Prominent Russians: Grigory Rasputin
Rasputin was renowned for his charisma, all the literature and documentaries are consistent about that. People fell inexplicably under his spell (like another person we discussed recently), most famously Tsar Nicholas' wife, Alexandra.
Quote:Rasputin lived in an apartment on Gorohovaya Street. There, peasants and aristocrats came to visit him. Peasants and the city’s poor worshiped Rasputin and believed in his holiness and sometimes asked for help and money, and aristocrats, knowing his influence at court, visited him only to gain his favor and use it for their career growth or just because it was ‘fashionable.’ He also seduced women with his charm, preached and entertained. It was rumored that he organized his own sect performing religious sex rituals. Many reports of Rasputin’s unholy behavior reached Nicholas. But he dismissed these reports of Rasputin’s outings to bathhouses, beatings and violent sex with society women and prostitutes. He laughed them off by saying “the holy are always slandered.” Even Bishop Theophan tried to tell Nicholas to distance himself from Rasputin, but for this he was relieved of his post and banished.
Quote:For more information on Russia's arguably most charismatic figure check RT's documentary .
Rasputin was renowned for his charisma, all the literature and documentaries are consistent about that. People fell inexplicably under his spell (like another person we discussed recently), most famously Tsar Nicholas' wife, Alexandra.