Grigori Yefimovitch Rasputin is one of the most mysterious, notorious and disputed figures in modern history. Who was this man who seemingly had strange powers and a mysterious influnce over others, with eyes that many claimed changed colors when they spoke to the monk. Did Rasputin have some sort of supernatural link, as he claimed? O r was he a charlatan who had a mastery of hypnosis and one of the most immense libidos ever to walk the Earth? It is hard to find reputable sources of information on Rasputin; most stories about him come from his daughter, the weak-willed tsar or easily du ped peasants. However, a few events, such as his power over the Tsarevitch's hemophilia and his assassination were witnessed by many parties and have been analyzed a great deal.\line \line The matter of Rasputin's extremely active sex life is one of almost definite f act. He is reported to have held orgies in his basement of his house during the time he lived with his wife, around 1900. Later, after Rasputin became famous, he attracted a large female following. Many pictures taken of Rasputin, surrounded by women, exi s t. However, the reports that Rasputin raped a lot of women are generally untrue; he didn't really need to. All of these activities did not conflict with Rasputin's religious beliefs, as one would probably believe. Rasputin, who did not particalarly care f o r the Orthodox religion, was a member of the renegade Khlisti sect. Followers of the Khlisti set of beliefs held that all of man's desires should be fulfilled, and members often held orgies to meet this end. In fact, some claimed Rasputin thought that he derived vitality from having sex. Reports of Rasputin having an affair with the tsarina are patently false; they were spread by tabloid newspapers after the royal family was deposed.\line \line While Rasputin did not have an affair with the tsarina, he did have sway over her, along with the rest of the royal family. The tsar would often consult with the man who could heal his son, giving Rasputin input into important royal decisions. How much actual power Rasputin held command of is argued by historians. Some maintai n that Rasputin virtually controlled the tsar, while others say that Rasputin did not have much real political clout. Rasputin had many powerful enemies who tried to control his influence.\line \line The source of all this influence, and the main reason people still remember Rasputin, were the odd abilities he supposedly possessed. As early as 1900, Rasputin was famous throughout Eastern Russia as a sort of faith healer and strannik, or wandering holy mendicant. Rasputin also was said to have the power of precognitio n , predicting events that happened months later, and clairvoyance, which is the ability to see events happening elsewhere. Many claimed to have seen these abilties at work, and some attributed them to some Oriental religion, which Rasputin knew something o f . Rasputin supposedly predicted his own death, but this could have been done by simple logic, as it was well-known that many groups wished Rasputin dead. Rasputin was also said to have a strange influence over others. People reported feeling compelled to d o things while in his presence, something most skeptics attribute to some form of hypnosis. However, a few stranger stories exist, accounts of Rasputin's enemies taking action to protect him, even though he was hundreds of miles away. These stories are no t widely accepted, as they are unproven and isolated.\line \line Rasputin gained his greatest fame for his ability to help the Tsarevitch Aleksei stop bleeding. One incident, which happened in 1912 is the best-known example. The Tsarevitch had badly bruised himself a nd was bleeding to death. The doctors assembled to care for him pronounced that nothing could be done for the boy, who lingered in this state for a few days. When Rasputin came to the tsarevitch's bedside, he waved his hands over the boy, spoke to him bri e fly, then stated that he was better. And, according to the many doctors and scientific skeptics who viewed this, the boy did recover. Many today guess that Rasputin used some sort of potent hypnosis to slow the boy's heartbeat, but that is mere conjecture ; several scholars dispute this idea.\line \line The story of Rasputin's assassination has been told and confirmed by multiple members of those who conspired to kill him, but small points are still argued by scholars today. Attempts on Rasputin's life had been made b efore-once he was gutted by a religious fanatic and nearly died. However, even his unnatural constitution could not save him from a group of conspirators and the man who killed him, Prince Felix Felixovitch Yussupov. Rasputin, who had actually taken the f i rst step to get to know Prince Yussupov, was invited over for a party. The prince's group had prepared chocolate cakes and wine, both heavily laced with potassium cyanide. Rasputin reluctantly ate a few cakes, then complained of a dry throat and guzzled d o wn the wine-at this point he had taken enough cyanide to kill six men. Rasputin said he felt a burning sensation in his stomach and appeared sleepy for a few moments, then suddenly became alert and asked the prince to sing for him. The nervous Yussupov co m plied, then ran upstairs to inform his co-conspirators that the poison had no effect. He got a pistol from them, then went back to the waiting Rasputin, was looking at an art object, either a painting or a crucifix. The prince asker Rasputin to take a clo s er look, then shot him in the chest. Sure that Rasputin was dead, Yussupov got his friends, who checked the body. Soon after, Yussupov came back down. (Note: Despite what early stories say, Yussupov was probably not throwing up over the balcony while his f riends were looking at the body.) As he bent over to look at Rasputin, the formerly lifeless corpse rose and grabbed Yussupov in an unbreakable grip. Yussupov freed himself, perhaps by knifing Rasputin, and ran out the door. According to diaries, Rasputin actually got up and ran out the door, where he was chased and shot. The body was taken back inside, beaten, tied up and thrown in the river.\line \line It was never conclusively proven either way about Rasputin's strange abilities. Many of the scholars who researche d his story belive that some of the strange stories about him may actually be true. Certainly the man was unnaturally tough, and quite a few sources back up some of the other stories told about him.