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Mystery, Miracle, and Authority: The Riddle of Rasputin

Mystery, Miracle, and Authority: The Riddle of Rasputin. Rasputin and Popular Culture. Arc of Inquiry. Scholarly (Mis)treatment. What does Rasputin’s name mean? Was he a member/advocate of the Khlyst sect? Did the tsarevich suffer from a blood clotting or a platelet disorder?

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Mystery, Miracle, and Authority: The Riddle of Rasputin

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  1. Mystery, Miracle, and Authority: The Riddle of Rasputin

  2. Rasputin and Popular Culture

  3. Arc of Inquiry

  4. Scholarly (Mis)treatment • What does Rasputin’s name mean? • Was he a member/advocate of the Khlyst sect? • Did the tsarevich suffer from a blood clotting or a platelet disorder? • Was Rasputin a mesmeric fraud or a healer? • What was Rasputin’s influence on the tsar’s foreign policy during WWI? • Who killed Rasputin and why?

  5. Correspondence, letters, telegrams Diaries of Romanovs Writings of Rasputin Memoirs The Rasputin file (testimony collected by Extraordinary Commission for the Investigation of Illegal Acts by Ministers and Other Responsible Persons of the Tsarist Regime, 1917) Newspapers, transcripts of Duma debate Police (Okhrana) reports Letters burnt by Olga Vyrubova Forgeries written by Schyogolev and Tolstoy under Bolshevik auspices Prince Yousoupoff, Olga Vyrubova, Rasputin’s daughter, Mariia Rasputin file disappeared, mysteriously reappeared and procured for Radzinsky at Sotheby’s auction in 199? Police reports reliable? Source base

  6. The Last Romanovs • Unwillingness to be tsar, apocalyptic presentiment of catastrophe • Continual disasters of reign Famine, ‘91-’92 Khodynka field, 1896 Russo-Japanese War, 1894 Revolution, 1905 Tsarina’s unpopularity as German princess, dislike of aristocratic society Happy family, but no male heirs until Alexei, 1904

  7. “The Life of an Experienced Wanderer” *Conversion experience “He turned kind of strange and stupid” * Exposure to the teachings of the Khlysty (Flagellants) Sect emerged in seventeenth century Christs and Mother of Gods: egalitarian Stringently ascetic, except for “rejoicing” Overcome sin by means of sin and suffering, expiation * Arrived in capital in 1903

  8. Miracle and Authority • Spread of atheism, Orthodox church compromised • Spiritual searching of all sectors of society: mysticism, sects, socialism • Tsarina’s conversion to Orthodoxy: search for miracle men for conception of male heir

  9. Discussion Questions • 1. Radzinsky is not a professional historian, but rather a popular historian, a famous playwright and t.v. personality. Think about the way in which he uses evidence and constructs his narrative. How is it different than that of a professional historian, or is it? Is his use of evidence appropriate and credible? What narrative devices does he use to impart a more literary flavor to his narrative? • 2. What is the portrait of Rasputin that emerges from Radzinsky's narrative? • 3. What explanation does Radzinsky give for Tsarina Alexandra's (Alix's) fanatical devotion to Rasputin? • 4. According to Radzinsky, what fatal mistakes does Rasputin make in this period of his ascendancy?

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