Ari Behn

His engagement to Märtha Louise sparked additional interest in the book, and by 2020 it had sold a total of nearly 100,000 copies since publication. Following his 2002 marriage to Märtha Louise, he wrote four novels, two short story collections, one play and a book about his wedding, although his later work received less favorable reviews than Trist som faen. He took part in other creative and artistic endeavours such as the design of a china set named "Peacock". In the 2000s and 2010s his public activity and art were met with mixed reactions in Norway, and Behn acknowledged that many people regarded him as a "fool" and an amateur artist. From 2013 until his death he was active as a visual artist, painting in a neo-expressionist tradition inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Behn's artwork, described as "highly narrative", was widely exhibited internationally in 2017–18.

• Name — Ari Behn • Birth Name — Ari Mikael Bjørshol • Born — 30 September 1972 • Birthplace — Århus, Denmark • Died — 25 December 2019 • Place of death — Lommedalen, Norway • Resting Place — Cemetery of Our Saviour, Oslo, Norway • Education — University of Oslo • Occupation — Author, visual artist • Children — * Maud Angelica Behn • Leah Isadora Behn • Emma Tallulah Behn

Behn was born as Ari Mikael Bjørshol in 1972 in Aarhus, Denmark, to Olav Bjørshol (b. 1952) and Marianne Rafaela Solberg (b. 1953), Norwegians who were both Waldorf teachers and who married in 1973. The family lived in Aarhus, then in Plymouth, England, where his father trained as a photographer, and then in Tennevoll in Northern Norway where his mother worked as a teacher at the local school from 1977 to 1978. In 1978 the family settled in Moss in South Norway. Bjørshol was baptized and confirmed in The Christian Community and attended the Waldorf School in Moss from 1979. In 1983, his parents divorced and married a couple who had been among their friends, Jan Pahle and Tone Bjerke, who had previously been married to each other. Tone Bjerke had family connections to several prominent cultural figures; she was the daughter of the well-known poet André Bjerke, and her extended family included people like writer Jens Bjørneboe (father's cousin), actress Henny Moan (stepmother) and singer Ole Paus (stepmother's new partner). In the 2000s his parents divorced Pahle and Bjerke, and they married each other for the second time in 2007. In the 1990s, he studied history and religion at the University of Oslo, from which he received a bachelor's degree. Behn's original surname was Bjørshol and he was known by family and during his childhood and youth under the given name Mikael. In 1996, he changed his name to Ari Behn when he took his maternal grandmother's maiden name. The name Behn has German origin. He had two younger siblings, Anja Sabrina and Espen, neither of whom use the name Behn. In 2009, it was made public that Behn's de jure paternal grandfather, the Tromsø lawyer Bjarne Nikolai Bjørshol, was not his biological grandfather. Behn's father met his biological father, Terje Erling Ingebrigtsen (1933–2009), a retired car mechanic from Tromsø, for the first time, but Ingebrigtsen died before Behn had a chance to meet him.

Behn was a founding member of Den Nye Vinen ("The New Wine"), an anarchist artist collective announced in Oslo in 1993 that included Bertrand Bisigye, Henning Braathen, and Per Heimly. Behn achieved literary success in Norway with his first collection of short stories, titled Trist som faen ("Sad as hell"), in 1999. His work received several good reviews and sold more than 100,000 copies. As an author he is best known for his first book; he subsequently published four other novels to more mixed reviews. Together with his wife, Princess Märtha, Behn wrote a book about their wedding in 2002. He also participated in various creative projects, for example, the design of a china set named "Peacock" for Magnor Glassverk, and he was a model for a clothing chain. He also made TV documentaries, including a critical documentary on the Afghanistan War in 2002, titled Øst for krigen – invitert av Taliban ("East of the war – invited by the Taliban"). Behn appeared in the comedy films Team Antonsen in 2004 and Long Flat Balls in 2006. He was a freelance writer for several newspapers and magazines. In 2011, he co-hosted the award-winning TV series Ari og Per on NRK with his friend Per Heimly. The appeal of one episode of the show was attributed, in part, to the willingness of Behn and Heimly to be authentic and vulnerable participants on camera at an Ängsbacka festival. Behn and Heimly appeared together on a later TV program, "Ari and Per Solve World Problems" on TVNorge in 2013. Behn was also a playwright; his first play, Treningstimen ("The Training Hour") debuted in 2011. Although the play was reported to have received a standing ovation from the audience on opening night, reviews overall were mixed. From 2013 until his death in 2019, Behn was active as a painter in a neo-expressionist tradition; he cited Jean-Michel Basquiat as his most important inspiration. As a painter he achieved commercial success by Norwegian standards, and sold paintings for 5.7 million NOK in 2018. Behn exhibited his work internationally, including at Gabba Gallery's exhibit Borderless: Scandinavia in Los Angeles in 2018. Behn was paired with the Scandinavian painters Mikael Persbrandt and Espen Eiborg and artwork from the trio has been shown in over 60 international galleries since 2017. Behn published Inferno in 2018 which detailed the aftermath of his divorce and included some of his struggles with mental health.

