Kārlis Goppers

General Kārlis Goppers (April 2, 1876-March 25, 1941 at Ulbroka) was a Latvian military officer and the founder and President of Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija. He was the commander of the 7th Bauska riflemen regiment during World War I and commander of the Vidzeme division of the Latvian army, from 1924-1934.

In 1940, after the Soviet occupation of Latvia, a special officer was appointed by the communists to abolish Scouting. Scouting continued unofficially and underground, operating without uniforms and in the forests to avoid detection. In 1941, the communists killed General Goppers by executing him with gunfire in Ulbroka forest.

External links

* Ēriks Jēkabsons, [http://www.apollo.lv/portal/news/73/articles/52294/0 «100 Latvijas personības» — Konservatīvais ģenerālis] , «Latvijas Avīze» (in Latvian)
* "Scouting Round the World", John S. Wilson, first edition, Blandford Press 1959 p. 116