Khioniya Kuzminichna Guseva ( – after 1919) was a Russian townswoman (''meshchanka'') of

Syzran Syzran ( rus, Сызрань, p=ˈsɨzrənʲ) is the third largest city in Samara Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of Saratov Reservoir of the Volga River. Population: History Founded in 1683 as a fortress, Syzran grew into an important ...

. Starting in 1899 she lived in

Tsaritsyn Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...

, now known as

Volgograd Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

. She became an adherent of the monk

Iliodor Sergei Michailovich Trufanov (Russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Труфа́нов; formerly Hieromonk Iliodor or Hieromonk Heliodorus, russian: Иеромонах Илиодор; October 19, 1880 – 28 January 1952) was a lapsed hie ...

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 An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...

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 Tobolsk Governorate (russian: Тобольская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, Russian Republic and RSFSR located in the Ural Mountains and Siberia. It existed from 1796 to 1920; its ...

, where she arrived on 16 June 1914. Some historians have dated the assassination attempt to 29 June 1914 (

New Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...

) 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 Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...

).Oleg Platonov, ''Zhizn' za tsaria'' (St. Petersburg: Voskresesnie, 1996). Grigori Rasputin, a friend of the tsar

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

and the Tsarina, was visiting his wife and children in his village, along the

Tura River The Tura (), also known as Dolgaya (Long River, ) is a historically important Siberian river which flows eastward from the central Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲs ...

, in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

. 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 In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...

!" 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 Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; Reforms of Russian orthography, original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months ...

. She is reported to have attempted and failed another assassination attempt, this time on

Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow Tikhon of Moscow (russian: Тихон Московский, – ), born Vasily Ivanovich Bellavin (russian: Василий Иванович Беллавин), was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). On 5 November 1917 ( OS) he was ...

, 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