7. Upper Class Women Threw Themselves at Rasputin
Whether or not Rasputin actually seduced Tsarina Alexandra – something he boasted he had done – there was no doubt that he seduced dozens of aristocratic women in St. Petersburg. In the presence of the imperial family, he kept up the act of a humble and holy peasant. Beyond the royal gaze, however, he fell back into his lecherous habits, preaching that physical contact with his person had holy healing powers. The strannik exerted a powerful animal magnetism, which many found inexplicable, upon high society women. Before long, the licentious healer had a cult following of wealthy and aristocratic women, young and old, maidens and matrons, throwing themselves at him like modern groupies at a rock star. Rasputin set himself up in an apartment where people from all classes, but especially aristocratic women, flocked to visit him.
