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 Arguineguín (Guanche for "quiet water") is one of the most populated towns along the south coast of Gran Canaria, Spain. A once typical Canarian fishing village, it is now home to both locals and tourists, as the settlement has continued to ...

along the south coast of

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...

in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Biography

He was born at Hurum Municipality in

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

county and grew up in Leksvik Municipality in

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a counties of Norway, county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Sør-Trøndelag ("South Trøndelag") county as well as the county of Nordl ...

county. 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 (22 August 1905 – 18 January 1978) was a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party. He was the prime minister of Norway from 28 August to 25 September 1963 in a coalition government consisting of the Conservative, Centre, Christia ...

and of ethnographer

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and Ethnography, ethnographer with a background in biology with specialization in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expediti ...

. During the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

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. In 1947 he established Mekaniske Verksted, an

iron foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

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 Assa Abloy AB is a Swedish Group whose offerings include products and services related to locks, doors, gates, and entrance automation. Related products and services include controlling access and confirming identities with keys, cards, tags, ...

). 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

Honors

He was decorated Knight, First Class of the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

in 1985, and was an honorary citizen of the

References

External links

Anfi websiteLyng website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyng, Bjorn 1926 births 2006 deaths People from Hurum Norwegian company founders Norwegian resistance members Vollan concentration camp survivors Falstad concentration camp survivors Grini concentration camp survivors Recipients of the St. Olav's Medal