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During his youth, Rasputin gained a reputation of super natural powers when he allegedly identified a horse thief by paranormal powers. He also gained a reputation as a rake, a man with a debauched and endless sexual appetite. In his late teens he stayed at the Verkhoturye [[Monastery]] for three months after which he turned to a life as a religious mystic and wanderer. During these years he came into contact with a banned cult known as the khlysty (Flagellants) the members of which believed the only way to reach God was through sinful actions. Soon he began to adopt the robes of a [[monk]]. The association with this group would follow Rasputin for the rest of his life. He also visited Makariy, a holy man would lived in a hut nearby, who influenced Rasputin greatly.
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Rasputin was born, the son of the peasant, Efim Novykh, in the village of Prokovskoye, in Siberia, which is on the banks of the Tura River in what is now the Tymen Oblast. His date of birth had been in dispute until recent documents surfaced that placed it on [[January 22]], 1869 (NS) [[January 10]] (OS). His elder sister, Maria, and younger brother, Dmitri, both died as youngsters, Maria by drowning and Dmitri, of pneumonia after falling into a river. Their deaths apparently affected Rasputin as he named two of his children after them.
In 1889, Rasputin married Praskovya Fyodorovna Dubrovina, by whom he had three children named Dmitri, Varvara, and Maria. He also sired another child with another women.
