Armin Öpik

Armin Aleksander Öpik (24 June 1898, Kunda – 15 January 1983, Canberra) was an Estonian paleontologist who spent the second half of his career (from 1948) at the Bureau of Mineral Resources in Australia. He was born on at the village Lontova, now a quarter of Kunda in Estonia and died in Canberra. Öpik's farther was the harbor master of Kunda. He had five brothers and one sister. His oldest brother Paul, later a director of the Bank of Estonia, introduced Armin to fossils. His sister Anna was a philologist, fluent in 14 languages, including Sanskrit. His brother Ernst was a famous astronomer. During the First World War 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 and Lower Ordovician stratigraphy and paleontology 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 and published monographies on several subgroups. Öpik published papers on Ordovician ostracodes. In 1937 he finished a major publication, Trilobiten aus Estland [Trilobites 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.

Armin

Armin is a given name or surname, and is:

Armin (film)

Armin is a Croatian drama film about Bosnian Muslim family directed by Ognjen Sviličić that premiered at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival.

Plot

The film follows Ibro (Emir Hadžihafizbegović) and his son Armin (Armin Omerović), who travel from a small town in Bosnia to a film audition in Zagreb, hoping to land a part for Armin in a German film about the war in Bosnia. On their way to fulfilling the boy's dream, they encounter a series of disappointing setbacks — their bus to Zagreb breaks down and they are late for the audition. After Ibro convinces the director to give the boy a second chance, they soon realize that Armin is too old for the part anyway. As it becomes obvious that Armin's dream of playing a part in the movie will never happen, he feels increasingly disheartened, while Ibro's determination to help his son grows. Finally they do get another chance, but Armin buckles under the pressure and experiences an epileptic seizure. As they get ready to head back to Bosnia, the film crew makes an unexpected offer, but when Ibro refuses, Armin at last realizes how much his father really loves him.