Murder of Rasputin. Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin (Григо́рий Ефи́мович Распу́тин), better known as Rasputin (Pokrovskoe, January 22, 1869 – St. Petersburg, December 29, 1916), an influential Russian monk, was assassinated by the Russian nobility because of his influence over the royals. Rasputin had won the favor of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna Romanova by managing to stem the bleeding of Prince Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia. Born in Siberia to peasants, Rasputin, despite being accused of lechery and a penchant for alcohol, wielded great influence over the royal family, particularly the Tsarina. When Nicholas II left with the army for World War I, it was effectively Rasputin who ruled Russia through the empress. In the early hours of December 30, 1916, a group of nobles lured Rasputin to the Yusupovsky Palace, where they attempted to poison him. When he appeared unharmed despite the massive dose of poison administered in his wine and food, the attackers shot him, and Rasputin collapsed. But a minute later, he recovered, struck one of his attackers, and tried to flee the palace, so they shot him again. Still alive, Rasputin was tied up and thrown into the icy river. A few months later, the regime was overthrown by the Russian Revolution.
