Maria Grigorievna Rasputin

[pilvikki]

interesting article on Rasputin's daughter. also interesting how she worked so hard to clear his name. so, was he or wasn't he the lunatic were have been led to believe?

mad monk's daughter

personally... making young kids pray for hours and hours on cold stone floor does not sound very sane to me....

[Icey]

No, not good, but our old Russian friend said that fathers over there can be very strict.

I've read lots of articles about Rasputin, and think that as a simple man believing in whatever beliefs he held, he was harmless, but once he was in the spotlight, I'm sure that he enjoyed his "power" over Alexandra and the fact that he'd been drawn into the sort of life he'd never experienced before. People had a certain expectation of him which I'm sure he played up to, and if he was the sort of sexually active person that I've read about, he'd also enjoy being able to attract the ladies, who were probably mesmerised by his bright blue eyes and his reputation.

I don't think we can say that this man was bad, but perhaps his intentions weren't always as pious as the ideas he preached. It'd also be natural for Maria to try and clear his name of slurs. He was her father and that in itself brought attention to her which she could've probably done without at times, although it also put food in her mouth. Children often love their fathers whatever they've done, and because she'd have seen a side to him which others wouldn't have, it's not surprising that she wanted to clear his name.

[brandtrn]

Fascinating character! Yes, he WAS a drunk who engaged in all kinds of debauchery. But his healing "powers" over the little tsarevich, Alexei, are well-documented, although never fully explained. Whatever his faults, he did not, in any way, deserve the miserable end that he received at the hands of Felix Yusupov and his friends. He also didn't deserve the complete demonization of his memory once he was deceased. I like to think of him as a rather misunderstood "hero" -- he did, undoubtedly, save the life of that poor boy on multiple occasions. Hemophiliacs rarely lived as long as Alexei did back in the day...

[pilvikki]

I think it was simply hypnosis of sort. you know how some people can poke holes into themselves and then stop the bleeding by concentrating on it. I remember an article where a journalist was doing an interview and a woman was demonstration this ability. the first try went as advertised, but then the journalist thought he'd try something and distracted her as she was healing herself. and she did drop a few drops of blood.

wish we all could do that.

[Icey]

I agree that it appears that Rasputin saved Alexei's life, but using a calm and gentle manner along with hypnosis, he probably just relaxed the boy, and the internal bleeds stopped of their own accord - as happens. I know 2 haemophiliacs and've helped them with their Factor VIII injections on quite a few occasions. I also knew a friend of theirs who suffered from the same horrible disease. He unfortunately didn't make it after sustaining a massive bleed, and wasn't able to be treated in time.

Back in the day, when little was known about this condition, various herbal remedies were tried, and possibly worked to some degree. Prince Leopold, Queen Victoria's son, lived to the age of 31, and had many small haemorrhages during his lifetime. His condition was diagnosed as a young boy, but he managed to survive and then died of a brain haemorrhage after slipping over.