Erik Hesselberg

Erik Bryn Hesselberg (4 June 1914 – 15 September 1972) was a Norwegian sailor, author, photographer, painter and sculptor. He is most known as a crewmember of the Kon-Tiki raft expedition from South America to French Polynesia in 1947. Erik Hesselberg was born at Brevik in Telemark, Norway. He grew up at Larvik in Vestfold. He knew Thor Heyerdahl from his childhood years. Having graduated from his secondary school, Erik Hesselberg went on to a sailors' school and later worked as a professional sailor for five years, making several trips around the world. Later Hesselberg studied art in Hamburg, Germany.He stayed in Germany when World War II began, so he could not return to Norway and started working as a decorator in Braunschweig. In 1945, he and his German-born wife, Liselotte (Liss) Güldner, relocated to Lillehammer, Norway.