One mystery, which will never be solved to everyone's satisfaction, surrounds the so-called Black Monk or Mad Monk — Grigori Rasputin.
While we were in St. Petersburg, our guides from Viking River Cruises pointed out the grand building where Rasputin was murdered, but whether he died here in the Yusupov Palace, or after being thrown into the Moika River (just beyond the railing shown below), is a question which may never be answered.
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© Photo by Richard Schear, August, 2011 |
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| Grigori Rasputin Wikipedia photo |
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| Wikipedia photo, Yusupov Palace and Moika River |
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| © Photo by Richard Schear, August, 2011 |
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| Rasputin Wikipedia photo |
The lyrics made popular by 1970s singing group Boney M suggest Rasputin was the "lover of the Russian queen" (the wife of the Tsar, or Czar) but historical accounts say she was only interested in his reputation as a healer, because her son had haemophilia.
Several of Rasputin's suggestions did seem to reduce the young prince's symptoms because he advised stopping medications which later proved to be blood-thinners.
Coincidence or not, we'll never know.
RA RA RASPUTIN
Friendly with the Russian queen
Felix put poison into his wine
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| Rasputin surrounded by admirers, not all of them female. Wikipedia photo |
RA RA RASPUTIN
Ill-reputed love machine
He drank the poison; said "I feel fine"
RA RA RASPUTIN
"Healer" said the Russian queen
But they wouldn't quit, they wanted him dead
RA RA RASPUTIN
People called a love machine
So then they shot him right in the head.
(Note: a photo exists showing a bullet hole in Rasputin's head. It may or may not have been from the gun of a British spy. The plot thickens.)
Posted for Hootin' Anni's musical meme
Thursday Theme Song
To see what songs inspired other bloggers, please click HERE!
9 comments:
How clever of you to combine your trip to St Petersburg, Rasputin and the Boney M song. Quite a trip, this post.
I like the pictures of the Yusupov palace taken by Richard. The song, I heard long ago; never paid attention to the lyrics, but felt something was not quite right.
Those buildings are beautiful. What a great idea to use the Boney M song this week.
I was watching a special just last week about Rasputin. The consensus seemed to be that dear old Felix might have been stretching the truth just a little. It still makes for a great story.
Your new profile photo is very beautiful.
ra ra raputin, lover of the russian queen.
We went to watch this movie in High School, and we continued to sing it until our methodist school principal banned it.
Kay
Great vacay photos to go with a very unique song. I enjoyed it very much,
Madi's Mom
Hi Kay,
Wow ... what a great trip the one to Russia must have been! I loved this whole post. I don't remember that song, but I read that book on the Czar and his family long ago (it is famous, but I forgot the name). If I remember correctly, Rasputin was quite a control freak and the family did end up hating him.
We don't go too far away in our RV travels, but I will certainly keep my eyes open for your sis and her hubby.
Thanks so much for stopping by to say hi.
Love your shares, and your 'themesong' for this week.
Sorry, I've not had time to do any memes for the last couple of weeks because of all the genealogy work and research I've been doing.
Hope your week has treated you well so far.
loved reading your post today!
Very interesting post. I can't say that I would want to wake up to the sight of Rasputin every day, (he is a bit scary looking). The building is beautiful with its detailed fencing and architectural designs.
The group in the video for the song is very energetic. Cute video. I had never heard this song, but it was allright.
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