If Russian historical personalities are discussed, one that would surely stand out is Grigori Efimovich Rasputin or plainly just as Rasputin. In birth, life and even death, Rasputin epitomized mystery and intrigued. Although there are some recorded historical evidences of his life, still there are questions that begged to be answered if only to gain i¿½historical accuracyi¿½ so to speak. Born [supposedly] in 1872 at Pokrovskoye along the Tura River in Tyumen district in Siberia (Willis, 2008; Atchison, 2006) to a peasant family, the young Rasputini¿½s actual date of birth is the first issue of contention. Other records or accounts showed that he was born earlier while others stated later dates. Truly, this in itself is the start of the enigmatic life of the man who held power over the Romanovs in later years. Rasputini¿½s childhood years were also mostly unknown except he had two siblings, Maria and Dmitri, who died before Rasputin reached adulthood.
             At 18, Rasputin was said to have undergone a form of religious conversion [by embracing] Khlysty sect.i¿½ Happily for Rasputin (given his reputation) the sect preached the notion that the closest relationship to God could best be achieved while exhausted from prolonged sexual engagements. (Duffy, 2002) From thence, he married Proskovia Fyodorovna a year later and they had four children. The domestic life was not enough for Rasputin though and as a result, he left his family i¿½and traveled, variously to Greece and Jerusalem, where he established a reputation (self-created) as a holy man (Duffy, 2002).i¿½ Indeed, his transformation as a self-proclaimed staretz or holy man was what was seen of him when he arrived in St. Petersburg in the early 1900s. [He] met up with the Bishop of Saratov, Hermogen.i¿½Since the Romanov court at that time was dabbling in mysticism Rasputin was recommended in 1905 by Hermogen to the royal couple. (Duffy, 2002)
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