Bernt Johan Holger Collet (born 23 November 1941) is a Danish politician and farmer. He is the eldest son of Chamberlain and Master of the Royal Hunt, M.Sc. (Econ), Harald Collet and

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

Else Collett. He served as

defense minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in the Cabinet of Poul Schlüter II. Today, he is chairman and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Collet & Co. and serves as a Chamberlain at Her Majesty's Court and is Master of the Royal Hunt. In 2004, Bernt Johan Collet co-founded the Danish think-tank Center for Political Studies ( CEPOS). He serves as chairman of the Board of CEPOS.

Early life

Collet graduated from Herlufsholm kostskole in 1960. He served in the Royal Lifeguards from 1960 and has since 1964 served as

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

of the reserve. He trained at Naesgaard Agricultural College and at large estates 1962–1965. In 1967 he graduated from the Business School of Copenhagen. In the years 1969-1971 he worked with

General Mills General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded ultra-processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in ...

, Inc., U.S.A. In 1967, he took over the family estate, Lundbygaard and has run it since 1971 along with his work in industry, retail trade and a number of organizations.

Political career

Collet was elected to the

Danish Parliament The Folketing ( , ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark — Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands and Greenland. E ...

in 1981 and served there until 1990. During his time in parliament he was appointed spokesman for the Conservative People's Party on business affairs and on agricultural affairs. In the period 1984-1987 he was the Conservative leader in the Parliament's Finance Committee, and he was a member of the EU Committee 1982–1987. He served as Minister of Defense 1987-1988 and 1988-1990 as Chairman of the Parliament's Committee for Agriculture, Forests, and Fisheries. In 1988 he was a member of the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

. In 1989 Mr. Collet was a Danish delegate to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

and in 1990 he was appointed international observer of the first democratic elections in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. In 1990 Mr. Collet resigned his posts in the Danish Parliament to return to his work in business. He held the position as chairman of Herlufsholm boarding school 1990–1994, and 1998-2004 he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Copenhagen Business School. Among other things he is the chairman of the Association of Danish Business Graduates (20,000 members) and the Nordic and International associations.

Personal life

Bernt Johan Collet is married to

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

, phil. cand. Catharina Collet. She is the European vice chairman of

Europa Nostra Europa Nostra (Latin for "Our Europe") is a pan-European Federation for cultural heritage, Cultural Heritage, representing citizens' organisations that work on safeguarding Europe's cultural and natural heritage. It is the voice of this movement ...

, an organization that promotes conservation of the buildings’ and landscapes’ heritage of Europe. Collet is the co-author of "The History of Denmark 1945-82", published 1984. In 2010 Collet was accused of converting 11 different protected prehistoric sites into

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

, but the case against him was dropped as the entrepreneur was held responsible. Again in 2012,

Ministry of Culture (Denmark) The Ministry of Culture Denmark ( Danish: ''Kulturministeriet'') is a ministry of the Danish Government, with responsibility for culture, sport and media. History The Ministry is located at Gammel Strand on Nybrogade opposite Slotsholmen. Or ...

reported Collet to the police for damaging a prehistoric gravesite from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

. In the 2014 court case Collet was eventually acquitted, however the ministry reestablished the grave at his expense. In 2017 he lost an appeal case in Denmark's Eastern High Court, which however lowered the cost imposed for reconstruction of the grave by approx. 20 pct.Collet er tilfreds med rabat, Sn.dk 23 January 2017
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References

Bernt Johan Collet
Profile at CEPOS {{DEFAULTSORT:Collet, Bernt Johan Ministers of defence of Denmark 1941 births Living people Members of the Folketing Copenhagen Business School alumni Bernt Johan