Jonas Variakojis (May 5, 1892 near , then the

Kaunas Governorate Kovno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Kovno (Kaunas). It was formed on 18 December 1842 by Tsar Nicholas I from the western part of Vilna Governorate, and the order ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

– October 31, 1963 in St. Charles, Illinois,

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

) was a Lithuanian army officer.

Early life

Variakojis finished the in 1913 and later studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

World War I

Variakojis finished studying at the Vladimir Military School in 1917 and he was mobilized into the

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 ...

, being sent to the Austrian front on the Eastern Front during

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 ...

Lithuanian Wars of Independence

In December 1918 he returned to Lithuania and joined the newly organized Lithuanian army, which was preparing to defend Lithuania against 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 ...

during the

Lithuanian–Soviet War The Lithuanian–Soviet War or Lithuanian–Bolshevik War () was fought between newly independent Lithuania and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in the aftermath of World War I. It was part of the larger Soviet westward offensiv ...

. Variakojis was ordered to organize the Panevėžys Region Defence Unit (), which later became the 4th Infantry Regiment. On February 7, 1919, he led the first Lithuanian battles against the Soviets near

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. Kėdainiai were first mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle ...

. The Soviet advance was stopped, preventing them from capturing Lithuania's temporary capital,

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

. Variakojis with his unit continued to combat the Soviets. They were also deployed against Poland during the

Polish–Lithuanian War The Polish–Lithuanian War was an undeclared war fought in the aftermath of World War I between newly independent Lithuania and Poland, with fighting mainly in the Vilnius and Suwałki regions, which was part of the Lithuanian Wars of Independe ...

. For his distinguished services during the

Lithuanian Wars of Independence The Lithuanian Wars of Independence, also known as the Freedom Struggles (), refer to three wars Lithuania fought defending its independence at the end of World War I: with Bolshevik forces (December 1918 – August 1919), Bermontians (October ...

, he was awarded several military orders, including the

Order of the Cross of Vytis The Order of the Cross of Vytis () is a Lithuanian presidential award conferred for heroic defence of Lithuania's freedom and independence. November 23 is a holiday in honour of the Order of the Cross of Vytis. History Interwar period Reje ...

Interwar

In 1926, he retired from active military duty. He briefly served as the Minister of Communications and Minister of Defense between 1928 and 1930.

After the Second World War

At the end of World War II, he retreated to Germany and then immigrated to the United States, where he died in 1963.

References

Sources

* * 1892 births 1963 deaths People from Panevėžys County Ministers of defence of Lithuania Lithuanian Army officers Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Vytis Lithuanian anti-communists {{lithuania-mil-bio-stub