Born – 21st January 1869
Died – 30th December 1916 (murdered)
Father – Efim Rasputin
Mother – Anna Parshukova
Spouse – m. 1887 – Praskovia Fedorovna Dubrovina
Children – Dmitri (b. 1895), Matryona (b. 1898), Varvara (b. 1900)
See Also: Tsarist Russia
1869 (21st January)
Grigori Rasputin was born to Efim Rasputin and Anna Parshukova in Pokrovskoye, Siberia.
1870s (during)
Little is known of Rasputin’s early life. He was uneducated and often in trouble with the authorities for petty crimes.
1886 (during)
Rasputin met Praskovya Dubrovina in Abalak in the Tobolsky district of Russia.
1887 (February)
Grigori Rasputin married Praskovya Dubrovina in Abalak.
1895 (early)
A son, Dmitry, was born to Grigori and Praskovya.
1897 (during)
Grigori Rasputin left Pokrovskoye to make a pilgrimage to St Nicholas Monastery at Verkhouturye. He met an elder of the monastery named Makary who had a profound influence on him.
1898 (during)
A daughter, Matryona, was born to Grigori and Praskovya.
1898 (during)
Rasputin began a life as a wandering holy man. He would often be away from home for long periods of time as he travelled the country visiting holy sites.
1900 (during)
A daughter, Varvara, was born to Grigori and Praskovya.
1900 (during)
Rasputin converted his father’s cellar to a chapel and he held prayer meetings and services for his followers. There were rumours that he engaged in inappropriate behaviour with female followers but these were not proved.
1903 (around)
Rasputin visited the city of Kazan. The people here believed he was a holy man who could help people. The leader of the Seven Lakes Monastery near Kazan believed in Rasputin and gave him a letter of recommendation to the St Petersburg Theological Seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
1904 (during)
Grigori Rasputin travelled to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery at St Petersburg. He was introduced to Archimandrite Feofan, a church leader, and stayed at his house.
1905 (during)
Rasputin had made connections with a number of members of the aristocracy including two of the Tsar’s cousins.
1905 (1st November)
Grigory Rasputin was introduced to Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra at the Peterhof Palace, St Petersburg.
1905 (late)
Rasputin returned to Prokovskoye to see his family.
1906 (during)
Rasputin returned to St Petersburg. He requested a meeting with the Tsar so that he could present him with a picture of Simeon of Verkhoturye, Saint of the Ural region.
1906 (18th July)
Rasputin was granted an audience with Nicholas and Alexandra.
1906 (October)
Grigory Rasputin met the Russian royal family again and was introduced to the royal children. Historians are divided about when Rasputin first claimed to be able to help the Tsarevich Alexei, heir to the Russian throne who suffered from haemophilia, but from this point he became the child’s healer.
1907 (Spring)
The Tsar’s son, Alexei was taken ill due to his haemophilia. Rasputin was summoned and he managed to stop Alexei’s bleeding.
1910 (during)
Pyotr Stolypin, Prime Minister of Russia, conducted an investigation into the behaviour of Rasputin and presented it to Nicholas II. After Nicholas took no action, Stolypin ordered Rasputin to leave St Petersburg. Alexandra was furious but Nicholas refused to order his return.
1912 (5th September)
Alexei jumped into a boat and injured himself on an oarlock. A large haematoma appeared on his thigh but began to reduce in size after a week.
1912 (2nd October)
Nicholas’s son, Alexei was riding in a carriage with his family. The carriage jolted rupturing the haematoma in his thigh. His conditioned worsened rapidly and he became unconscious.
1912 (10th October)
Although Alexei was beginning to recover, Alexandra secretly sent a message to Rasputin asking him to come to help Alexei recover. Rasputin replied by letter that Alexei would not die.
1912 (19th October)
Alexei had recovered considerably. Alexandra was convinced it was due to Rasputin.
1912 (late Summer)
Grigory Rasputin became much closer to the Royal Family and was frequently at the palace.
1912 (Autumn)
Many people were concerned about the influence Rasputin had on the Royal Family especially the Tsarina Alexandra. Alexei’s haemophilia had been kept secret and people believed that he was having an affair with Alexandra. Rasputin also caused controversy because he did not behave like a holy man and was often accused of inappropriate behaviour with women, drunkenness and acceptance of bribes.
1913 (during)
The Octobrists, the largest party in the Duma, ordered an investigation into the behaviour of Rasputin. They were concerned over the influence Rasputin had with the Tsarina.
1914 (12th July)
Rasputin was stabbed in the stomach by Chionya Guseva, a peasant woman who wanted to kill Rasputin as a false prophet. He underwent surgery and survived.
1914 (1st August)
World War One
Germany declared war on Russia. Following the assassination of heir to the Austro-Hungarian Emprie, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, by Serbian nationalists, Austria-Hungary shelled the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Russia then backed Serbia and mobilised troops. Germany was allied to Austria-Hungary and declared war on Russia to support its ally.
Germany declared war on Russia. Following the assassination of heir to the Austro-Hungarian Emprie, Franz Ferdinand and his wife, by Serbian nationalists, Austria-Hungary shelled the Serbian capital, Belgrade. Russia then backed Serbia and mobilised troops. Germany was allied to Austria-Hungary and declared war on Russia to support its ally.
1914 (August)
Rasputin was opposed to war and believed that involvement in the war would lead to catastrophe for Russia.
1915 (6th September)
Tsar Nicholas took personal charge of the army, possibly on the advice of Rasputin and dismissed the Duma. Although a brave move by Nicholas he did not have sufficient military experience to turn the war to Russia’s favour and moreover made him appear wholly responsible for the continuing defeats Russia faced. He left the Tsarina in control of the country during his absence at the front.
1915 (September)
Grigory Rasputin was blamed for a series of ministerial changes made by the Tsarina. People were becomming increasingly suspicious of the extent of Rasputin’s influence on the Tsarina.
1916 (19th November)
Vladimir Purishkevich made a speech in the Duma in which he claimed that Tsar and his ministers were marionettes and their strings were pulled by Rasputin and the Tsarina.
1916 (late November)
Felix Yusupov contacted Purishkevich and agreed to be part of a plan to murder Rasputin. They were joined by Dmitri Pavlovich.
1916 (29th December)
Felix Yusupov invited Rasputin to his palace. The holy man was given poisoned cakes but the poison had no effect.
1916 (30th December)
Rasputin was shot in the chest by Yusupov. However, the bullet had not killed him and he attacked Yusupov. Rasputin then ran outside where he was shot again by Purishkevich. His body was put in the Malaya Nevka river.
1917 (1st January)
Rasputin’s body was recovered.
1917 (2nd January)
Rasputin was buried in a small church in Tsarskoye Selo, St Petersburg.
1917 (March)
After the February Revolution, Rasputin’s body was exhumed and burned so that it did not become a shrine.
Published Feb 20, 2019 @ 5:10 pm – Updated – [last-modified]
Harvard Reference for this page:
Heather Y Wheeler. (2019 – 2020). Grigory Rasputin 1869 – 1916. https://www.thetimelinegeek.com/grigory-rasputin-1869-1916. Last accessed [date]