Julius Kuperjanov
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Julius Kuperjanov VR II/2 and II/3 (October 11, 1894, Ljohhova near Novorzhev, Pskov Region, Russia - February 2, 1919, Tartu, Estonia) was an Estonian military commander during the Estonian War of Independence and commanding officer of the Kuperjanov's Partisan Battalion.
Kuperjanov was a school teacher in the village of Kambja. At the start of World War 1 he was mobilised into the Imperial Russian Army and commissioned after receiving basic officer training. He was wounded in both legs.
In 1917 he joined Estonian forces during the start of the War of Independence. In December 1918 he received permission to form a ranger battalion. School students were among the first recruits of the Tartumaa (that is, Tartu County) Partisan Battalion.
On 14 January 1919 he became one of liberators of Tartu, but died some weeks later of wounds received leading an attack during the Battle of Paju.
To honour Kuperjanov, the unit he had raised was renamed Kuperjanov's Partisan Battalion.[1] It was dissolved in 1940 after Soviet occupation and re-established as the Kuperjanov Independent Infantry Battalion after Estonia regained its independence from the Soviet Union.[2]
He was posthumously awarded the Cross of Liberty (VR II/2 and II/3). His tomb in Tartu was one of the few Estonian monuments to survive the Soviet occupation.
Contents |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Traksmaa, August: Lühike vabadussõja ajalugu, page 109. Olion, 1992
- ^ Eesti Kaitsevägi:Kuperjanovi Üksik-jalaväepataljon
