Grigori Rasputin was a controversial figure in the late Russian Empire, born in 1869 in Siberia. Known as a faith healer, his influence over Tsar Nicholas II's family heightened due to his perceived ability to help Alexei, the heir suffering from haemophilia. His reputation for loose living and the growing concerns about his power within the royal court contributed to his assassination by those wishing to protect the Romanov dynasty's prestige. Historians debate his affiliations with extreme religious sects, complicating his legacy.
Rasputin was not, as he is often described, a 'mad monk' but a member of an extreme religious sect of sexually promiscuous flagellants in Siberia known as khlysty.
He was particularly valued by the empress Alexandra Feodorovna because it seemed he could help her son and heir to the throne, Alexei, who suffered from haemophilia.
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