I'm doing research for a report for school and have a question re Grigory Rasputin's magical powers?

Question

Hi I have a special interest in this topic because one of my great great uncles was in the Bolshevik Army. Anyway Rasputin was reputed to have magical powers. These included the fact that the Royalist tried to kill him with a massive dose of cyanide poison along with shooting him in the head with a gun and than finally after he refused to die, weighing his body with chains and sending it to the bottom of the river that goes through St. Petersburg. In spite of their efforts, the police found Rasputin's body where he attempted to swim to the surface though he ultimately died of drowning. Other than a power from the Almighty, what scientifically could account for his ability to withstand death?

Hi the answers to my question are just fascinating. From what I read about Rasputin, for my school report and before, I consider that his death was a tragedy that set the framework for all the things that have gone wrong in the world since than. As wierd as it seems, I consider Rasputin a good man of heroic porportions who tried to save Russia and if he suceeded the outcome of world history would have changed. Another ancester of mine was in the Russian Army during WW1 and never came back alive. Perhaps he would have lived if Rasputin had his way. Another interesting thing about Rasputin, he was an Orthodox Church Monk but he was not anti semitic. In fact his closest friend was Jewish; Aron Simanovich. Rasputin tried to use his influence to put an end to anti semitism in Russia. Had he succeeded the world would have been a more peaceful place.

Answer 1

I don't know if this helps, but Wikipedia has a section on the speculation on how Rasputin died:

he details of the assassination given by Felix Yusupov have never stood up to close examination. There were many versions of his account: the statement he gave to the Petrograd police on December 16, 1916; the account he gave whilst in exile in the Crimea in 1917; his 1927 book; and the accounts given under oath to libel juries in 1934 and 1965. No two accounts were entirely identical. Until recently, however, no other credible, evidence-based theories have been available.

According to the unpublished 1916 autopsy report by Professor Kossorotov, and subsequent reviews by Dr Vladimir Zharov in 1993 and Professor Derrick Pounder in 2004-2005, no active poison was found in Rasputin's stomach. It could not have been said with certainty that he drowned, as the water found on his lungs is a common non-specific autopsy finding. All three sources agree that Rasputin had been systematically beaten and attacked with a bladed weapon, but most important, there were discrepancies regarding the number and calibre of handguns used.

This discovery may have significantly changed the whole premise and account of Rasputin's death. British intelligence reports between London and Petrograd in 1916 indicate that the British were extremely concerned about Rasputin's replacement of pro-British ministers in the Russian government, but more important, his apparent insistence on withdrawing Russian troops from World War I. This withdrawal would have allowed the Germans to move their Eastern Front troops to the Western Front, massively outnumbering the Allies and spelling almost certain victory. Whether this was actually Rasputin's intention or whether he was simply concerned about the huge number of casualties (as the Tsarina's letters indicated) is in dispute, but it is clear that the British viewed him as a real danger.

According to Professor Pounder, of the three shots fired into Rasputin's body, the third (which entered his forehead) was instantly fatal. This third shot also provides some intriguing evidence. In Pounder's view, concurred in by the firearms department of the Imperial War Museum in London, the third shot was fired by a gun different from those responsible for the other two wounds. The "size and prominence of the abraded margin" suggested a large lead non-jacketed bullet. At that time, the majority of weapons used hard metal jacketed bullets, with Britain virtually alone in using lead unjacketed bullets for their officers' Webley revolvers. Pounder came to the conclusion that the bullet which caused the fatal shot was a Webley .455 inch unjacketed round, and was the best fit with the available forensic evidence.

Witnesses to the murder stated that the only man present with a Webley revolver was Lieutenant Oswald Rayner, a British officer who was attached to the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) station in Petrograd. This account was further backed up during an audience between the British Ambassador, Sir George Buchanan, and Tsar Nicholas, when Nicholas stated that he suspected a young Englishman who had been an old school friend of Yusupov. Indeed, Rayner had known Yusupov at Oxford University. Another SIS officer in Petrograd at the time, Captain Stephen Alley, had actually been born in the Yusupov Palace in 1876, and both families had strong ties.

Confirmation that Rayner, along with another officer, Captain John Scale, met with Yusupov in the weeks leading up to the assassination can be found in the diary of their chauffeur, William Compton, who recorded all the visits. The last entry was the night before the murder. According to Compton, "it is a little known fact that Rasputin was shot not by a Russian but by an Englishman". He indicated that the culprit was a lawyer from the same part of the country as Compton himself. Rayner was indeed born some ten miles from Compton's hometown, and throughout his life described himself as a "barrister-at-law", despite never practising that profession.

Evidence that the assassination attempt had not gone quite to plan is hinted at in a letter that Alley wrote to Scale eight days after the murder, saying "Although matters here have not proceeded entirely to plan, our objective has clearly been achieved... a few awkward questions have already been asked about wider involvement. Rayner is attending to loose ends and will no doubt brief you".

Upon his return to England, Oswald Rayner not only confided to his cousin, Rose Jones, that he had been present at Rasputin's murder, but also showed family members a bullet which he claimed he had acquired at the murder scene.

None of this is conclusive evidence of what happened that night of 16 December - 17 December, but it provides a more logical evidence-based account of what occurred. Rayner burnt all his papers before he died in 1961, and his only son also died four years later.

Answer 2

Grigory Rasputin? Wasn't that a character in Van Helsing? Anyway, as far as I know, he supposedly healed the Tsar's son, and that put him in high reguard with the family. I dug up some web sites for you. This way, you can pick and choose the info you want.

Answer 3

probably not enough or strong enough poison. Just because you are shot in the head doesnt mean that you will die. Not enough chains to keep him down but not light enough where he could get to the surface of the water fast enough.

Answer 4

I have reason to believe that those tales are exaggerated to the extent that they border on the mythical (and not necessarily mystical).

Here are a few reference sites:
http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/Rasputin.html
http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/r/Rasputin.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Rasputin

Answer 5

stories of his death are a myth, but he had a great ability to hypnotize.