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Jānis Čoke (24 September 1878 in Idus parish (now
Jānis Čoke (24 September 1878 in Idus parish (now Valmiera Municipality
Valmiera Municipality ( lv, Valmieras novads) is one of the 35 municipalities established in Latvia in 2021, located approximately west of the national capital Riga. Its first elected municipal council took office on 1 July 2021. Its seat is the ...
), Kreis Wolmar, Governorate of Livonia – 9 June 1910 in Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
, Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...
) was a Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
n revolutionary who is known for his involvement in the 1906 robbery of the branch of Russian State Bank in Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
.
Life
Čoke was an industrial worker who joined the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party in 1902 and became a member on the party's militant wing. During the1905 Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
, Čoke founded the revolutionary organization ''Brašie'' which was related with several prison riots and attacks against the gendarmerie in 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 B ...
.
In February 1906, the Latvian revolutionary Jānis Luters formed a group of 15 revolutionaries. The gang was sent to Finland to rob the Russian State Bank branch in Helsinki. The Latvians were assisted by Finnish activists who opposed the Tsarist regime. With Čoke as the leader, the bank was robbed on 26 February.
After the robbery, Čoke fled to Tampere
Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclo ...
where he handed the money over to the Russian Bolshevik Nikolay Burenin. He was soon caught in a local hotel, and taken to the police station, where Čoke managed to kill two police officers and one civil person assisting on his arrest.
Čoke was sentenced to life in prison. He died in the Kakola
Turku Prison (Finnish: ''Turun vankila'', Swedish: ''Åbo fängelse'') is the main correctional facility in southwestern Finland, located in the Saramäki district of Turku. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the earlier Turku Central Priso ...
prison in Turku in June 1910. Official cause was pneumonia, but Čoke was claimed to have died in "suspicious circumstances".
References