Mārtiņš Grundmanis (18 November 1913 – 30 November 1944) was a Latvian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. Grundmanis won a gold medal at the 1935 EuroBasket competition, becoming the first European champion. He also participated at the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

and at the

1937 EuroBasket The 1937 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1937, was the second FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA. Eight national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) took pa ...

Career

In the first half of the 1930s Grundmanis played for the JKS (Latvian Christian Youth) team. He was also a member of the Latvian Christian Youth Society, and graduated from a four-year

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

program at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. In late 1930s Grundmanis played for the military 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 ...

, and became a two time Latvian champion (1939-1940). Overall Grundmanis played 20 games for the

Latvian national basketball team The Latvia men's national basketball team () represents Latvia in international basketball. They are organized and run by the Latvian Basketball Association. Latvia has reached the European Basketball Championship 15 times, with their ultimat ...

. During Nazi occupation of Latvia during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Grundmanis was conscripted into

Latvian Legion The Latvian Legion () was a formation of the Nazi German Waffen-SS during World War II. Created in 1943, it consisted primarily of ethnic Latvians.Gerhard P. Bassler, ''Alfred Valdmanis and the politics of survival'', 2000, p150 Mirdza Kate Balta ...

. He was taken

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

by Soviet

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 ...

in 1944. He committed suicide on 30 November 1944 at the German POW camp in

Sarkandaugava Sarkandaugava is a neighbourhood of Riga, Latvia. Origins of the name The name of the neighbourhood derives from that of the Sarkandaugava ('Red Daugava'; ), a minor arm of the Daugava that formerly separated Pētersala from the mainland. A ...

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grundmanis, Mārtiņš 1913 births 1944 suicides 1944 deaths Olympic basketball players for Latvia Basketball players at the 1936 Summer Olympics Latvian men's basketball players Latvian Waffen-SS personnel killed in action German military personnel who died by suicide Latvian people who died in Soviet detention Latvian prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union Suicides in Latvia