Colorized by me: Grigori Rasputin was born #OnThisDay in 1869, in Pokrovskoye.
He was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia, and gained considerable influence in late imperial Russia.
He was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last emperor of Russia, and gained considerable influence in late imperial Russia.
In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a healer for the imperial couple's only son, Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia. "God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not grieve. The Little One will not die. Do not allow the doctors to bother him too much."
Rasputin was summoned by Alexandra to pray for Alexei when he had an internal hemorrhage in the spring of 1907. Alexei recovered the next morning. The tsarina's friend Anna Vyrubova became convinced that Rasputin had miraculous powers shortly thereafter.
(Historians, including memoirist Pierre Gilliard, Alexi's French-language tutor, have speculated that Rasputin controlled Alexi's bleeding by disallowing the administration of aspirin.)
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