Martin Fritz Glaessner AM (25 December 1906 – 23 November 1989) was a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

and

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

. Born and educated in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he spent the majority of his life in working for geoscientific institutes in Austria,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, Australia, and studying the geology of the South Pacific in Papua New Guinea and Australia. Glaessner also did early work on the classification of the pre- Cambrian lifeforms now known as the Ediacaran biota, which he proposed were the early antecedents of modern lifeforms.

Life and career

Glaessner was born in Aussig in the former Kingdom of Bohemia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

). He was a research associate at the in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

from 1923 to 1932, and starting in 1925 attended the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

, where he received a doctorate in law in 1929, and a Ph.D. in geology and paleontology in 1931. He was a research associate at the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

in London from 1930 to 1931. In 1932 he moved to Moscow and began working in petrogeology at the State Petroleum Research Institute until 1934. From 1934 to 1937 he worked as a Senior Research Officer at the Institute of Mineral Fuels of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...

, and was also a part-time lecturer at the

University of Moscow M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

's Moscow Petroleum Institute and Palaeontological Institute in 1936. Glaessner married Tina Tupikina in 1936, and moved back to Vienna in December late 1937. Of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent on his father's side, he was arrested on 19 March 1938 but released to work at the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now British Petroleum) in London. Later in 1938 he moved to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

Territory of New Guinea The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an administrative union by the na ...

(then under Australian control), where he worked for joint oil exploration companies until 1950. He held various positions at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

from 1950 to 1989, including chair of Geology and Palaeontology in 1964. He was an associate at the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultu ...

from 1953 to 1989.

Awards

Glaessner received the

Lyell Medal The Lyell Medal is a prestigious annual scientific medal given by the Geological Society of London, equal in status to the Murchison Medal. This medal is awarded based on one Earth Scientist's exceptional contribution of research to the scientific ...

of the Geological Society, the Walcott Medal of the National Academy of Sciences in 1982, the Verco Medal awarded by the Royal Society of South Australia (1970), and the Eduard Suess Medal of the Geological Society of Austria (1985). He became a

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 ...

in 1957 and was on its council from 1960 to 1962. He was a chairman of the National Committee of Geological Sciences from 1962 to 1977. He was made a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

in 1985.It's an Honour
/ref> He was an Honorary Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History from 1950 to 1970.

Major publications

* ''Crustacea Decapoda'' (1930) * ''Principles of Micropalaeontology'' (1945) * ''Field Guide to the Study of Larger Foraminifera'' * ''Time-stratigraphy and the Miocene Epoch'' * ''Stratigraphic nomenclature in Australia'' * ''Three foraminiferal zones in the Tertiary of Australia'' * ''The Dawn of Animal Life'' (1984)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glaessner, Martin Fritz 20th-century Australian geologists Australian carcinologists Australian paleontologists Paleozoologists 1906 births 1989 deaths Lyell Medal winners Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Members of the Order of Australia Australian people of Czech-Jewish descent Australian people of Austrian-Jewish descent People from Ústí nad Labem 20th-century Austrian zoologists Austrian emigrants to Australia