has never been addressed. 

There are justifications for everything. Some have speculated that Rasputin might have sustained these wounds while his body floated and was dragged beneath a thick layer of hard ice. It’s possible that Rasputin’s wrist ropes were also severed by the ice. But, any explanation is only an assumption. What we can say with certainty is that his body was badly tortured whether this was caused by the power of nature or the force of man, we cannot be certain.

7. Yusupov had at first tried to cover up Rasputin’s death

At first, Yusupov really tried to act as if he knew nothing about Rasputin’s death. He actually said that the gunshots that came from his house were from a drunk visitor shooting at a dog. They even went the extra mile to act like there was a Rasputin lookalike in his neighbourhood. 

Even if the autopsy didn’t match Yusupov’s story, the police definitely found bloodstains on his property. And as soon as he was suspected, Yusupov began eagerly trying to capitalise on his fame, notwithstanding his first denial of the murder. He even went on to pen a whole memoir outlining how he had murdered Rasputin.

8. There’s a theory that a British spy killed him

Oswald Rayner was Yusupov’s friend who always carried a 455 Webley pistol with him and while they might have been friends, many people believe that he is the one that killed Rasputin on British Intelligence’s orders. The British had a personal stake in Rasputin’s death. His deal would have swung the tide of World War I against the Allies as he attempted to mediate peace between Russia and Germany. Rasputin’s death may have prevented the Germans from winning the war.

9. However, the person who shot Rasputin was not exactly an expert

, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A few of the arguments against Rayner are also unpersuasive. The bullet in Rasputin’s skull, according to one book devoted to proving Rayner was the murderer, could only be “the work of a trained killer”—but as we already know, that round was fired at point-blank range while Rasputin was lying down. It was scarcely a skilled shot.

Neither was the murder. Rasputin’s assassination, according to Police Chief Serda, was committed by “incompetent” assassins who used the clumsiest methods he had ever witnessed in his whole career. In other words, it was hardly the work of a secret agent.

10. Rasputin may have predicted his own death

Rasputin’s body was dug out by a group of soldiers, who then tossed it upon a stack of logs, doused it with petrol and burnt it up.   For fear that his mausoleum might turn become a memorial to the Tsarist era, they destroyed his body. Rasputin’s body was set on fire in front of a large group of villagers, and practically all of them claim to have seen the corpse of the Russian general rise in the flames.

Nonetheless, they claim that Rasputin foresaw every detail. I feel that I shall leave life before January 1,” Rasputin reportedly stated in a letter to Tsarina Alexandra just before he passed away. Rasputin foresaw that he would not be left in peace, even after his death. His remains would be burned, and the wind would carry his ashes.