Louis de Loczy (June 5, 1891, in Budapest, Hungary – June 9, 1980, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was a Hungarian geologist. He was the son of Lajos Lóczy, probably the most famous Hungarian geologist. Lajos de Loczy was the first western geologist to describe the structure, geomorphology and stratigraphy of mountain chains bordering the Tibetan Plateau that links the Kunlun Mountains with the north-south-oriented belt of mountains and gorges in central China.
Early career Inspired by his father's work, Louis de Loczy pursued eagerly his undergraduate course of geology in the University of Zurich, the famous E.T.H. (Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule) where he also got his Ph.D. in 1919. He studied further with the famous tectonicist Maurice Lugeon at the University of Lausanne. Loczy joined in 1920 the Geological Survey of Hungary. He was assigned the mission of geological mapping in parts of his country. From 1922 onwards he worked under contract with Royal Dutch Shell, when he carried out geological exploration in Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Timor and Celebes (presently Indonesia); and also in Ecuador, Peru, Romania, Yugoslavia, Polonia and Hungary. In 1926 he followed in his father's footsteps by becoming the chair of Geology at the University of Budapest. On September 14, 1926 he married Madeleine Gomperz. They had a son, Lajos, born in 1929 in Budapest. de Loczy was Director of the Geological Institute of Hungary until 1933. During this time he devoted himself to education and training of Hungarian students of geology and with this team discovered the oil fields as well as the deposits of bauxite, iron and manganese ores, and coal. His group in the Institute under his direction helped to launch the projects of irrigation of the Hungarian plains and location of dam sites in the valley of Wagg, then part of Czechoslovakia.
Post World War II After World War II by the suggestion of Professor Martonne he executed geological exploration in the French Morocco for the Societé Chérifiennne des Petroles. He worked during 3 years for the Maden Tetkikvo Arama Enstitusu, at Ankara. During this time he did geological explorations in the Adama Basin and in the southeast of Anatolia and contributed significantly for the development of the oil field of Raman Dagh. While de Loczy was working abroad the Hungarian Communist revolution began and he was urged to return immediately to his country under the threat of confiscation of his estates, money assets and even his nationality. Since de Loczy was not formally warned about these threats, he continued his work abroad. However, the threats soon became a reality. Even after these losses, de Loczy carried on with his research in numerous parts of the world. From 1950 to 1951 as a consultant to the Institute of Soil Research of the Ministry of Coordination of Greece, Loczy carried out geological mapping and oil exploration in West Tratia, Epyrus. About this time he gave an advanced course in geological sciences for the Hellenic geologists. He was a delegate of the Institute of Soil Research of Greece in the 1951 Petroleum World Congress. By the end of 1951 he was hired by the Government of Paraguay to execute geological work in Asunción aimed at solving hydrogeological problems in that country.
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