Thor Heyerdahl Jr. has passed away
Thor Heyerdahl's eldest son Thor Heyerdahl jr. died on 30 August 2024 in Lillehammer after a short illness. He would have turned 86 years old on September 26.
In 1937, his parents, Liv and Thor, traveled to the Polynesian island of Fatu Hiva in their search for paradise. Thor Heyerdahl Jr. was born in Lillehammer eight months after their return.
At the age of seventeen, he participated as a deck boy on his father's extensive research expedition to Easter Island (Rapa Nui) in 1955-56. The experiences shaped him as a person and inspired his later studies.
He studied oceanography in California and has a master’s degree in marine biology from the University in Oslo. For many years he worked as a researcher at the Institute of Marine Research in Bergen where he made fisheries surveys and monitored oil pollution in the world's oceans. As part of his studies, he participated in a research project in Svalbard with the intention of tagging and counting polar bears.
Thor Heyerdahl Jr. was director of The Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, a short period in the 1990s. He then served as chairman of the board for twenty-five years. He acted as an adviser to his father during his preparations for several expeditions and during book publications.
For the better part of his career, he was a lecturer at Lillehammer High School. He taught biology, geography, physics, chemistry, and biochemistry. Since he retired, he has been employed as a senior adviser at the museum. He has been a great resource with all his knowledge and experience until the very end. With his commitment, his charisma and great storytelling skill, he has guided and lectured to countless guests from all corners of the world, ranging from school children to heads of state. He was also a highly popular speaker, about his own and his father's work, at home and abroad.
Thor Heyerdahl Jr. was in 2019 central in the establishment of an agreement between the Kon-Tiki Museum and the Chilean authorities regarding the possible return of objects, which originate from the expedition in 1955-56. The project is ongoing and is being done in close collaboration with the Chilean authorities and the local population on Rapa Nui.
Heyerdahl is survived by his wife, three children and eight grandchildren.
May he rest in peace.
Thor Heyerdahl Jr. and his daughter and director of the museum, Liv Heyerdahl, at the 75-anniversary of The Kon-Tiki Expedition in 2022.