Author brings Rasputin back to life
- Justine Biondi
- Sep 21, 2017
- 2 min read
Award-winning author and independent scholar, Douglas Smith, gave a lecture at LMU this Tuesday on his book, “Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs.” LMU’s History department organized the lecture to acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.
For over six years, Smith dedicated his life to uncovering the truth behind Grigori Rasputin. Smith visited seven countries in search of historical archives pertaining to Rasputin and his life in Russia. Many people view Rasputin in a negative light, some even labeling him as the devil. Through his book, however, Smith aspires to paint an accurate portrayal of the Russian figure.
In the lecture, Smith discussed his findings on Rasputin after years of research.
“I came to think of him as a family man— not an ideal family man, but a family man. He was even a good father to his children,” Smith said. “He wanted them to get a good education and always insisted on meeting the men who wanted to date his daughters.”
In his book, Smith even debunked a historical claim regarding Rasputin. In the spring of 1915, police claimed that Rasputin got too drunk at a bar, jumped on a table, dropped his trousers and screamed “I am Rasputin!”
After reading the actual police report, however, Smith proved that the incident never happened. Police and authorities fabricated the incident to defame Rasputin and later presented the case to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.
As the archives show, Rasputin was great friends with Tsar and often wrote him letters of advice. The question of much power Rasputin actually had can be answered through the archives.
“We can track what Rasputin told Tsar to do, and what he actually did. Nine times out of ten, Tsar ignored Rasputin’s advice,” Smith said.
Despite Rasputin’s bad reputation, Smith claims he sometimes gave Tsar helpful advice. One night after getting stabbed in the stomach, Rasputin wrote Tsar from his hospital bed begging Tsar not to go to war. According to the archives, Rasputin wrote, “More will destroy Russia. I see eternal darkness and bloodshed.”
Despite this warning, Tsar went to war anyways.
Through Smith’s book, he hopes to “bring [Rasputin] alive as a really complicated and three dimensional character.”
Smith acknowledges how Rasputin drank heavily, womanized women, was vain and had a temper, but he also mentions how Rasputin was very ambitious and never greedy— having no interest in money.
Smith concludes his lecture by describing Rasputin as the “ultimate scapegoat,” leading him to his untimely death in 1916.
To learn more about Douglas Smith and his book, "Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs" visit https://douglassmith.info/books/rasputin/
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