• Illustration — Princess Märtha Louise and Ari Behn attending Princess Madeleine of Sweden's wedding in 2013 On 24 May 2002, Behn married Princess Märtha Louise, the elder child of Harald V of Norway. Märtha Louise is a self-described clairvoyant who led her own alternative therapy center named Astarte Education/Soulspring, commonly known in Norway as the "angel school" (engleskolen), which provided training in communication with angels and communication with the dead. At the time of their wedding, his wife was second in the line of succession to the Norwegian throne after her younger brother; from her birth in 1971 to 1990, she was not in the line of succession at all due to Norway's agnatic primogeniture succession. She was, however, 31st in the line of succession to the British throne at the time of her birth, being descended from Edward VII. Behn remained a private citizen and held no title, royal status, or special privileges during the marriage; since 1814, Norway has had no nobility and no concept of commoners, only citizens. They had three daughters, all of whom are also private citizens: Maud Angelica Behn (born 2003), Leah Isadora Behn (born 2005), and Emma Tallulah Behn (born 2008). The family moved for a time to the United Kingdom and lived in the Islington section of North London. They also lived in New York City before moving back to Norway and making their home in the valley of Lommedalen, outside Oslo. On 5 August 2016, the Royal Court announced that Princess Märtha Louise and Behn had started divorce proceedings and intended to share custody of their three daughters. They were divorced in 2017. At the time of his death, Behn was in a relationship with lawyer Ebba Rysst Heilman.

Behn died at his home in Lommedalen on 25 December 2019. A statement from his family said Behn had died by suicide. He had struggled with alcoholism and mental health problems. In a 2009 interview, he said he was chronically depressed and lonely. The swift public announcement by the Norwegian royal family following his death was noted as unusually open and forthright; King Harald V, Queen Sonja, and other members of his former wife's family as well as his own family expressed their sorrow at his death in statements released to the public. His funeral was held at Oslo Cathedral on 3 January 2020. Ari Behn's publisher said that Behn left behind a completed manuscript for a children's book that he had written with his eldest daughter Maud Angelica. It is uncertain whether the book will be published. His resting place is the Cemetery of Our Saviour.

Ari Behn was recorded at birth as Ari Mikael Bjørshol. The authorities additionally record the heading Ari Mikael Behn. His recorded languages were Norwegian, Danish and English. He was the child of Olav Bjørshol and Marianne Solberg. He married Princess Märtha Louise of Norway. 3 children are recorded: Miss Maud Angelica Behn, Leah Behn and Emma Behn.

Ari Behn is recorded with the occupation short story writer. Recorded as a citizen of Kingdom of Denmark. Recorded with the occupation painter. Recorded with the occupation artist.

• Norway: Recipient of the Medal of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of King Olav V • Norway: Recipient of the Royal House Centenary Medal • Norway: Recipient of the King Harald V Silver Jubilee Medal

• Netherlands: Knight Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown • Sweden: Recipient of the 70th Birthday Medal of King Carl XVI Gustaf