Jonas Variakojis (May 5, 1892 near , then the

Kaunas Governorate Kovno Governorate ( rus, Ковенская губеpния, r=Kovenskaya guberniya; lt, Kauno gubernija) or Governorate of Kaunas was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Kaunas (Kovno in Russian). It was forme ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

– October 31, 1963 in St. Charles, Illinois,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) was a Lithuanian army officer.

Early life

Variakojis finished the in 1913 and later studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

University of St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public university, public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a de ...

World War I

Variakojis finished studying at the Vladimir Military School in 1917 and he was mobilized into the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

, being sent to the Austrian front on the Eastern Front during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Lithuanian Wars of Independence

In December 1918 he returned to Lithuania and joined the newly organized Lithuanian army, which was preparing to defend Lithuania against the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

during the

Lithuanian–Soviet War The Lithuanian–Soviet War or Lithuanian–Bolshevik War ( lt, karas su bolševikais) was fought between newly independent Lithuania and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in the aftermath of World War I. It was part of the la ...

. Variakojis was ordered to organize the Panevėžys Region Defence Unit (), which later became the 4th Infantry Regiment. On February 7, 1919, he led the first Lithuanian battles against the Soviets near

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23, ...

. The Soviet advance was stopped, preventing them from capturing Lithuania's temporary capital,

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

. Variakojis with his unit continued to combat the Soviets. They were also deployed against Poland during the

Polish–Lithuanian War The Polish–Lithuanian War (in Polish historiography, Polish–Lithuanian Conflict) was an undeclared war between newly-independent Lithuania and Poland following World War I, which happened mainly, but not only, in the Vilnius and Suwałki regi ...

. For his distinguished services during the

Lithuanian Wars of Independence The Lithuanian Wars of Independence, also known as the Freedom Struggles ( lt, Laisvės kovos), refer to three wars Lithuania fought defending its independence at the end of World War I: with Bolshevik forces (December 1918 – August 1919), Berm ...

, he was awarded several military orders, including the

Order of the Cross of Vytis The Order of the Cross of Vytis ( lt, Vyčio Kryžiaus ordinas) is a Lithuanian presidential award conferred for heroic defence of Lithuania's freedom and independence. November 23 is a holiday in honour of the Order of the Cross of Vytis. His ...

Interwar

In 1926, he retired from active military duty. He briefly served as the Minister of Communications and Minister of Defense between 1928 and 1930.

After the Second World War

At the end of World War II, he retreated to Germany and then immigrated to the United States, where he died in 1963.

References

Sources

* * 1892 births 1963 deaths People from Panevėžys County Ministers of Defence of Lithuania Lithuanian Army officers Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Vytis Lithuanian anti-communists {{lithuania-mil-bio-stub