Grigori Rasputin

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian peasant, mystical faith healer, and trusted friend of the family of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia. He became an influential figure in Saint Petersburg, especially after August 1915, when Nicholas took command of the army fighting in World War I.

Grigori Rasputin was born the son of a welltodo peasant and postal coachdriver in the small village of Pokrovskoe, in the Tobolsk Governorate in the immense West Siberian Plain. The parish register contains the following entry for 9160January 1869 In the village of Pokrovskoe, in the family of the peasant Yefim Yakovlevich Rasputin and his wife, both Orthodox, was born a son, Grigory. The next day, he was baptized and named after St. Gregory of Nyssa, whose feast day is onJanuary.

Source: Wikipedia