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

Latvian Army The Latvian Land Forces () together with the Latvian National Guard form the land warfare branch of the Latvian National Armed Forces. From 2007 to 2024, the Land Forces were organized as a fully professional standing army until the re-introduct ...

, recipient 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 ...

, 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 () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

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

Vilnius military school Vilnius Military School () also known as the Vilnius Junker Infantry School () was a military school for the non-commissioned officers (NCO) and junior officers of the Imperial Russian Army that operated in 1864–1915 in Vilnius. Up to 1910, the ...

, as the

praporshchik (, , ) 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 the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...

. 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, , , , , ) 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 ...

in 1899, and to the rank of

poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe, also called ''poruchnick'' in Slavic languages, is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either the lowest or second lowest officer rank. Etymology The rank designatio ...

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

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

n infantry regiment, which participated in

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 ...

.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'' (English: staff captain), in the cavalry also ''Stabsrittmeister'' ("staff riding master" or "staff cavalry master"), or ''Kapitänleutnant'' (captain lieutenant), was a historic military rank in the Prussian Army. In referen ...

, 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 or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

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'' () is a military rank in Slavic and nearby countries which corresponds to the lieutenant colonel in the English-speaking states and military. In different languages the exact name of this rank maintains a variety of spelling ...

. He was put in charge of a battalion in the 177th infantry regiment in May 1915. Before joining

Latvian riflemen The Latvian Riflemen (; ) were originally a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army assembled starting 1915 in Latvia in order to defend Baltic governorates against the German Empire in World War I. Initially, the battalions were forme ...

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 (; ) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states, ''coronel'' in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking states and ''oberst'' in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countr ...

. Participated in battle near Sloka,

Ķemeri Ķemeri resort (originally ''Ķemeres'', also known as ''Kemmern'') is a part of Jūrmala in Latvia, 44 km from Riga. From 1928 to 1959, Ķemeri was a separate town, famous for healing mud baths and luxurious hotels. Approximately 2,200 in ...

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 ...

, 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 () is the second 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, it was at 24,879. It is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city, and ...

. He was proposed as a candidate for the rank major general After

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

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

Post-war

In September he was mobilized into 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 ...

. On 3 February 1921 he joined the Latvian army as a

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 ...

, 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, , 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 politicians and aimed to be the g ...

memorandum. He died in 1956 in Riga,

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

and was buried at the 1st Riga Forest Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Janis 1877 births 1956 deaths People from Valmiera Municipality People from Valmiera county 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