Armin Aleksander Öpik (24 June 1898, in Kunda – 15 January 1983, in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

) was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

who spent the second half of his career (from 1948) at the Bureau of Mineral Resources in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Early life

He was born on at the village Lontova, now a quarter of Kunda in Estonia and died in

. His father Karl Heinrich Öpik was a harbormaster and his mother was Leontine Johanna Öpik (''née'' Freiwald). He had five brothers and one sister. His oldest brother Paul Öpik, later a director of the

Bank of Estonia The Bank of Estonia () is the national central bank for Estonia within the Eurosystem. It was the Estonian central bank from 1919 to 2010 (albeit with a long suspension between 1940 and 1989), issuing the kroon. Name Like other central bank ...

, introduced Armin to fossils. His sister Anna was a philologist, fluent in 14 languages, including Sanskrit. His brother Oskar was a diplomat. His brother Ernst was a famous astronomer. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he got to know Barbara Potaschko (died in 1977, Canberra). They had one son and three daughters. Öpik is mostly known for his work on the

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

and Lower

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

and

paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...

of northern Australia.

Studies and work in Estonia

Öpik graduated from the Nicolai Gymnasium with high grades in 1917. He studied geology and mineralogy at the Estonian State University at Tartu. He was lecturer at that institution in geology and mineralogy (1929–30). In 1930 he became professor of geology and paleontology and director of the Geological Institute and Museum, until 1944. Öpik's published on stratigraphic correlation, facies distribution, paleogeography and biostratonomy of the Cambrian and lower Ordovician in Estonia. He studied Ordovician

brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the fron ...

and published monographies on several subgroups. Öpik published papers on Ordovician ostracodes. In 1937 he finished a major publication, ''Trilobiten aus Estland rilobites of Estonia'. When the Russian army threatened to overrun his country of birth in 1944, Öpik fled with his family. He lived in displaced persons' camps in Germany until his emigration to Australia in 1948.

Work in Australia

Öpik was assisted by C. Teichert and H. Raggatt, director of the newly established Bureau of Mineral Resources, to immigrate to Australia and start working at the Melbourne office of the Bureau of Mineral Resources. The next year he transferred to Canberra (1949). He began studies on the Ordovician to

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

stratigraphy of the Australian Capital Territory. From 1952 to 1982, Öpik made 27 publications on Cambrian stratigraphy and paleontology. He described 94 new genera and 294 new species of Cambrian

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

s. He also studied Cambrian agnostid trilobites. In 1962 he became

fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy ...

Eponymy

The

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

crinoid Crinoids are marine invertebrates that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that remain attached to the sea floor by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms, called feather stars or comatulids, are ...

genus ''Oepikicrinus'' Ausich, Wilson & Toom, 2019 is named in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Opik, Armin 1898 births 1983 deaths Estonian paleontologists Australian paleontologists Estonian geologists Estonian biologists People from Kunda, Estonia Estonian emigrants to Australia University of Tartu alumni Estonian World War II refugees Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science 20th-century Estonian biologists 20th-century geologists Eesti Loodus editors