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Episode details

World Service,29 Dec 2015,9 mins

Available for over a year

In December 1916, the infamous mystic, Grigori Rasputin, was murdered by Russian aristocrats. Rasputin, a Siberian peasant and wandering holy man, had become a powerful figure at the Russian Imperial court. The Czar and his wife believed Rasputin had special powers that could heal their son, who was suffering from haemophilia. Using written accounts and archive recordings of those who had met Rasputin, we tell the story of the 'Mad Monk'. (Photo: Grigori Rasputin, Russian monk and courtesan. Credit: Dmitri Wasserman/Getty Images)

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