Frīdrihs Briedis (June 23, 1888 – August 28, 1918) was a Latvian

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

and one of the most famous Latvian Riflemen commanders. He was

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

the recipient of all classes of the

Order of Lāčplēsis The Order of Lāčplēsis (also Lāčplēsis Military Order, ), 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 the Latvian War of Independ ...

Early life

To escape dishonest and harsh baronial treatment, Briedis' father moved the family from

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 ...

Vitebsk Governorate Vitebsk Governorate (, ) was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with the seat of governorship in Vitebsk. It was established in 1802 by splitting Belarusian Governorate and existed until 1924. Today most ...

(today's Shumilina Raion in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

), where he obtained forest land, cleared it for growing corn, and built the house where Briedis was born, the youngest of three children.M. Akmenājs, ed. ''Briedis, A Concise Biography with 12 Illustrations Based on a Manuscript by Aleksandrs Plensners.'' M. Goppers, Sweden. 1963. Briedis' upbringing, particularly his mother's influence, engendered in him a devout nature. He graduated with distinction from the local rural district (''pagasts''When translated as "parish" in English, "''pagasts''" refers to local rural organization as found in England by that name, unrelated to religion.) and local congregational church schools. He left his family home in 1902, traveling to

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

, where he moved in with relatives and entered the six-year city school. A consistently excellent student, he devoted his spare time furthering his religious studies, tutoring to buy books, hoping one day to become a minister—his goal to battle the moral decay which deeply affected him at the time of the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

. By his own admission, he had time for few, if any, friends. Finished with school, Briedis determined to enter the Monastery at Belye Berega. Having arrived at the rail station, nearly at his destination, he encountered two inebriated monks. A shocked Briedis renounced any thought of entering the priesthood—he held boozing to be the most vile immorality and would have no truck with any who engaged in it. To fill the void, in 1905, Briedis found a new calling—the military.

Military service

Russian Army units

In 1906 he was accepted into the St.Petersburg's Vladimir War School. Due to his excellent tactical knowledge he reached the

rank A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial. People Formal ranks * Academic rank * Corporate title * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy ...

of Senior sergeant by his last year at the school. Briedis graduated from the war school with the rank of

Podporuchik ''Podporuchik'' ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, потпоручник, potporučnik, , , , , ) is the most junior officer in some Slavic armed forces, and is placed below the rank of lieutenant, typically corresponding to rank of second lieutenant in English ...

, and afterwards he served in the 99th Ivangorod

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

, which was deployed in Daugavpils. In 1912 he attained the rank of Poruchik and was appointed the company's

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

. He participated in

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 ...

, initially serving in

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

, where he successfully led

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

patrols and received numerous awards for valor for his accomplishments. Bredis and soldiers

Latvian Riflemen

When the formation of the Latvian Riflemen

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s begun in 1915 he was appointed to command the 1st Daugavgrīva battalion. He and his men participated in battles near the

Misa River The Misa is a river, 108 kilometres long, in the Semigallia region of Latvia.Lielāko upju ...

, and near

Ķekava Ķekava (historical ) is a city in Latvia, in the historical region of Vidzeme. It is on the left side of the , a tributary of the Daugava River. Ķekava serves as the center of Ķekava Municipality and Ķekava Parish. Etymology According to ...

. In March 1916 Briedis was severely wounded in the

jaw The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth ...

, but he recovered and participated in the Christmas Battles as commander of a battalion. During the Christmas Battles he fought in Tīreļpurvs, where he was wounded for a second time. Briedis was in

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

when the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

broke out, triggering the collapse of the army. Many riflemen joined the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, but Briedis was among those who refused to do so. Briedis joined

Boris Savinkov Boris Viktorovich Savinkov (; 31 January 1879 – 7 May 1925) was a Russian revolutionary, writer, and politician. As a leading figure in the Socialist Revolutionary Party's (SR) Combat Organization in the early 20th century, he was a key organ ...

's Union for the Defence of the Motherland and Freedom, serving as an intelligence officer. In 1918 he joined an anti-bolshevist conspiracy in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. On July 23, 1918, he was

arrest An arrest is the act of apprehending and taking a person into custody (legal protection or control), usually because the person has been suspected of or observed committing a crime. After being taken into custody, the person can be question ...

ed by the

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...

, and on August 27, 1918, he was

execute Execution, in capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), s ...

d in Moscow by

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

. He posthumously received all classes of the

for his valor in the Christmas Battles, and for participation in almost all the rifleman's operations on the

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

front. In Riga there is also a street named in his name.

References in popular culture

Latvian pagan metal band Skyforger has a song ''Pulkvedis Briedis'' (Colonel Briedis) dedicated to Frīdrihs Briedis. It is included in the ''Latvian rifleman'' album.

External links

Fridrihs Briedis
A Concise Biography with 12 Illustrations, compiled by M. Akmentājs after a manuscript by Aleksandrs Plensners, original and translation by David Guild

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briedis, Fridrihs 1888 births 1918 deaths People from Shumilina district Latvian people from the Russian Empire People from Polotsky Uyezd Russian military personnel of World War I Latvian Riflemen People of the Russian Civil War Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 1st class Recipients of the Cross of St. George Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 2nd class Latvian anti-communists Victims of the Red Terror in Soviet Russia Executed Latvian people Executed military personnel People executed by Russia by firing squad 20th-century Latvian people White movement people executed by the Soviet Union Latvian military personnel in the Imperial Russian Army of World War I Inmates of Butyrka prison