Maria Rasputina (born Matryona Grigorievna Rasputina, ; 27 March 1898 – 27 September 1977) was the daughter of
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( – ) was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II, the last Emperor of all the Russias, Emperor of Russia, th ...
and his wife Praskovya Fyodorovna Dubrovina. She wrote three memoirs about her father, dealing with
Tsar Nicholas II and
Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna, the attack by
Khionia Guseva, and his 1916 murder. The third one, ''The Man Behind the Myth'', was published in 1977 in association with Patte Barham. In her three memoirs, the veracity of which have been questioned, she painted an almost saintly picture of her father, insisting that most of the negative stories were based on
slander
Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making wikt:asserti ...
and the misinterpretation of facts by his enemies.
Early life

Matryona (or Maria) Rasputin was born in the
Siberian
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states si ...
village of
Pokrovskoye,
Tobolsk Governorate, on 26 March 1898, and baptized the next day. Some people believe she was born in 1899; that year is also on her
tombstone
A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...
, but since 1990 the archives in Russia opened up and more information became available for researchers. In September 1910 she went to Kazan (perhaps the
Mariinsky women's gymnasium) and then came to
St. Petersburg, where her first name was changed to Maria to better fit with her social aspirations.
[Alexander, Robert, ''Rasputin's Daughter,'' Penguin Books, 2006, , pp. 297–98] Rasputin had brought Maria and her younger sister Varvara (Barbara) to live with him in the capital with the hope of turning them into "little ladies." After being refused at the
Smolny Institute
The Smolny Institute () is a Palladian edifice in Saint Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia, notably as a center of women's education, and the headquarters of the Bolsheviks during the early stages of the October Re ...
, they attended Steblin-Kamensky private preparatory school in October 1913.
Father
What little is known about Rasputin's childhood was passed down by Maria. Maria expressed her ideas about their surname; Rasputin.
According to her, he was never a monk, but a
starets
A starets ( ; ''fem.'' ) is an elder of an Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic monastery or convent who functions as venerated adviser and teacher. ''Elders'' or ''spiritual fathers'' are charism ...
. (As he was not an elder, he would be referred to as a pilgrim.) For Maria, her father's healing practices on
Tsarevich Alexei
Grand Duke Alexei Petrovich of Russia (28 February 1690 – 26 June 1718) was a Russian Tsarevich. He was born in Moscow, the son of Tsar Peter I and his first wife, Eudoxia Lopukhina. Alexei did not get along with his father and repeatedly ...
were based on
magnetism
Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that occur through a magnetic field, which allows objects to attract or repel each other. Because both electric currents and magnetic moments of elementary particles give rise to a magnetic field, ...
. According to Maria, Grigory did "look into" the
Khlysti's ideas.
Maria records that Rasputin was never the same after the attack by
Khioniya Guseva on .
Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( – ) was a Russian mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final ye ...
, p. 12. Maria and her mother accompanied their father to the hospital in
Tyumen
Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...
. Seven weeks later, Rasputin left the hospital and returned to St Petersburg. According to Maria, her father started to drink dessert wines.
Maria was briefly engaged during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
to a
Georgian officer named Pankhadze, who had avoided being sent to the war front due to Rasputin's intervention, and was doing his military service with the reserve battalions in
Petrograd
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
. Maria liked to visit the opera and the
Ciniselli Circus
Circus Ciniselli (Russian: ''Цирк Чинизелли'') was the first brick-built circus in Russia; it is situated beside the Fontanka in Saint Petersburg.
The building, which still stands, was opened on 26 December 1877, with a large stage ...
.
On 17 December 1916, Rasputin was lured to the
Moika Palace
The Palace of the Yusupovs on the Moika (), known as the Moika Palace or Yusupov Palace, is a former residence of the Russian noble House of Yusupov in St. Petersburg, Russia, now a museum. The building was the site of Grigori Rasputin's murder ...
for a house warming party organized by
Felix Yusupov, whom Rasputin called "The Little One". Yusupov had visited Rasputin regularly in the past few weeks or months. The following day, the two sisters reported their father missing to
Anna Vyrubova
Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova (''née'' Taneyeva; ; 16 July 1884 – 20 July 1964) was a lady-in-waiting in the late Russian Empire, the best friend and confidante of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna.
Early life
Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva was born in ...
. Traces of blood were detected on the
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
of the Bolshoy Petrovsky bridge, as well as one of Rasputin's
galoshes, stuck between the bridge pile. Maria and her sister affirmed the boot belonged to their father.
Maria asserts that after the attack by Guseva, her father developed
hyperacidity and avoided anything with sugar. She and her father's former secretary, Simanovich, doubted he was poisoned at all. It is Maria who mentioned the homosexual advances of Felix Yusupov towards her father. According to her, he was murdered when this was denied. Fuhrmann does not believe Yusupov found Rasputin attractive.
