Rasputin and the 1914 Assassination Attempt: The Knife of Khioniya Guseva

Rasputin and the American Journalist: The Lost Armand Hammer Interview

In 1920, two years after the Romanovs were executed, American businessman Armand Hammer traveled to Petrograd. There, he claimed to have obtained the diary of Grigori Rasputin's daughter, Maria, and interviewed a former courtier who had witnessed Rasputin's final days. This episode digs into Hammer's Siberian connection, the disputed diary, and what an American capitalist was doing in Bolshevik Russia. We explore the grey zone between fact and fabrication in Rasputin's posthumous legend, the role of Western journalists in shaping his myth, and the strange trail that leads from the Moika Palace to a New York auction house. Along the way, we meet Maria Rasputin herself, who spent decades in exile selling her father's story—and sometimes her own memory. #Rasputin #ArmandHammer #MariaRasputin #BolshevikRussia #Petrograd #MoikaPalace #Romanovs #RussianRevolution #Siberia #1920s #Propaganda #Diaries #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope #History #20thCentury #Journalism #Mythmaking Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Fictional Poisoning: The Yusupov Memoir Myth

Nearly everyone knows the story: on December 30, 1916, Prince Felix Yusupov lured Grigori Rasputin to the Moika Palace, fed him cyanide-laced cakes and wine, shot him, beat him, and dumped his body in the Malaya Nevka River. But what if the poison never worked—for a very un-mystical reason? In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine the forensic evidence that emerged decades later, the contradictions in Yusupov's own memoirs (he wrote at least four versions), and the testimony of Dr. Stanislav Lazovert, the physician who supposedly supplied the cyanide. They discuss the political pressures on Yusupov to craft a dramatic narrative, the role of British intelligence agent Oswald Rayner, and how the 'superhuman' Rasputin myth was deliberately manufactured to justify a murder that, in reality, may have been a clumsy, panicked affair. Drawing on the 2004 exhumation report, the diaries of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, and modern toxicology studies, this episode separates legend from fact and asks who really benefited from the story of the indestructible monk. #FelixYusupov #MoikaPalace #Cyanide #OswaldRayner #StanislavLazovert #GrandDukeDmitriPavlovich #RasputinMurder #ForensicHistory #December1916 #BritishIntelligence #Petrograd #Romanovs #RussianRevolution #MemoirMyth #Toxicology #HistoryMyths #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Union of the Russian People: The Unholy Alliance

In 1905, as revolution shook the Russian Empire, a right-wing extremist group called the Union of the Russian People (URP) emerged, vowing to defend autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Russian nationality. The URP, the largest of the Black Hundreds organizations, embraced terror, pogroms, and political assassination—and they saw in Grigori Rasputin a potential ally. This episode traces the tangled, often cynical relationship between Rasputin and the Union's leaders: the fanatical monk Iliodor, the flamboyant deputy Vladimir Purishkevich, and the mysterious Dr. Alexander Dubrovin. We explore how Rasputin's influence at court made him a target of URP violence, as in the 1914 assassination attempt by Khioniya Guseva, and how the Union ultimately turned against him, culminating in Purishkevich's role in the 1916 murder. Drawing on Okhrana reports and memoirs, we reveal a story of shifting loyalties, explosive nationalism, and the dark underbelly of imperial Russian politics. #Rasputin #UnionOfTheRussianPeople #BlackHundreds #Iliodor #Purishkevich #KhioniyaGuseva #Okhrana #RussianEmpire #Pogroms #Dubrovin #TsarskoyeSelo #Revolution1905 #Monarchism #PoliticalViolence #EasternEurope #History #FexingoHistory #ImperialRussia Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Ministerial Leapfrog: 1915-1916

In 1915, as Russia reeled from the Great Retreat, Tsar Nicholas II made a fateful decision: he took personal command of the army. That opened the door for Rasputin to influence ministerial appointments in Petrograd. This episode traces the chaotic 'ministerial leapfrog' — the rapid-fire replacement of four prime ministers, six interior ministers, and three war ministers between 1915 and 1916. We examine how Rasputin's recommendations, channeled through Tsarina Alexandra, led to the rise of incompetent loyalists like Boris Stürmer and Alexander Protopopov, while capable officials like Alexei Polivanov were dismissed. The episode includes Rasputin's relationship with Progressive Bloc leader Pavel Milyukov, who famously denounced 'dark forces' in a Duma speech. We also explore the murder of Grigory Rasputin by Felix Yusupov and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich as a direct result of this political chaos. #Rasputin #MinisterialLeapfrog #TsarNicholasII #TsarinaAlexandra #BorisStürmer #AlexanderProtopopov #PavelMilyukov #ProgressiveBloc #FelixYusupov #GreatRetreat #WorldWarI #RussianEmpire #Petrograd #Duma #Stavka #History #FexingoHistory #EasternEurope Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Rasputin and the Black Hundreds: Secret Alliances and Pogroms

In this episode of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore Rasputin's controversial connections with the Black Hundreds, the ultra-nationalist, anti-Semitic movement that flourished in late Imperial Russia. They trace Rasputin's early links to figures like Iliodor and the Union of the Russian People, examining how the Siberian mystic was used as a political tool by far-right groups seeking influence at court. The conversation digs into the 1911 assassination attempt by Dmitry Bogrov, a double agent tied to both the Black Hundreds and the Okhrana, and the subsequent cover-up that involved Rasputin's protector, Police Chief Vladimir Dzhunkovsky. Lucas unpacks the shadowy role of the Black Hundreds in the 1913 Beilis Affair, where Mendel Beilis was falsely accused of ritual murder, and how Rasputin's indirect involvement tainted the monarchy further. The episode concludes by considering whether Rasputin was a willing participant in these extremist circles or a naive pawn manipulated by ambitious men. Specific terms and figures include the Union of the Russian People, Vladimir Purishkevich, Dmitry Bogrov, Mendel Beilis, and the Okhrana's surveillance reports. #Rasputin #BlackHundreds #UnionOfTheRussianPeople #Iliodor #VladimirPurishkevich #DmitryBogrov #MendelBeilis #BeilisAffair #Okhrana #VladimirDzhunkovsky #Pogrom #AntiSemitism #ImperialRussia #TsarNicholasII #TsarskoyeSelo #RussianHistory #Early20thCentury #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]