Khioniya Kuzminichna Guseva (c. 1880/81 – after 1919) (her first name has alternatively been spelled as Khionia or Jina or Chionya and her surname has been alternatively spelled as Gusyeva) [1] was a Russian townswoman (meshchanka) of Syzran (near Simbirsk) who attempted to kill Grigori Rasputin in 1914.
Khioniya Guseva | |
|---|---|
 Guseva, c. 1914 | |
| Born | c. 1880/81 |
| Died | after 1919 (aged at least 38-39) |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Occupation | Assassin |
| Years active | 1914 |
| Known for | Attempted murder of Grigori Rasputin in 1914 |
Biography
editIn 1899 she is recorded as having resided in Tsaritsyn, known presently as Volgograd. Until 1912, she was a devotee of the monk Iliodor.
According to the records of the Extraordinary Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government (ru), Khioniya Guseva was a peasant of Syzransky Uyezd of the Simbirsk Governorate. The dates of Guseva's birth and death are unknown, but the police report indicates that she was 33 years old when she tried to assassinate Rasputin.[2]
Her most noticeable feature was her lack of a nose.[3] During her testimony, she indicated that she never suffered from syphilis, but rather was "damaged by medicines" since she was 13 years old.[4][5]
Assassination attempt on Rasputin
editIn 1914 she attempted to assassinate Grigori Rasputin in his home village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk Governorate, where she may have arrived on 16 June of that year. Some historians have dated the assassination attempt to 29 June 1914 (New Style) [6] or Monday 13 July.[7] According to historian Oleg Platonov, the assassination attempt was made on Sunday June 29 (Old Style).[2]
Grigori Rasputin, a friend of the czar Nicholas II of Russia and his family, was visiting his wife and children in his village, along the Tura River, in Siberia. On the afternoon of Sunday 12 July [O.S. 29 June] 1914 [8][9][10] having dined, he went out from the house. He had just received a telegram, and left his home to reply to it when he was attacked by Guseva, who drove a knife into his abdomen. Guseva purportedly screamed "I have killed the Antichrist!" after the attack.[11] Rasputin was then chased through the streets by Guseva in order to finish the task. He hit her in the face with a shaft, and a crowd quickly gathered, chanting "Let's kill her!" She surrendered herself to the constable and was tried in court. After seven weeks, Rasputin recovered.
Guseva was found to be insane and was placed in an asylum in Tomsk until 15 March 1917. Then she was released by order of Alexander Kerensky. She is reported to have attempted and failed another assassination attempt, this time of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, in 1919.[12] What happened to Guseva after this attempt is unknown and her date of death is also unknown.
References
edit- ^ Russian: Хиония Кузьминична Гусева
- ^ a b Oleg Platonov, Zhizn' za tsaria (St. Petersburg: Voskresesnie, 1996).
- ^ "Действующие лица романа В.С.Пикуля "Нечистая сила". Г-К". yiv1999.narod.ru.
- ^ See Rasputin by Edvard Radzinsky
- ^ С. Г. Зацаринный. Женщина, погубившая четыре империи (in Russian). syzranhistory.ru. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ Joseph T. Fuhrmann, Rasputin: A Life (New York: Praeger, 1990), 107.
- ^ J.T. Fuhrmann (2013), The Untold Story, p. 119.
- ^ Archive, The British Newspaper (28 June 2013). "Assassination Attempt on Rasputin – 29 June 1914". blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.
- ^ "New York Times" (PDF).
- ^ J.T. Fuhrmann (2013), p. 126.
- ^ B. Moynahan (1997) Rasputin. The saint who sinned, p. 194.
- ^ Profile, yiv1999.narod.ru; accessed 26 April 2015.(in Russian)
Sources
edit- Joseph T. Fuhrmann, Rasputin: A Life(New York: Praeger, 1990).
- Edvard Radzinsky, The Rasputin File (2000, Anchor, USA) ISBN 0-385-48910-2 (paperback)