Grigori Rasputin

Fact-check note: Rasputin was born January 21, 1869, and died December 30, 1916, using the modern Gregorian calendar; Russian records of the time give January 9 and December 17 under the Julian calendar. The imperial family believed he could ease Tsarevich Alexei’s hemophilia crises, but how—or whether—he affected the illness remains uncertain. His sexual reputation mixed documented scandal with hostile rumor. Most importantly, the famous poison-and-repeated-resurrection murder story comes largely from conspirator Felix Yusupov’s later account: surviving autopsy evidence mentions no poison or drowning and indicates that gunshots killed him. Smithsonian history of the murder · Forensic review