
Not a lot is known about Rasputin's early life, to be more specific, not much is known about the first forty years of his life. The story of Rasputin has been told and retold so many times that we cannot be sure about which is true. For instance, in some stories, Rasputin was a holy Monk and in another he was an actor or a phony without any connection to God. Some facts, however have been confirmed by historians.
Rasputin was born between 1864 and 1865. He traveled a lot and was a very religious person. He was a self proclaimed holy healer and predictor of the future. Throughout his travels he went to many places of religious significance, Jerusalem for example, and had started to become famous. People actually began traveling to be able to see Rasputin, in search of his unique powers.
During one of his travels, he claims to have seen an apparition of the Holy Mother who told him to heal the son of the Tsarina. Rasputin began traveling to St. Petersburg, where he would stay until he was invited to the Tsar's palace. The Tsarina wanted Rasputin to heal her son who was a hemophiliac. Having temporarily healed her son, Rasputin was basically hired by the Tsarina.
Eventually, an investigation was conducted to find out more about Rasputin's past. There was also a general consensus among the higher officials that Rasputin was negatively influencing the Tsarina, and, in turn, the country. To rectify this situation, three noble men invited Rasputin to the palace to meet one of their neices. While waiting, Rasputin was offered poisoned wine and tea cakes. The poison however did not effect him, and one of the frustrated noble men shot Rasputin instead. He however did not die right away. He was shot again, and when he still didn't die, he was bound and thrown into the Neva River. After this, he finally died.
Rasputin was a significant figure in Russian history because he had a major influence on how the country was managed. He had a considerable influence over the Tsarina who was in cnotrol of the country while the Tsar was at war. I think that had Rasputin never come to St. Petersburg and met the Tsarina, that maybe Russia might have gone down a different road.