A banknote with a handwritten address and an autograph by Grigory Rasputin

A banknote with a handwritten address and an autograph

Grigory Rasputin is a Siberian peasant, known for his friendship with the family of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II. He had a reputation as a "royal friend", an "elder", a visionary and a healer. Until now, numerous disputes have been conducted around the personality of Rasputin and his influence on the fate of the Russian Empire, and his name is covered with secrets and fictions.

The text of the note: "Receive and be pleased that I am giving you a greedy and filthy dog, a lover of money and an insatiable hyena, a ruble."

It is known that Rasputin left short, hard-to-read notes, often in pencil. Large letters, sentences are written as necessary, punctuation marks are out of the question. At the end of the signature: Gregory.

Grigory Efimovich was born into the family of a coachman, in a simple peasant family. Throughout his life, Rasputin reported completely contradictory information about the date of his birth. He liked to exaggerate his true age in order to better fit the image of an "elder" and a "seer".

The first meeting between Grigory Rasputin and the tsar took place on November 1, 1905, thanks to the rector of the Theological Academy, Father Feofan, who was honored by the Grand Dukes, Nicholas and Peter, and their wives, Stan and Militsa. This event was recorded by Nikolai Romanov himself in his diary: "... At 4 o'clock we went to Sergeevka. We had tea with the Police and Stana. We got acquainted with the man of God, Gregory from Tobolsk province..." So, Gregory entered the royal house and became one of the main figures of the Russian imperial court.