It is not clear whether Rasputin's two daughters were present at Rasputin's burial in Vyrubova's garden, next to the
Alexander Palace and the surrounding park, although Maria claimed she was. The two sisters were invited in the Alexandra Palace to play with the four grand duchesses, quite often referred to as
OTMA
OTMA was an acronym sometimes used by the four daughters of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and his consort, Alexandra Feodorovna, as a group nickname for themselves, built from the first letter of each girl's name in the order of their births:ale ...
; meanwhile, Maria and her sister had moved into a smaller apartment, owned by her French teacher. They each received an
allowance of 50,000 rubles. In April 1917, their mother returned to Pokrovskoye. The next day, the two sisters were locked up in the
Tauride Palace and questioned. Boris Soloviev succeeded in gaining their release.
Life following the Revolution

Rasputin had persuaded Maria to marry Boris Soloviev, the charismatic son of Nikolai Soloviev, the Treasurer of the
Holy Synod
In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox ...
, and one of her father's admirers. Boris Soloviev, a graduate of a school of mysticism, quickly emerged as Rasputin's successor after the murder. Boris, who had studied
Madame Blavatsky's theosophy
Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...
, and
hypnotism, attended meetings at which Rasputin's followers attempted to communicate with the dead through prayer meetings and
séance
A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French language, French word for "session", from the Old French , "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general and mundane: one ma ...
s. Maria also attended the meetings, but later wrote in her diary that she could not understand why her father kept telling her to "love Boris" when the group spoke to him at the séances. She said she did not like Boris at all.
[Massie, p. 487] Boris was no more enthusiastic about Maria. In his own diary, he wrote that his wife was not even useful for sexual relations, because there were so many women who had bodies he found more attractive than hers. In September 1917, Boris received jewels from the Tsarina to help arrange for their escape, but according to Radzinsky, he kept the funds for himself. Nonetheless, she married Boris on October 5, 1917, in the chapel of the
Tauride Palace. After the fall of the
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was a provisional government of the Russian Empire and Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II on 2 March, O.S. New_Style.html" ;"title="5 ...
the situation got worse. In spring 1918, the couple fled to her mother. They lived in Pokrovskoye,
Tyumen
Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...
, and
Tobolsk.
Boris and her brother Dmitry turned in the officers who had come to
Ekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...
to plan the escape of the Romanovs. Boris lost the money he had obtained from the jewels during the
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
that followed. Boris defrauded prominent Russian families by asking for money for a Romanov impostor to escape to China. Boris also found young women willing to masquerade as one of the grand duchesses for the benefit of the families he had defrauded. (For more information on the betrayal and jewels see the account of
Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden.)
Exile

Boris and Maria escaped to
Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
, where they lived for almost a year. Boris was arrested by the
White Army
The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...
and sent to
Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai. Maria was questioned by Nikolai Sokolov about the Romanov jewels, which had disappeared.
The
White émigré
White Russian émigrés were Russians who emigrated from the territory of the former Russian Empire in the wake of the Russian Revolution (1917) and Russian Civil War (1917–1923), and who were in opposition to the revolutionary Bolshevik com ...
s were detained by the revolutionaries. After Tatyana (1920–2009) was born they left by ship for
Ceylon
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
,
Suez
Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...
,
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
and
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, where the couple opened a Russian restaurant, but business was slow. Then she was invited to work in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. Their second daughter Maria (1922–1976) was born in
Baden, Austria.
Maria took dancing lessons in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
and stayed with Aron Simanovich, her father's former "bookkeeper". They settled in
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...
, Paris, where Boris worked in a soap factory, as night porter, car-washer and for the
Waterman Pen Company; they lived at Avenue Jean Jaurès. He died of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
in July 1926 in
Hôpital Cochin
The Hôpital Cochin () is a hospital of public assistance in the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Jacques Paris 14e. It houses the central burn treatment centre of the city. The Hôpital Cochin is a section of the Faculté de Médecine Paris-Cité. It commem ...
. Maria was offered a job as a
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
dancer because of her name.
She took more dancing lessons to support their two young daughters and invited her sister Varvara to come to Paris, but in 1925 Varvara died in Moscow of typhus.
After
Felix Yusupov published his memoir (in 1928) detailing the death of her father, Maria sued Yusupov and
Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia in a Paris court for damages of $800,000. She condemned both men as murderers and said any decent person would be disgusted by the ferocity of Rasputin's killing. Maria's claim was dismissed. The
French court ruled that it had no jurisdiction over a political killing that took place in Russia. Maria published the first of three memoirs about Rasputin in 1929: ''The Real Rasputin''.
