Aleksandrs Stankus (13 July 1913 – 23 December 1944)
Football in Latvia 1907-1940, Aleksandrs Stankus biography (Latvian language), accessed 16 March 2022. was a Latvian association football, footballer who played for

Olimpija Liepāja Olimpija Liepāja was a Latvian football club. It was based in Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Plannin ...

and Latvia national team between 1930 and 1937.

Biography

Stankus had two big passions in his life - football and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. In both of these fields he was quite respected in

Liepāja Liepāja (; liv, Līepõ; see #Names and toponymy, other names) is a state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest-city in the Kurzeme Planning Region, Kurzeme Region and the third-largest city in the country after R ...

although he never was a really big star in either ballet or football. In football, he made his debut with Olimpija at the age of 18 by scoring goals in international friendlies against the champions of

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. In the first years he played as a central midfielder but later mostly as a right wing forward. He was never as popular as his teammates in attack - Ludvigs Dudaņecs, Voldemārs Žins or

Fricis Dambrēvics Fricis Dambrēvics (1906 – ?) was a Latvian football forward, a three-time champion of Latvia. Biography His entire top level career Dambrēvics played with the strongest Liepāja football club of 1920s and 1930s – Olimpija Liepāja for w ...

although in one season he was the second best goalscorer of his club. In the first half of 1930s Stankus became a regular player with the

Latvia national football team The Latvia national football team ( lv, Latvijas futbola izlase) represents Latvia in international football and is controlled by the Latvian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Latvia. They have never qualified for the FIF ...

for which he made in total 17 appearances. Meanwhile, in 11 seasons with

he won 5

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga is a professional football league and the top tier of association football in Latvia. Organised by the Latvian Football Federation, the Higher League is contested by 10 clubs. The full name of the league is Op ...

titles (only the really big stars of Olimpija - Kārlis Tīls,

Harijs Lazdiņš Harijs Lazdiņš (25 July 1910 in Liepāja – 23 August 1988 in Kingston, Ontario) was a Latvian football goalkeeper who played for Olimpija Liepāja and Latvia national football team in 1920s-1930s. Biography Lazdiņš made his debut for ...

and

Fricis Laumanis Fricis Laumanis (13 June 1910 in Liepāja – 6 December 1981 in New Jersey) was a Latvian football defender who was the most capped footballer from Liepāja for the Latvia national football team before World War II next to Rūdolfs Kronlaks a ...

held more titles than him), he was also a three-time winner of the

Riga Football Cup Riga Football Cup was a knockout tournament held in Latvian football between 1925 and 1936. In 1937 it was replaced by the Latvian Football Cup. Clubs from other cities than Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest ...

. Stankus was one of the six Olimpija club veterans that left the club in 1936. For two more seasons he played with

ASK Riga ASK Rīga is a former professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. "ASK" stood for "Armijas Sporta Klubs" (in English: Army Sports Club). History BK Rīga was then founded in 2004, and it got back the original name of ASK R ...

and completely retired from football in 1938.

Personal life and death

Stankus was born at

Aizpute Aizpute (german: Hasenpoth) is a town in western Latvia's South Kurzeme Municipality in the valley of the Tebra River, northeast of Liepāja. History The territory of modern Aizpute was inhabited by ancient Curonians since the 9th century. St. ...

, Latvia. During German occupation of Latvia in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Stankus was drafted in the

Latvian Legion The Latvian Legion ( lv, Latviešu leģions) was a formation of the German Waffen-SS during World War II. Created in 1943, it consisted primarily of ethnic Latvian personnel.Gerhard P. Bassler, ''Alfred Valdmanis and the politics of survival'', 20 ...

of the

Waffen SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

. Stankus was presumably killed in battle in Džūkste in December 1944, although he was only declared as missing.Ballet dancer ir midfield
(Latvian)

References

1913 births 1944 deaths Latvian footballers Latvia men's international footballers Latvian Waffen-SS personnel Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Latvian military personnel killed in World War II Missing in action of World War II People from Aizpute {{Latvia-footy-bio-stub Waffen-SS personnel killed in action