Rasputin with Russian military officials in 1910.

The cellar of Felix Yusupov’s estate on Moika, in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the murder of Rasputin began. The death of Rasputin marked a major turning point in the collapse of the Russian Empire — but that doesn't mean Rasputin made it easy for his killers. Rasputin stood up as well and appeared to admire the furnishing that Yusupov had brought down into the cellar.

Yusupov pulled out the revolver and firing one shot, hitting Rasputin in the chest. WIkimedia CommonsRasputin’s body after it was pulled from the Neva River in St. Petersberg, after news of his death had already started becoming mythologized.

While Alexei’s condition wasn’t cured, Rasputin — and only Rasputin — was able to moderate the boy’s symptoms.

…Disaster will come to anyone who lifts a finger against me.”. Employing a legendary force of will — some called Rasputin’s personality hypnotic, while others thought he wielded some dark, sinister magic — Rasputin climbed his way up the social ladder very quickly.

As Rasputin started to have some difficulty swallowing his wine, Yusupov feigned concern and asked Rasputin if he was feeling ill. “Yes, my head is heavy and I’ve a burning sensation in my stomach,” Rasputin replied, before saying that more wine would be an adequate cure. Adding another layer of mystery to Rasputin's death, his body was found with his right arm outstretched, presumably to make the sign of the cross, indicating that he was still alive when he hit the water and managed to partially free himself [source: Wilson]. Seeing Yusupov stare at a crystal crucifix on the wall, Rasputin commented on the cross, then turned away to look at an ornate cabinet on the other side of the room. This ruse worked, and the two went down to a furnished cellar to eat, drink, and converse about politics. “The aristocrats can’t get used to the idea that a humble peasant should be welcome at the Imperial Palace … they are consumed with envy and fury … but I’m not afraid of them. Reaching the landing on the first floor, Purishkevich joined him, revolver in hand.

To this day, no one knows what Rasputin did to treat Alexei. At this, Rasputin turned to Yusupov for several tense moments of silence.

Yusupov told Rasputin, “You’d far better look at the crucifix and say a prayer.”. His spiritual awakening came after visiting a monastery at 23.

Yusopov provides a riveting first-hand account. Yusupov offered Rasputin pastries and soon Rasputin began gorging himself on cakes that had been laced with cyanide, chosen specifically because they were known to be Rasputin’s favorite so were the most likely to be eaten by him. Poisoned, Shot, And Left To Bleed Out: The Grisly Story Of Rasputin’s Death, A foodie, wanderlust victim, professional Francophile, and history nerd, Andrew Milne is a freelance writer who has worked at outlets like Bon Appétit and Food Network, and currently runs content at, Catherine De Medici And Her "Flying Squadron" Of Female Spies, He Said He Disposed Of Natalee Holloway’s Body — Now Someone Needs To Dispose Of His, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. I realized that the hour had come. Fearing that the poison had failed, Yusupov stood up and paced the room to work up the nerve to shoot Rasputin. Shortly before he was shot in Yusupov’s cellar, Rasputin — maybe knowing he was about to die or maybe just boasting — told Yusupov that he would ultimately prevail against his enemies who were plotting to kill him. Wikimedia CommonsThe supposed site of Grigori Rasputin’s grave, near St. Petersberg, where Tsarina Alexandra had him buried after his assassination.

The Bolshoi Petrovsky Bridge where Rasputin’s body was dumped into the Neva River. Worried that the cyanide, which typically kills almost instantly, didn’t seem to be working, Yusupov invited Rasputin to have a glass of Madiera, pouring the wine into one of several glasses that had also been laced with cyanide. According to historian Marc Ferro, the tsarina had a "passionate attachment" to Rasputin as a result of her belief that he could heal her son's affliction. Students and soldiers fighting with police in the streets of St. Petersberg in March 1917, three months after Rasputin’s death. Wikimedia CommonsThe Romanov family, last ruling dynasty of the Russia Empire: Tsarina Alexandra, Tsarevich Alexei, and Tsar Nicholas II. Wikimedia CommonsA political cartoon mocking Grigori Rasputin and his relationship with the Tsar and Tsarina. It reportedly took several doses of cyanide and two fatal gunshot wounds to finally put down the Mad Monk of Russia, the spiritual guru to the Tsar and Tsarina, a man widely feared as the power behind the throne of the Russian empire in the final stages of its collapse. Rasputin’s ability to treat Alexei’s hemophilia made him indispenseable to the Romanovs and Rasputin knew it, exploiting his position to gain greater control over them. Wikimedia CommonsThe courtyard at the Moika embankment of Yusupov’s estate, where Vladimir Purishkevich shot Rasputin to death after earlier attempts failed to kill him.

However, the autopsy also revealed that he had been shot in the forehead, leading some to believe that he must have been dead before being dumped in the Neva Ri…

… He’s still alive!”.

Soon, however, Rasputin appeared to recover and become more energetic.

Wikimedia CommonsThe cellar of Felix Yusupov’s estate on Moika, in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the murder of Rasputin began. A political cartoon mocking Grigori Rasputin and his relationship with the Tsar and Tsarina. Yusupov began to panic as Rasputin appeared to consume enough cyanide to kill scores of men while. When Tsarina Alexandra gave birth to her only son, Alexei, doctors discovered that he was a severe hemophiliac.