Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer who organized and led the Kon-Tiki (1947) and Ra (1969-1970) transoceanic scientific expeditions. Both expeditions were intended to prove the possibility of ancient transoceanic contacts between distant civilizations and cultures. As shown by the leaflet featured here, Heyerdahl gave a talk in London as part of an event organised by the Anglo-Norse Society on 17 November 1970. UCL Special Collections is also home to the transcript drafts of the English translations of Arnold Jacoby’s Norwegian biography of Thor Heyerdahl (Señor Kon-Tiki, 1965), translated by Geoffrey Malcolm Gathorne-Hardy (1878-1972), and the correspondence between Gathorne-Hardy and his publishers, George Allen and Unwin. The biography was published in 1968 as Seor Kon-Tiki by George Allen and Unwin.

For more information about Thor Heyerdahl, visit the website of the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo.

Location: UCL Special Collections, Anglo Norse and MS ADD 340