Jonas Černius (6 January 1898,

Kupiškis Kupiškis () is a city in northeastern Lithuania. It is the capital of the Kupiškis district municipality, mainly known for its sculptures and fourth biggest water reservoir in Lithuania. Kupiškis is located on the Lėvuo and Kupa rivers. The ...

Kovno 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 formed ...

– 3 July 1977, Los Angeles) was a

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n general and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. When Lithuania declared independence in 1918, he joined the army as a volunteer and participated in the Freedom Wars. He was one of the first graduates from the

War School of Kaunas War School of Kaunas ( lt, Kauno karo mokykla) was a military school for junior officers in Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania. It was established in January 1919 during the Lithuanian Wars of Independence copying the example of Russian 4- ...

, but he continued to study military engineering in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

(1929) and Paris (1932). On his return to Lithuania, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed as chief of the military technical staff. In 1934 he became a colonel. In 1935 he was promoted to brigadier general and

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afg ...

. From 30 March to 22 November 1939 he was the Prime Minister and led the 20th cabinet. After resigning as prime minister, he was promoted to major general and put in command of the 1st Division. Following the annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union, he served in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

24th Rifle Corps The 24th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army. It was part of the 27th Army and took part in the Great Patriotic War. It appears to have been initially formed in the Kalinin Military District, around what is today Tver, in 1939. In 1940 it wa ...

until Nazi Germany invaded in 1941. He fled to Germany in 1944 to avoid the second Soviet occupation in 1944. At first he lived in Germany, then England, and in 1948 moved to the U.S. He later worked as an engineer for

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

References

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Jonas Černius
', Previous Governments: Between 1918 and 1940, Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Retrieved 7 September 2006. 1898 births 1977 deaths People from Kupiškis People from Vilkomirsky Uyezd Prime Ministers of Lithuania Lithuanian generals Lithuanian people of World War II {{Europe-mil-bio-stub