Jorģis Zemitāns (23 February 1873, Skrīveri parish – 16 January 1928,

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) was an army officer and commander of the Latvian Northern Brigade during the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

Biography

Jorģis Zemitāns was born on 23 February 1873 in Skrīveri parish, Livonia Governorate. In 1892 he graduated

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Mitau Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

(Jelgava) and joined the army of the

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in 1892 and completed his military education at the Vilnius Military Academy in 1897. He became an officer in 116th. Malojaroslavec infantry regiment which was stationed in

World War I

When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

started in 1914 he was promoted to

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and together with the whole regiment deployed to the front. Together with XX Army corps he fought in

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. In January 1915, the entire XX Army corps was destroyed in the

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forest's and Zemitāns was taken

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in February 1915. He spent the remainder of the war in the German POW camps and was released from captivity in December 1918.

Latvian War of Independence

Zemitāns played one of the leading roles during the

. After his release from captivity he returns to Riga. On 7 December 1918 he joined the new Latvian Army and was involved in organising the first armed units. He organised and became commander of 2nd. Riga defence

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. However those Riga defence companies proved to be very disloyal and mutinous and soon were disbanded. Beginning on 10 January 1919, he was promoted to Latvian military

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and together with Latvian officer in Estonian service Voldemārs Ozols began organising the formation of Latvian defence units in

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and

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. On 2 February he was promoted to organiser and commander in chief of the Latvian Northern Brigade. After German coup on 16 April 1919 he was first Latvian senior officer who proclaimed that he maintains full loyalty to Ulmanis provisional government. He led the brigade in the fight for liberation in Northern

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

during the Battle of Wenden, an operation conducted by General

Ernst Põdder Ernst-Johannes Põdder VR I/1 (10 February 1879 – 24 June 1932) was an Estonian military commander in the 1918–1920 Estonian War of Independence. In 1900, Põdder graduated from the Vilnius Military Academy. In the Russo-Japanese war he a ...

of the 3rd Estonian Division. 15 July he became commander of the Vidzeme division and the eastern front. When attack of the Bermontians started Zemitāns was commanding officer of the all Latvian units in Riga front. He failed to organise the defence of Riga and left bank of the

Daugava The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of ...

and was dismissed from duty and replaced by Mārtiņš Peniķis. From January 1920, Zemitāns worked at the Latvian Military Court and participated in development of military manuals until 1 April 1922 when he retired. Jorģis Zemitāns died on 16 January 1928 in Riga Military Hospital from a brain tumor. Jorģis Zemitāns was awarded with the Latvian Military Order of Lāčplēsis, Estonian Cross of Liberty and the Russian Order of St. Vladimir.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zemitans, Jorgis 1873 births 1928 deaths People from Aizkraukle Municipality People from Riga county Latvian military officers Imperial Russian Army officers Russian military personnel of World War I Latvian military personnel of the Latvian War of Independence Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 3rd class Recipients of the Cross of Liberty (Estonia) Deaths from brain tumor Deaths from cancer in Latvia

Biography

World War I

Latvian War of Independence

See also

References