Aleksis Dreimanis (August 13, 1914 – July 8, 2011) was a Latvian Canadian

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

. He was born in

Valmiera Valmiera () is the second largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020, it was at 24,879. It is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city, and ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

Biography

He first studied geology at the Institute of Palaeontology at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. In 1939, he worked as a lecturer at the University. As

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was being fought, he also took on the responsibility of consulting in Quaternary mapping in the Latvian Institute of Mineral Resources. He was conscripted into the

Latvian Legion The Latvian Legion () was a formation of the Nazi German Waffen-SS during World War II. Created in 1943, it consisted primarily of ethnic Latvians.Gerhard P. Bassler, ''Alfred Valdmanis and the politics of survival'', 2000, p150 Mirdza Kate Balta ...

in 1943 or 1944, and later sent by the German Army to work as a military geologist in Italy and Germany.International Field Symposium 2004 (page 8)
/ref> After the war Dreimanis was appointed associate professor in the Baltic University in the Displaced Persons camps at

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Pinneberg Pinneberg (; ) is a town in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. It is the capital of the Pinneberg (district), district of Pinneberg and has a population of about 43,500 inhabitants. Pinneberg is located 18 km northw ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 1948, Dreimanis immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

to assume a lecturer position at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

. Several Canadian institutions called on him for his Quaternary expertise, including the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; , CGC) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. A branch of the Earth Science ...

, the Ontario Department of Mines, and the Ontario Department of Planning and Development for the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority, the Thames River Conservation Authority and various private companies. The university promoted him to associate professor in 1956, then to professor in 1964. In 1980 the university gave made him an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

. In the over 40 years with the university, he has produced over 200 papers, notes and abstracts in the field of Quaternary research. Between 1974 and 1982, Dreimanis acted as an international advisor for several groups including; the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences (, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of distinguished scholars a ...

, the Geological Survey of Finland, and the Ministry of Education in Finland. Dreimanis maintained his link with Latvia. He made numerous visits as an invited lecturer to Riga, and to

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

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 ...

. He was a correspondent with the Dictionary of Latvian Technical Terminology from 1970 to 1986. He has been an associate editor of the Technical Review Journal (for Geology) from 1979. He served as chairman of the Commission on Technical and Natural Sciences at the Latvian Cultural Foundation from 1973 to 1976. He died on July 8, 2011, at University Hospital, London, Ontario.

Roles and duties

*1960, Delegate to the

International Geological Congress The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to global cooperation in the field of geology. As of 2023, it represents more than 1 million geoscientists around the world. About Fo ...

*1965, 1969, 1973, 1977 and 1982, Canadian delegate to the International Quaternary Association (INQUA) Congresses *1965, Co-organised the INQUA Field Excursion in the Great Lakes-Ohio River Valley *1972, Co-organised the INQUA Field Excursion with the Montreal lGC *President of the INQUA Commission on genesis and lithology of Quaternary deposits *President of the INQUA Working Group on tills *1974-1984, Leader of the Canadian Working Group of the UNESCO-IUGS International Geological Correlation Project on Quaternary Glaciations of the Northern Hemisphere *1974-1980, Councillor for the American Quaternary Association *1975, helped organize the Royal Society of Canada's Conference on Glacial Till *1976-1978, Associate Editor for ''Geoscience Canada'' *1980-1982, President of the American Quaternary Association *1981-1987, Associate Editor for ''

Quaternary Science Reviews ''Quaternary Science Reviews'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering quaternary science. It was established in 1982 by Pergamon Press and is currently published by Elsevier. The editor-in-chief is C.V. Murray Wallace (University of Wollo ...

'' *1987, made Honorary Member of INQUA

Awards

* 1967, awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal * 1969, bestowed an honorary D.Sc. from the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

* 1978, awarded the Logan Medal by the

Geological Association of Canada The Geological Association of Canada (GAC) is a learned society that promotes and develops the geological sciences in Canada. The organization holds conferences, meetings and exhibitions for the discussion of geological problems and the exchange o ...

* 1979, appointed to the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

* 1980, bestowed an honorary D.Sc. from the University of Western Ontario * 1987, awarded the Distinguished Career Award by the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...

* 1987, awarded the Centennial Medal by the Geological Survey of Finland * 1988, awarded the Albrecht Penck Medal of the German Quaternary Association * 1989, recipient of the W. A. Johnston Medal from the Canadian Quaternary Association * 1990, made an Honorary Member of the Geographical Society of Latvia * 1990, made a Foreign Member of the

Latvian Academy of Sciences The Latvian Academy of Sciences (, ) is the official science academy of Latvia and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the ''Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences'' (). It is located in Riga. The curren ...

* 1990, awarded the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

Medal * 1991, bestowed an honorary D.Geogr. from the University of Latvia * 2003, awarded the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

of Latvia for his contribution as a scientist to Latvian culture

References

W. A. Johnston MedalAleksis Dreimanis: a legacy in Quaternary science
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreimanis, Aleksis 1914 births 2011 deaths Canadian geologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Logan Medal recipients 20th-century Latvian scientists People from Valmiera University of Latvia alumni Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario Latvian Waffen-SS personnel Latvian emigrants to Canada