Jānis Francis (July 3, 1877 – October 24, 1956) was a general of the

Latvian Army The Latvian Land Forces ( lv, Sauszemes spēki, SzS) together with the Latvian National Guard form the land warfare branch of the Latvian National Armed Forces. Since 2007, land forces are organized as a fully professional standing army. Mission ...

, recipient of the

Order of Lāčplēsis The Order of Lāčplēsis (also Lāčplēsis Military Order, lv, Lāčplēša Kara ordenis), the first and the highest Latvian military award, was established in 1919 on the initiative of Jānis Balodis, the Commander of the Latvian Army during t ...

, the 3rd class.

Biography

Born in Ķoņu parish, into a farming family, Francis graduated from a school in Valmiera city. Conscripted into

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 ...

in 1894, he initially served in the 113th infantry regiment, based in Riga. In 1898 graduated from

Vilnius military school Vilnius Military School (russian: Виленское военное училище) also known as the Vilnius Junker Infantry School (russian: Виленское пехотное юнкерское училище) was a military school for the non ...

, as the

praporshchik ( rus, Пра́порщик, 3=ˈprapərɕːɪk, ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in navies. It is usually equivalent to Warrant ...

. Afterwards Francis served in the 180th infantry regiment, which was based in Jelgava. He was promoted to the rank of

podporuchik ''Podporuchik'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, потпоручник, potporučnik, cs, podporučík, pl, podporucznik, russian: подпору́чик, bg, подпоручик, sk, podporučík) is the most Junior officer in some Slavic armed forces, an ...

in 1899, and to the rank of

poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe ( hr, poručnik, cs, poručík, pl, porucznik, russian: script=latn, poruchik, sr, script=latn, poručnik, sk, poručík) is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either ...

in 1903. In 1904 Francis was attached to the 160th

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

n infantry regiment, which participated in

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

.Biography in Order of Lāčplēsis home page
He received several awards for his efforts. After the war he returned to the 180th infantry regiment, where he was put in command of a company. In 1907, he received promotion to the rank of

stabskapitän ''Stabskapitän'' (en: Staff captain), in the cavalry also ''Stabsrittmeister'' (en: "Staff riding master" or "Staff cavalry master"), or ''Kapitänleutnant'' (en: Captain lieutenant), was a historic military rank in the Prussian Army. In refer ...

, and in 1914 to the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

World War I

He commanded a company, and later a battalion during :World War I. In 1915, he was promoted to the rank of

podpolkovnik ''Podpolkovnik'' (russian: подполко́вник, lit=sub –, junior – , or lower regimentary) is a military rank in Slavic and nearby countries which corresponds to the lieutenant colonel in the English-speaking states and military. ...

. He was put in charge of a battalion in the 177th infantry regiment in May 1915. Before joining Latvian riflemen units in 1915 he was several times wounded, receiving concussions twice. As formation of Latvian riflemen battalions began, Francis went to Riga and was appointed commander of the 2nd Rigas Latvian Riflemen battalion. In July 1916 was promoted to the rank of

polkovnik ''Polkovnik'' (russian: полковник, lit=regimentary; pl, pułkownik) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states and oberst in several German-speaking and Scandin ...

. Participated in battle near Sloka,

Ķemeri Ķemeri resort (originally ''Ķemeres'', also known as ''Kemmern'') JŪRMALA, Nature and Cultural Heritage, Ed. LaimaSlava, Neputns 2004, , pages 83-95 is a part of Jūrmala in Latvia, 44 km from Riga. From 1928 to 1959, Ķemeri was a separat ...

Ķekava Ķekava (german: Keckau) is a village in central Latvia. It is the centre of Ķekava Municipality Ķekava Municipality ( lv, Ķekavas novads) is a municipality in Latvia. The municipality was formed in 2009 by merging Baloži town, Daugmale ...

, defended Nāves island. In 1916 he was critically wounded, receiving concussions twice. In December he fully recovered and was appointed to commander of Latvian riflemen reserve regiment, based in

Valmiera Valmiera (; german: link=no, Wolmar; pl, Wolmar see other names) is the largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020 – 24 879. It is a state city ...

. He was proposed as a candidate for the rank

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

After

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, in February 1918 he retired from the army and left for Russia.

Post-war

In September he was mobilized into

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 ...

. In 1920 Francis retired as Latvian citizen. On February 3, 1921 he joined the Latvian army as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

, working in the main headquarters as second assistant to the Chief of Staff. From July he headed a commission aimed at finding and marking main places of battles in which Latvian soldiers took part. Francis was appointed to commander of Riga's garrison in 1922, and was made General in 1925.Newspaper "Latvijas Kareivis
''40 gadi kaŗavīra gaitās''
After becoming commander of main headquarters in 1928, Francis became the second assistant to commander of army headquarters in 1929. In 1935 he attained the maximum service age and was retired from the army. In 1944 he signed

Latvian Central Council The Latvian Central Council (LCC, lv, Latvijas Centrālā Padome, LCP) was the pro-independence Latvian resistance movement during World War II from 1943 onwards. The LCC consisted of members from across the spectrum of former leading Latvian po ...

memorandum. He died in 1956 in Riga,

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

and was buried at the 1st Riga Forest Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Janis 1877 births 1956 deaths People from Valmiera Municipality People from Kreis Wolmar Latvian generals Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Latvian Riflemen Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Latvian military personnel of the Latvian War of Independence Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 3rd class Burials at Forest Cemetery, Riga Latvian military personnel in the Imperial Russian Army of World War I