felixyusopov
If I could go back in time to one day that changed a large course of history, and meet one man who made a crazy and bold step, it would to the day that Rasputin died. Felix Yusopov. The husband of the cousin of the Tsar. They all hated Rasputin. He was a mad cleric, wild unkempt, with foul breath and terrible teeth. I am always taken aback by how psychotic he looks in his pictures, his uncouth looks further juxtaposed by the ethereal purity and beauty of the Russian Tsarinas flanking him. It's like putting a hideous gargoyle amongst some roses. His past was dodgy, he was chased out of his home town for being a convicted rapist, alcohol and drug addict, an absolute social menace. Somehow he manage to reach St. Petersburg and came into contact with some clairvoyants in Russian high society. He seduced them with his "miraculous cures" and reached the highest echelons of Russian power: the heart of the insecure and paranoid Tsarina. Today, with our understanding of hemophilia we realise people don't die so easily. It's a misconception to think the smallest bruise can kill them....but ofcourse science was several centuries behind then, and she made sure her young son was carried everywhere, so as to prevent a fall. When he did fall, the boy would convalesce with this mad figure looming over him, whispering messages from the Greek Orthodox Church. Eventually he was holidaying with them, and the entire nature, hungry for royal blood, fuelled by the Red Army's cry for communism, spread the most hideous stories about the Princesses and this man. I try to imagine how it must have looked to them, in a pre-parazzi world. Whispers from the palace of a man sleeping in their bed rooms, having access to what was considered in a hereditary monarchy as "gods representatives on earth". It seemed ungodly that a regular man could have such strong associations with them! The crowd rumbled and roared, and the aristocracy felt the noose tightening around every single neck. Countess Ella and her husband Felix were caught in this common anxiety. Heads were going to roll. Felix took a bold decision, borne of self preservation, and an attempt to restore the monarchy's image. He and his friends decided to kill Rasputin. The stories are detailed and endless. They invited him for drinks, however much of the poisoned drinks he drank, he didn't seem to pass out (first pass metabolism, enzyme induction??). When they finally realised he was indestructible, they decided to shoot him. He began to run, while bullets hit his body. He fell to the ground, but still was not dying. He clawed his way down the staircase, while the volley of bullets continued. Finally after seemed like an age, he breathed his last. Felix Yusopov and his wife were exiled by a distraught Tsarina. I watched an interview of him today, where he describes this strange encounter, speaks of his rationale behind it, and the super natural powers of Rasputin. What a crazy guy! What a crazy story! It makes me part sick, part intrigued. How can you explain such an absolute weirdo's meteoric rise??
History is just something else!!
Aai