651) Grigori Rasputin

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (1869 – 1916). Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia, and gained considerable influence in late imperial Russia.
He has been described as a monk or as a "strannik" (wanderer, or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. After traveling to St. Petersburg, either in 1903 or the winter of 1904–5, Rasputin captivated some church and social leaders. He became a society figure, and met the Tsar in November 1905.
In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a healer for the Tsar and his wife Alexandra's son Alexei, who suffered from hemophilia and was Nicholas' only heir (Tsarevitch).
In the early morning of 30 December 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative noblemen who opposed his influence over Alexandra and the Tsar.
Some writers have suggested that Rasputin helped discredit the tsarist government, and thus helped precipitate the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Romanov dynasty. Very little about Rasputin's life and influence is certain, however, as accounts have often been based on hearsay, rumor, and legend.

- "Handsome, with long reddish hair and beard, broad shouldered, vigorous and erect, Rasputin had an extraordinary personality..." https://www.fontanka.co.uk/firsttoseventhjanuary

- "She was almost as tall as Gregory, her blond hair contrasted sharply with his unruly auburn locks." https://www.proza.ru/2013/06/14/332