How Did Rasputin Died?

The renowned Rasputin is an esteemed Russian mystic and faith healer, but he died in a way that would befit a scene from a "John Wick movie.

Despite his reputation as a charlatan, Rasputin won favor with Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra after demonstrating his ability to stop their son Alexei's bleeding, which was due to his hemophilia. Alexandra became convinced that Rasputin did, indeed, possess mystical powers, and his influence within both the ill-fated Romanov family and the Russian government grew. Several years later, when the Czar left to lead the Russian forces during World War I, it is said that the healer effectively ruled the country by using Alexandra as a mouthpiece for his own agenda.

This is where Prince Felix Yussupov, the richest man in Russia, and Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich, the Czar's own first cousin, enter the story. The two cooked up what they believed to be the perfect plot to assassinate the powerful mystic.

On the night of 29 December 1916, the murderous duo lured Rasputin to Moika Palace in St. Petersburg. It was there that they offered him cyanide-laced cakes and wine — which, at first, he refused to eat. After some time, he began to eat the poisoned cakes, and then, to Yussupov's surprise, the seemingly unaffected healer asked for 3 glasses of the laced wine.

Growing tired of his inability to be poisoned, Yussupov decided to take matters into his own hands by shooting Rasputin at close range and leaving him for dead. This plan didn't work either, as Rasputin revived and attempted to flee the palace grounds. This time, however, proved to be his last chance at escape, as he was then shot, bound, and thrown into the frigid Neva River.

Several days later, his body washed ashore, and it was determined that he died by drowning.

Yussupov wrote in his 1928 memoir, Lost Splendour and the Death of Rasputin, "This devil who was dying of poison, who had a bullet in his heart, must have been raised from the dead by the powers of evil. There was something appalling and monstrous in his diabolical refusal to die."

After the assassination of Rasputin, the prince reinvented himself as a patriot. He believed that Rasputin's death would lead the Czar to heed the advice of other nobility and save the monarchy. However, no major effects were seen on Nicholas II's policies, leading to the Russian Revolution the following year.