OCCULTISTS from Russia

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Russian Occultists of all time. This list of famous Russian Occultists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Grigori Rasputin (1869 - 1916)

With an HPI of 81.20, Grigori Rasputin is the most famous Russian Occultist.  His biography has been translated into 92 different languages on wikipedia.

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; Russian: Григо́рий Ефи́мович Распу́тин [ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲɪj jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ rɐˈsputʲɪn]; 21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1869 – 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire. Rasputin was born to a family of peasants in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye, located within Tyumensky Uyezd in Tobolsk Governorate (present-day Yarkovsky District in Tyumen Oblast). He had a religious conversion experience after embarking on a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897 and has been described as a monk or as a strannik (wanderer or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1903 or in the winter of 1904–1905, he travelled to Saint Petersburg and captivated a number of religious and social leaders, eventually becoming a prominent figure in Russian society. In November 1905, Rasputin met Nicholas II and his empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna. In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a faith healer for Nicholas' and Alexandra's only son, Alexei Nikolaevich, who suffered from haemophilia. He was a divisive figure at court, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan. The extent of Rasputin's power reached an all-time high in 1915, when Nicholas left Saint Petersburg to oversee the Imperial Russian Army as it was engaged in the First World War. In his absence, Rasputin and Alexandra consolidated their influence across the Russian Empire. However, as Russian military defeats mounted on the Eastern Front, both figures became increasingly unpopular, and in the early morning of 30 December [O.S. 17 December] 1916, Rasputin was assassinated by a group of conservative Russian noblemen who opposed his influence over the imperial family. Historians often suggest that Rasputin's scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov shortly after his assassination. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on common rumors; he remains a mysterious and captivating figure in popular culture.

2. Nina Kulagina (1926 - 1990)

With an HPI of 56.79, Nina Kulagina is the 2nd most famous Russian Occultist.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Nina Kulagina, Ninel Sergeyevna Kulagina (Russian: Нине́ль Серге́евна Кула́гина, born Ninel Mikhaylova) (30 July 1926 – 11 April 1990) was a Russian woman who claimed to have psychic powers, particularly in psychokinesis. Academic research of her phenomenon was conducted in the USSR for the last 20 years of her life. Kulagina was suspected of utilizing hidden magnets and threads to perform her feats. She was caught cheating on more than one occasion according to the authors of several books and publications. In 1987, Kulagina sued and won a partial victory in a defamation case brought against a Soviet government magazine that had accused her of fraud.

3. Sergey Oldenburg (1863 - 1934)

With an HPI of 47.49, Sergey Oldenburg is the 3rd most famous Russian Occultist.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Sergey Fyodorovich Oldenburg (Russian: Серге́й Фёдорович Ольденбу́рг; 26 September [O.S. 14 September] 1863 – 28 February 1934) was a Russian orientalist who specialized in Buddhist studies. He was a disciple of Ivan Minayev, the founder of Russian Indology.