Born Oct. 6, 1914, in Larvik. Norwegian scholar, traveler, and writer.
Heyerdahl studied zoology and geography at the University of Oslo from 1933 to 1938. During World War II he took part in the Norwegian resistance movement. He has studied the diffusion of culture and the possibility of transoceanic migration of peoples between the Old and the New World.
In 1947, with five companions, Heyerdahl sailed the raft Kon-Tiki across the Pacific Ocean from Peru to the Tuamotu Archipelago to prove the possibility that Polynesia was settled by American Indians. In 1953 he discovered the remains of pre-Inca settlements in the Galápagos Islands. His archaeological research on Easter Island, Rapa, and the Marquesas in 1955 and 1956 determined that the islands were first settled in the fourth century A.D. In 1969 and 1970, Heyerdahl organized expeditions on the sailboats Ra and Ra II from the western coast of Morocco to America, and in 1977 and 1978, on the reed boat Tigris from Al Qurnah in Iraq to the estuary of the Indus to Djibouti. His popular books combine scholarly research with entertaining narration.
G. I. ANOKHIN