Beloved, hated, murdered: Grigori Rasputin, a monk of peasant birth
who became a legendary adviser to the tsar, is renowned for miracles
as well as orgies. In today's Russia, how close is the relationship
between church and state?
Moscow - His life was wild, his death bestial: On December 30,
1916, the bearded holy man and confidant of the royal family, Grigori
Rasputin, fell victim to a mysterious murder plot led by relatives of
Tsar Nicholas II on a cold winter night in St Petersburg.
Soon afterward, his corpse was found in the Neva river with gunshot
wounds and evidence of severe torture.
"With his proximity to power and his prodigious lifestyle, he made
many enemies," says historian Ivan Uspensky. Even 100 years after
Rasputin's violent death, his legend lives on.
Rasputin is considered a figure more of superstition than of
religious faith, hardly a representative of the contemporary Russian
Orthodox Church.
On the centennial of his death in Petrograd, as St Petersburg was
called at the time, there is a sensitive relationship between the
Orthodox Church and the Russian state. The religious community is
considered an important supporter of the domestic political system.
"Since the end of the Soviet Union a quarter-century ago, religious
faith has strengthened. After years of being sidelined, religion
finds itself back in the centre of society," says political analyst
Sergei Ushakov.
President Vladimir Putin considers the church an ally in the struggle
against the perceived decay in traditional values. Observers believe
the church wants to legitimize Putin's policies.
Critics denounce an "unholy alliance" between church and state. A
vague concept of blasphemy has been punishable in Russia since 2013.
"The blasphemy law is clearly a reaction to the controversial
appearance of the women's punk band Pussy Riot in the Cathedral of
Christ the Saviour," says opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
When Patriarch Kirill, who has about 150 million Orthodox Christian
adherents, travels to other countries and, for example, meets the
pope, as happened in February, he conducts church diplomacy in the
spirit of the Kremlin.
Rasputin also had a role close to the country's leadership. In the
early 1900s, the monk often described as charismatic travelled to St
Petersburg and acquired influence in the royal court. Rasputin, who
was born on January 21, 1869, in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye,
is today as renowned for miracles as he is for orgies.
Within the partially shocked, partially amused society of St
Petersburg, the eccentric Rasputin, often dressed in peasant clothes,
was admired. He began to cultivate a reputation not only of a devout
holy man, but a seer, able to cure the life-threatening bleeding of
the heir to the throne. As Rasputin gained prestige and political
influence as the "tsar whisperer," he also gained enemies.
His death was as mysterious as his life. Did British intelligence
play a role in his murder? There are stories of how Rasputin and
Russia's German-born tsarina purportedly planned to agree on a truce
between Russia and Germany, which would have been a menacing prospect
for Great Britain.
A century after Rasputin's death, a museum in Pokrovskoye
commemorates its most famous resident. Rasputin's birthplace no
longer exists, but the neighbouring building, where his relatives
lived, houses a memorial popular with visitors from all over Europe.
"He was often a guest here, and almost nothing has changed since his
death in 1916," says curator Marina Smirnova.
"Unfortunately, not many personal items have been preserved because
Rasputin was a vagabond," Smirnova says. A chair, a plate and a
mirror are considered authentic. There are several showcases in small
rooms. In a picture, Rasputin seems to be waving at the camera.
"I was always interested in Rasputin and immediately opened the
museum after communism prevented us from doing so," says Smirnova,
who was born in the nearby city of Tyumen. "We do not have so much to
attract tourists. Others have Casanova or Dracula, we have Rasputin."
The most curious visitor to the museum, about 2,000 kilometres east
of Moscow, was probably German pop group Boney M. The song "Rasputin"
made the band famous in the late 1970s. "We were not allowed to sing
it at concerts in the Soviet Union," says singer Liz Mitchell. "Our
organizer thought it could be offensive."