''Anders'' Per-Arne Björck (born 19 September 1944) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who was Minister for Defence from 1991 to 1994 and

Governor of Uppsala County This is a list of governors for Uppsala County of Sweden. Uppsala County and Stockholm County separated from Uppland County, the first time from 1641 to 1654, and then finally in 1719. First Period * Göran Gyllenstierna, the elder (1640–1646 ...

from 2003 to 2009.

Career

Björck was born on 19 September 1944 in

Nässjö Nässjö () is a locality and the seat of Nässjö Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden with 16,678 inhabitants in 2010. History For many years, Nässjö was a rural village with agriculture as the dominant occupation. The turning point was t ...

, Sweden, the son of Arne Björck and his wife Ann-Marie (née Svensson). He attended Centralskolan in Nässjö and passed ''

studentexamen Studentexamen (Swedish for "students' examination" or "students' degree"), earlier also ''mogenhetsexamen'' ("maturity examination") was the name of the university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and r ...

'' at Nässjö läroverk in 1966. Swedish was interested in politics from an early stage. He was national chairman of the Moderate Youth League, or the ''Rightist Youth League'' (''Högerns ungdomsförbund'') as it was known at the time of his election. He was the first truly young – only 21 – chairman of the Youth League – his predecessor was 35 years old. Before that he served as national chairman of the Conservative School Youth, today known as the Moderate School Youth, from 1961 to 1963. In 1968, aged only 22, he was elected to the Riksdag for the Rightist Party (''Högerpartiet'') which became the Moderate Party in 1969. In 1989 he was elected president of the Council of Europe and served until 1991, when the Moderate Party won the election and

Carl Bildt Nils Daniel Carl Bildt (born 15 July 1949) is a Swedish politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994. He was the leader of the Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999. Bildt served as Sweden's Minister for Foreign Affair ...

was allowed to form a government. He was appointed Minister for Defence. When the Moderates lost the 1994 election he became vice speaker of the Riksdag, a position he held until 2002. Björck was known to belong to the so-called "Bunker gang", a group of politicians and advisors forming the inner circle around party leader Carl Bildt. Between 2003 and 2009, Björck was

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Uppsala County Uppsala County ( sv, Uppsala län) is a county or ''län'' on the eastern coast of Sweden, whose capital is the city of Uppsala. It borders the counties of Dalarna, Stockholm, Södermanland, Västmanland, Gävleborg, and the Baltic Sea. Prov ...

. Anders Björck has continued to speak up on political issues from time to time. He remains rather

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, compared to other Moderates, and has on numerous occasions spoken up against what he perceives as the growing influence of

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

in the Moderate Party.

Personal life

In 1975, Björck married Py-Lotte von Zweigbergk (born 1948), the daughter of Sverker von Zweigbergk and Astrid (née Sigström). They have one daughter, Anne Björck.

Honours

*Chairman of the Sällskapet *Chairman of the Swedish Pistol Shooting Association (''Svenska pistolskytteförbundet'') from 2003 to 2009 *Honorary member of the

Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy ( sv, Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien) in Uppsala is one of 18 Swedish royal academies and dedicated to the study of Swedish folklore. The name is often expanded to ("...for Swedish Folk Culture"). The Academ ...

*Honorary member of the Swedish Pistol Shooting Association (''Svenska pistolskytteförbundet'') *Member of the Swedish Order of Freemasons *Member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows *''Årets smålänning'' (" Smålänning of the Year") (1988)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorck, Anders 1944 births Living people Swedish Ministers for Defence Members of the Riksdag from the Moderate Party Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class Members of the Riksdag 2002–2006 Governors of Uppsala County