Q 01/05

Rasputin gained his influence through his friendship with the family of which ruler?

A) Alexander II

B) Nicholas II

C) Alexander III

D) Nicholas I

Answer · why

B) Nicholas II

He first met the tsar on 1 November 1905; Nicholas's diary calls him 'a man of God – Grigory, from Tobolsk province'.

Q 02/05

In which region of Russia was Rasputin born?

A) The Urals

B) The Caucasus

C) Siberia

D) Ukraine

Answer · why

C) Siberia

His village lies on the Tura River in what is now Tyumen Oblast.

Q 03/05

What was the name of Rasputin's home village?

A) Verkhoturye

B) Tobolsk

C) Pokrovskoye

D) Abalak

Answer · why

C) Pokrovskoye

He kept returning there throughout his years of fame; his wife stayed there for the whole of his rise.

Q 04/05

Rasputin was named after which saint, whose feast fell the day after his birth?

A) St. Gregory of Nyssa

B) St. Gregory the Great

C) St. Nicholas

D) St. Simeon of Verkhoturye

Answer · why

A) St. Gregory of Nyssa

He was christened the day after his birth on 21 January 1869.

Q 05/05

Besides farming, what job did Rasputin's father Yefim do between Tobolsk and Tyumen?

A) Horse trader

B) Village tax collector

C) Government courier

D) River ferryman

Answer · why

C) Government courier

Seven or eight of Rasputin's siblings died in infancy or early childhood.