Bjørn Lyng (8 July 1925 – 12 October 2006) was a Norwegian businessman, investor and industrialist. He was the founder of Lyng Gruppen AS, a holding company with over twenty subsidiaries. He is also associated with his development of vacation resorts located in Arguineguín along the south coast of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.[1][2]

Bjørn Lyng
Bust of Lyng in Arguineguín, Gran Canaria
Born(1925-07-08)8 July 1925
Hurum in Buskerud, Norway
Died12 October 2006(2006-10-12) (aged 81)
NationalityNorwegian
OccupationBusinessman
RelativesJohn Lyng (cousin)
Thor Heyerdahl (cousin)
AwardsOrder of St. Olav
Honorary citizen of the Canary Islands

Biography

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He was born at Hurum in Buskerud and grew up at Leksvik in Nord-Trøndelag. He was the son of farmer Hagbart Hartmann Lyng (1877- 1961) and nurse Helene Charlotte Steffens (1897-1960). He was a cousin of Norwegian Prime Minister John Lyng and of ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl. During the German occupation of Norway he joined the resistance movement, and was arrested in 1944 and incarcerated at Vollan, Falstad and Grini. Both his parents were also imprisoned by the Nazis and held at Falstad for almost a year.[3][4]

In 1947 he established Mekaniske Verksted, an iron foundry in Vanvikan and Trøndelag Emaljeverk in Rissa. In 1968, he started Lyng Industrier AS, a plastic pipe factory in Leksvik. He started Elsafe International in 1978 at Mosvik which eventually merged with VingCard to form VingCard Elsafe (now part of Assa Abloy). Lyng Electronics was founded in 1985 at Leksvik, but later moved to Vanvikan. In 1988, he founded the Anfi Group which developed the resorts Anfi del Mar and Anfi Tauro Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands.[5][6]

Honors

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He was decorated Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav in 1985, and was an honorary citizen of the Canary Islands.[7][8]

References

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  1. ^ "About Us". Lyng Gruppen AS. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Lykkesmeden Bjørn Lyng". canariajournalen.no. 13 October 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Lyng. Hurum herad. Buskerud". Matrikkelutkastet av 1950. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  4. ^ Ottosen, Kristian, ed. (2004) [1995]. Nordmenn i fangenskap 1940–1945 (2 ed.). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. p. 459–460. ISBN 82-15-00288-9.
  5. ^ "Assa Abloy historical timeline". Assa Abloy Group. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  6. ^ "About Anfi Group". Anfi Group. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  7. ^ Arntzen, Jon Gunnar. "Bjørn Lyng". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  8. ^ Godal, Anne Marit (ed.). "Bjørn Lyng". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Norsk nettleksikon. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
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