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Thor Heyerdahl ((:tuːr ˈhæɪəɖɑːl); October 6, 1914 – April 18, 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany, and geography. He became notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000 km (5,000 mi) across the Pacific Ocean in a hand-built raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands. The expedition was designed to demonstrate that ancient people could have made long sea voyages, creating contacts between separate cultures. This was linked to a diffusionist model of cultural development. Heyerdahl subsequently made other voyages designed to demonstrate the possibility of contact between widely separated ancient people. He was appointed a government scholar in 1984. In May 2011, the Thor Heyerdahl Archives were added to UNESCO's "Memory of the World" Register. At the time, this list included 238 collections from all over the world. The Heyerdahl Archives span the years 1937 to 2002 and include his photographic collection, diaries, private letters, expedition plans, articles, newspaper clippings, original book, and article manuscripts. The Heyerdahl Archives are administered by the Kon-Tiki Museum and the National Library of Norway in Oslo. ==Youth and personal life== Heyerdahl was born in Larvik, Norway, the son of master brewer Thor Heyerdahl and his wife, Alison Lyng. As a young child, Heyerdahl showed a strong interest in zoology. He created a small museum in his childhood home, with a common adder (''Vipera berus'') as the main attraction. He studied zoology and geography at the faculty of biological science at the University of Oslo.〔Thor Heyerdahl, In the Footsteps of Adam: A Memoir, London: Abacus Books, 2001, p. 78.〕 At the same time, he privately studied Polynesian culture and history, consulting what was then the world's largest private collection of books and papers on Polynesia, owned by Bjarne Kropelien, a wealthy wine merchant in Oslo. (This collection was later purchased by the University of Oslo Library from Kropelien's heirs and was attached to the Kon-Tiki Museum research department.) After seven terms and consultations with experts in Berlin, a project was developed and sponsored by Heyerdahl's zoology professors, Kristine Bonnevie and Hjalmar Broch. He was to visit some isolated Pacific island groups and study how the local animals had found their way there. Just before sailing together to the Marquesas Islands in 1936, Heyerdahl married his first wife, Liv Coucheron-Torp (1916–1969), whom he had met shortly before enrolling at the university, and who had studied economics there. The couple had two sons; Thor Jr and Bjørn. The marriage ended in divorce. After the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany he served with the Free Norwegian Forces from 1944, in the far north province of Finnmark.〔(Obituary ), Jo Anne Van Tilburg, 19 April 2002, The Guardian〕〔("Explorer Thor Heyerdahl dies" ), 18 April 2002, BBC〕 In 1949 Heyerdahl married Yvonne Dedekam-Simonsen (1924–2006). They had three daughters: Annette, Marian and Helene Elisabeth. They were divorced in 1969. Heyerdahl blamed their separation on his being away from home and differences in their ideas for bringing up children. In his autobiography, he concluded that he should take the entire blame for their separation.〔Thor Heyerdahl, "In the Footsteps of Adam," Christophersen translation (ISBN 0-349-11273-8), London: Abacus, 2001, p. 254.〕 In 1991, Heyerdahl married Jacqueline Beer (born 1932) as his third wife. They lived in Tenerife, Canary Islands and were very actively involved with archaeological projects, especially in Túcume, Peru, and Azov until his death in 2002. He still had been hoping to undertake an archaeological project in Samoa before he died.〔J. Bjornar Storfjell, "Thor Heyerdahl's Final Projects," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 10:2 (Summer 2002), p. 25.〕 Heyerdahl died on April 18, 2002, in Colla Micheri, Liguria, Italy, where he had gone to spend the Easter holidays with some of his closest family members. The Norwegian government gave him a state funeral in Oslo Cathedral on April 26, 2002. He is buried in the garden of the family home in Colla Micheri.〔J. Bjornar Storfjell, "(Thor Heyerdahl's Final Projects )," in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 10:2 (Summer 2002), p. 25.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thor Heyerdahl」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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