Jānis


Born just before the turn of the century and the third child in the family, Jānis grew up to be a revolutionary. An idealist, who hated injustice, he envisaged a better, fairer system of government in Latvia, and it was this belief that motivated everything he did during his life. He was not on his own in wanting change - there were many who wanted to overthrow tsarist rule and give Latvia her independence - but people were divided on what should be changed and how it should be changed. Swept up by both the First World War and the Russian Revolution, Jānis never lost sight of his ideals, yet he also understood that the road to justice and independence would not be easy.