Grigori Efimovich Rasputin (1871–1916), Russian monk in the household of
Czar Nicholas
II. Despite his
notoriously bad reputation, Rasputin wielded
power at the
court through his influence over the Czarina. The statesmen and ministers who
tried to oppose him were removed from their posts; those who remained were his
tools. Rasputin was assassinated by a
group of Russian nobles in December 1916. His
constitution was tough: a generous dose of poison failed to
produce any visible
effect, and the terrified conspirators
riddled him with bullets and drowned him in the frozen Neva River for good
measure.
—ESTO - Hold the Form of the Org, Part II Approved Glossary