Khioniya Kuzminichna Guseva ( – after 1919) was a Russian townswoman (''meshchanka'') of Syzran. Starting in 1899 she lived in Tsaritsyn, now known as Volgograd. She became an adherent of the monk Iliodor until 1912. She attempted to kill

Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus g ...

in 1914.

Biography

According to the records of the Extraordinary Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government ( ru), Khioniya Guseva was a peasant of Syzran district uyezd of

Simbirsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), w ...

guberniya. The dates of Guseva's birth and death are unknown, but the police report indicates that she was 33 when she tried to assassinate Rasputin. She was lacking a nose. According to her own testimony, she never suffered from

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

but was "damaged by medicines" since she was 13.

Assassination attempt on Rasputin

She attempted to assassinate

in his home village of Pokrovskoye, Tobolsk Governorate, where she arrived on 16 June 1914. Some historians have dated the assassination attempt to 29 June 1914 ( New Style) or Monday 13 July. According to historian

Oleg Platonov Oleg Anatolyevich Platonov (russian: Оле́г Анато́льевич Плато́нов; born 11 January 1950) is a Russian ultranationalist writer and Holocaust denier. He is the Director General of the '' Institute for the History of Russian C ...

, the assassination attempt was made on Sunday June 29 ( Old Style).Oleg Platonov, ''Zhizn' za tsaria'' (St. Petersburg: Voskresesnie, 1996). Grigori Rasputin, a friend of the tsar Nicholas II of Russia and the Tsarina, was visiting his wife and children in his village, along the Tura River, in Siberia. On the afternoon of

Sunday Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

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. Still not dead, Rasputin was 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 turned herself over to the constable and was placed on trial. After seven weeks, Rasputin recovered. Guseva was found to be insane and was placed in an asylum in

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

until 15 March 1917. Then she was released on order of Alexander Kerensky. She is reported to have attempted and failed another assassination attempt, this time on Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, in 1919.Profile
yiv1999.narod.ru; accessed 26 April 2015. What happened to Guseva after 1919 is unknown and her date of death is also unknown.

References

People acquitted by reason of insanity

Sources

*Joseph T. Fuhrmann, ''Rasputin: A Life''(New York: Praeger, 1990). *

Edvard Radzinsky Edvard Stanislavovich Radzinsky (russian: Э́двард Станисла́вович Радзи́нский) (born September 23, 1936) is a Russian playwright, television personality, screenwriter, and the author of more than forty popular history ...

, ''The Rasputin File'' (2000, Anchor, USA) (paperback) {{DEFAULTSORT:Guseva, Khionia 1914 crimes in Europe Failed assassins Assassins from the Russian Empire Year of birth uncertain Year of death missing Grigori Rasputin