In 1929, she worked at Busch Circus, where she had to dance to "the tragedy of my father's life and death, and be brought face-to-face on the stage with actors who were impersonating him and his murderers. Every time I have to confront my father on the stage a pang of poignant memory shoots through my heart, and I could break down and weep." In 1932, ''Rasputin, My Father'' was published. In January 1933, she performed in
Cirque d'hiver
The Cirque d'Hiver ("Winter Circus"), located at 110 rue Amelot (at the juncture of the rue des Filles du Calvaire and rue Amelot, Paris 11th arrondissement of Paris, 11ème), has been a prominent venue for circuses, exhibitions of dressage, musica ...
with a pony act. In December 1934 Maria was in London. In 1935 she found work in the
Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, based in
Peru, Indiana. The circus toured America and Maria acted one season as a
lion tamer, with Maria billed as "the daughter of the famous mad monk whose feats in Russia astonished the world."
[Massie, p. 526] She was mauled by a bear in May 1935 but stayed with the circus until it reached
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, Florida, where she quit before it ceased operations. In 1938, her two daughters were denied entry to the US. Maria was ordered to leave the country within 90 days, but then, in March 1940, she married Gregory Bernadsky, a childhood friend and former White Russian Army officer, in Miami.
In 1946, they divorced and she became a
U.S. citizen
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Consti ...
. In 1947 her younger daughter Maria married in Paris to
Gideon Walrave Boissevain (1897–1985), minister
plenipotentiary
A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...
in Greece, Chile, Israel, then Dutch ambassador to Cuba.
She began work as a
rivet
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylinder (geometry), cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the deformed e ...
er, either in Miami or in a
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay and Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major inter ...
shipyard during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Maria worked in defense plants until 1955 when she was forced to retire because of her age. After that, she supported herself by working in hospitals, giving
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
lessons, and babysitting for friends.
In 1968, Maria claimed to be
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...
and said
Pat Nixon
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as the Second ladies and gentlemen of the United States, second lady ...
had come to her in a dream.
At one point, she said she recognized
Anna Anderson as
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia (; – 17 July 1918) was the youngest daughter of Nicholas II of Russia, Tsar Nicholas II, the last sovereign of Imperial Russia, and his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse), Tsarina Alexandr ...
, a claim she would later recant. Maria had two pet dogs, whom she called Ioussou and Pov after Felix Yusupov.
[King, p. 277]
During the last years of her life, she lived in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, living on
Social Security
Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...
benefits. Her home was in
Silver Lake, an area of east-central Los Angeles with a large
Russian-American community. Maria is buried in
Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery
Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery is a cemetery, located at 1831 West Washington Boulevard in the West Adams, Los Angeles, West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles, southwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. History
Located in the West Adams, Los Angeles ...
.
Legacy
Maria told her grandchildren that her father taught her to be generous, even in times when she was in need herself. Rasputin said she should never leave home with empty pockets, but should always have something to give to the poor.
Her granddaughter Laurence Huot-Solovieff, the daughter of Maria's daughter Tatyana, recalled in 2005
that according to Maria, their infamous great-grandfather was a "simple man with a big heart and strong spiritual power, who loved Russia, God, and the Tsar."
See also
*''
Nicholas and Alexandra: An Intimate Account of the Last of the Romanovs and the Fall of Imperial Russia''
References
Sources
* Alexander, Robert. ''Rasputin's Daughter,'' Penguin Books, 2006,
Rasputin: The Untold Story* Greg King, ''The Man Who Killed Rasputin,'' Carol Publishing Group, 1995,
* Robert K. Massie, ''Nicholas and Alexandra,'' 1967, Dell Publishing Co.,
*
*
*
*
* Michael Occleshaw, ''The Romanov Conspiracies: The Romanovs and the House of Windsor,'' Orion Publishing Group Ltd., 1993,
* Originally in London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991.
History
George Weidenfeld ...
.
*
* Edvard Radzinsky, ''The Rasputin File,'' Doubleday, 2000,
* Edvard Radzinsky, ''The Last Tsar,'' Doubleday, 1992,
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasputin, Maria
*
20th-century Russian educators
20th-century Russian writers
20th-century Russian women writers
20th-century Russian memoirists
Russian women memoirists
20th-century American educators
20th-century American women educators
20th-century American women writers
20th-century American memoirists
20th-century circus performers
American governesses
Writers from Los Angeles
Bear attack victims
American people of Russian descent
White Russian emigrants to France
White Russian emigrants to the United States
White Russian emigrants to Romania
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Romania
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France
People from Yarkovsky District
People from Tyumensky Uyezd
Burials at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery
1898 births
1977 deaths