Jonas Žemaitis
| Jonas Žemaitis | |
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President of Lithuania (Posthumously recognized in March 2009; then Chairman of the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters) |
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In office February 16, 1949 – November 26, 1954 |
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| Preceded by |
Antanas Merkys (last head of state before the Soviet annexation in 1940) |
| Succeeded by |
Vytautas Landsbergis (first head of state of independent Lithuania in 1991) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 15, 1909 Palanga, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | November 26, 1954 (aged 45) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
Jonas Žemaitis (also known under his codename Vytautas; March 15, 1909 in Palanga – November 26, 1954 in Moscow) was one of the leaders of the Lithuanian partisans, armed resistance against the Soviet occupation of Lithuania, and acknowledged as the head of state by independent Lithuania.
Žemaitis was born to Jonas Žemaitis and Petronėlė Daukšaitė. Despite the fact that his father was non-religious, Žemaitis was christened in Palanga's church. From 1910 to 1917, he lived with his parents in Łomża, Poland, where his uncle A. Daukša owned a large dairy farm. In Łomża, Žemaitis attended a primary school while his parents were working. In 1917, Žemaitis returned to Lithuania and settled down in the village of Kiaulininkai, near Šiluva, where his grandparents lived. In 1921, he finished first class at the Raseiniai Gymnasium. In 1926, started studying at the War School of Kaunas. In 1929, he finished this school and became a lieutenant. Žemaitis started his military service with the 2nd Artillery Battery as a commander. In 1936–1938, Žemaitis studied at the School of Applied Artillery in Fontainebleu, France. After the studies, Žemaitis was promoted to captains and commanded artillery units of the Lithuania military forces.
After the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940, Žemaitis continued his active service in the 617th Artillery Regiment, where he was the head of the regiment's school. At the beginning of the war between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, Žemaitis was at the proving ground of Varėna. After receiving the order to retreat to the east, Žemaitis and a group of soldiers consciously fell behind and surrendered to the Germans. He did not want to serve the Nazis, and therefore he retired and settled down in Kaunas. He worked as a technician of peat extraction.
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Wikipedia