Otto Schaefer, (October 2, 1919 – November 2, 2009) was a German-Canadian doctor ( MD) known for his work with

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

in Canada. Dr. Dr. h. c. Schaefer is considered one of the great pioneers of Arctic medicine, who authored over 100 papers on Northern health, and was one of the founders of the "circumpolar health movement".

Life

Schaefer, originally Schäfer, was born in

Betzdorf, Germany Betzdorf () is a town and municipality in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Betzdorf is part of the district of Altenkirchen. Betzdorf is located on the river Sieg, approx. south-west of Siegen. Betzdorf is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemei ...

, and had six brothers and two sisters. He studied at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

, graduating in 1944. He came to Canada in 1951. After working in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

as a medical officer, he took a fellowship in internal medicine at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. : ''"Otto Schaefer was born in Betzdorf, Germany October 2, 1919. Growing up he was fascinated by the descriptions of the Arctic found in the books of Knud Rasmussen and Franz Boas. As a teenager, Schaefer refused to join the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

and was refused entrance to medical school because he was not deemed patriotic enough. In 1938, to get around this roadblock, he volunteered with the

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

to prove his loyalty and hopefully gain admission to the Faculty of Medicine at Bonn University. With the start of the

Second World War 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 ...

Schaefer was pushed to pursue medical studies while serving part of the year in the army and by 1944 he had completed his program of study. From 1946 to 1950 he pursued a specialist degree in internal medicine at the University of Heidelberg. On July 1, 1951 Schaefer arrived in Halifax aboard the S.S. Atlantic and began the long process of gaining Canadian credentials and finding a posting in the Arctic. His fiancé Editha (Didi) left her own medical studies to join Schaefer in June 1952 and the couple had five children: Lothar (1953), Alfred (1955), Taoya (1956), Monika (1959), and Heidi (1964-1988)."''Dr. Otto Schaefer Biography
/ref> From 1964 until 1985, Schaefer was the director of the Northern Medical Research Unit. He founded the Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health, and published over 100 papers on Arctic health. Schaefer was a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

(1976) and was recognized by a number of honours including awards from the Province of Alberta and government of the Northwest Territories, and honorary degrees.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaefer, Otto 1919 births Arctic scientists 2009 deaths German emigrants to Canada Physicians from Alberta Members of the Order of Canada German Army personnel of World War II