Rasputin: The Biography by Smith Douglas

Author:Smith, Douglas [Smith, Douglas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2016-11-02T16:00:00+00:00

Father Vladimir Vostokov, who happened to be the religious preceptor to Samarin’s children, wrote to Count Sergei Sheremetev, an aging pillar of Russian conservatism, that with this change “in the life of our church light will begin to shine in those dark places in which a debauched khlyst is considered a ‘holy starets’ with nearly unlimited authority over church affairs.” 9 Father Alexander Vasilev, too, expressed hope for the church now that it would be under the direction of “a man with a clean, independent soul.”

Rasputin had no choice but to accept Samarin’s appointment. According to Samarin’s daughter, he even tried to meet the new procurator in Petrograd at the end of July. He arrived at the Hotel Europe where Samarin was staying, bringing with him his old ally Varnava, bishop of Tobolsk. Out of respect for Varnava’s office, Samarin agreed to receive him and came over to greet the bishop, but when he spotted Rasputin behind Varnava’s back, he stopped short, pulled his hand away, saying: “I don’t know you and won’ t shake your hand.” 10 Whether or not the incident ever happened, the story does convey Samarin’s true feelings for Rasputin.

Samarin’s appointment was a clear, indisputable victory for Rasputin’s foes. Nevertheless, the myth of the all-powerful Rasputin had by now become so pervasive, that every decision at the highest levels was attributed to him, even if there was no way to explain it. On 21 July, for example, the head of the Tobolsk Provincial Okhrana reported to Dzhunkovsky that Rasputin had been overheard boasting several days earlier that Samarin had been chosen thanks solely to his, Rasputin’s, influence. 11 Nothing, of course, could have been further from the truth.

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