Valdemārs Kristaps Baumanis (19 April 1905 – 24 April 1992) was a Latvian basketball player, basketball and football coach. He was head coach of

Latvia national basketball team The Latvia men's national basketball team ( lv, Latvijas basketbola izlase) represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championship ...

EuroBasket 1935 The 1935 FIBA European Championship, commonly called EuroBasket 1935, was the first FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA, as well as a test event preceding the first Olympic basketball tournament at the 1936 Summer Olym ...

and

EuroBasket 1939 The 1939 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1939, was the third FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eight national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took par ...

. In 1935, Latvia won the tournament, becoming the first ever European champions. In 1939, Latvia won silver medals. The 2012 Latvian film '' Dream Team 1935'' is based on the events of the EuroBasket 1935. It tells the story of the Latvian national basketball team, the winners of the tournament.

Biography

Early life and military career

Valdemārs Baumanis was born 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 ...

19 April 1905. After the

First World War 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 ...

, he travelled to

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

where he graduated Riga City gymnasium No.4. He started to play basketball in 1922 while still at school. From 1925 until 1927, Baumanis studied

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

. In 1927, he was drafted into

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 ...

where he served in the 6th Riga infantry regiment. In the same year, he also was accepted into Latvian military academy which he graduated in 1929 with the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

During

Second World War 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 ...

in 1943 Baumanis as an officer of Latvian army was conscripted into

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 ...

. He served in general staff of the Legion. Later he was deployed to staff of the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS. In 1944, he was promoted to the rank of captain and became commander of the divisions supply battalion. In March 1945 he was promoted to the rank of major and became commander of the all supply units of the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division. At the last days of the war, he led around 4000 Latvian soldiers to the

Western Allies The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy ...

thus saving them from Soviet

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 ...

and further repressions. He was held captive in a POW camp in Putloss, Germany. After release he lived in Germany until 1947 when he traveled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and lived in

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

until 1956. In 1956, he travelled to United States and for the rest of the life lived in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Playing career

From 1923 until 1930, Baumanis played basketball for the JKS team (Latvian Christian Youth) and became two-time Latvian champion (1925 & 1929). He has played six games for

Latvian national basketball team The Latvia men's national basketball team ( lv, Latvijas basketbola izlase) represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championship ...

including the national team's first international game against

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 1924.

Coaching career

He started his coaching career in 1931 when after injury he was forced to leave the JKS team. From 1931 until 1940, Baumanis was a head coach of the army team

Rīgas ASK Rīgas Armijas Sporta Klubs was a professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. History Rīgas ASK was founded in 1931, and started playing in the Latvian Basketball Championship. In the years that Latvia was controlled by the Sovi ...

. He became three time Latvian champion with Rīgas ASK (1932; 1939–1940). During Nazi occupation of Latvia, he returned as the head coach of the Rīgas ASK and became Latvian champions for another two times (1942–1943). In 1942-43, season he also coached Rīgas ASK women basketball team. Also he was appointed as the head coach of the Latvian national basketball team for four years (1935, 1938-1940). In 1935 Latvia won the tournament and became the first European champions but in 1939, Latvia lost in the final and thus won silver medals. Baumanis was also first Latvian basketball referee with

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

category and in 1936, he was one of the referees of Olympic basketball tournament in Berlin. Also he was a board member of the Latvia Basketball Association for many years. In 1939, Baumanis attended summer school for basketball coaches in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, United States. In 1945, Baumanis left to Germany and an after the Second World War was an active promoter of sports in Latvian exile community. In 1946, he established a football team out of former Latvian football players in Germany and this team played several matches against German football clubs. From 1946 until 1947, he coached basketball team ''Riga'' in

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

which consisted mainly of Latvians. In the years 1948–1954, he moved to France and served as the head coach of the French basketball team CEP Lorient. Since 1956, he lived in Chicago where he actively organized sport and basketball events for Latvian community in the US. He led the sport department of the

American Latvian Association The American Latvian Association (, ALA) is the main organization representing the Latvian American community in the United States of America, which was founded on February 24, 1951. The association and its members lead and support global effor ...

and coached the basketball team of the Latvian military veteran organisation ''Daugavas Vanagi'' which became champions of Latvian community in US for several years. Baumanis died in Chicago on 24 April 1992.

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baumanis, Valdemars 1905 births 1992 deaths FIBA EuroBasket-winning coaches Latvian basketball coaches Latvian men's basketball players Sportspeople from Liepāja Latvian World War II refugees Latvian expatriate basketball people in Germany Latvian expatriate basketball people in France Latvian Waffen-SS personnel University of Latvia alumni Latvian emigrants to the United States

Biography

Early life and military career

Playing career

Coaching career

See also

External links