Special Representative Christopher Bo Bramsen
Ambassador, Chief of Protocol
Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Christopher Bo Bramsen was born in 1943 in Copenhagen, Denmark. As an American Field Service exchange student he graduated in 1961 from Orchard Park High School in Buffalo, New York, and got a Danish High School Degree in Copenhagen the following year.
From 1962 to 1964 he did his military service in the Royal Danish Guards and served as a Lieutenant in the Danish Contingent to the United Nations Forces in Cyprus, UNFICYP.
He studied law at the University of Copenhagen from 1965 to 1970, including studies at the City of London College and the University of Paris.
In 1970 he joined the Danish foreign service and taught international law at the University of Copenhagen.
During the following years Christopher Bo Bramsen served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at various posts abroad including the Danish Embassy in Washington D. C and the Danish Representation to the European Communities in Brussels.
From 1990 to 1994 he served as Permanent Secretary in the Danish Ministry of Industry.
In 1994 his diplomatic career brought him to China. First in Shanghai as Consul General of Denmark and then from 1995 in Beijing as Ambassador of Denmark to China, Mongolia and North Korea.
In 2001 Christopher Bo Bramsen moved to Madrid to take up the post as Ambassador of Denmark to Spain and Andorra. In 2004 he moved back to Copenhagen, where he is currently serving as Chief of Protocol to the Danish Government.
Ambassador Bramsen has written several articles and books on international legal and political issues, including works on the European Communities and on South Africa. He has also written books about computer programming.
In 1990 Christopher Bo Bramsen published a book about his grandfather's life as a successful businessman in China (1902-1935). This book was later published in Chinese as well as in English, "Open Doors - Vilhelm Meyer and the Establishment of General Electric in China". His book "Peace and Friendship - Denmark's Official Relations with China, 1674 - 2000" was published in May 2000 in English and Chinese in connection with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Denmark and the People's Republic of China.
Christopher Bo Bramsen joined the Rotary Club of Copenhagen in 1988. While serving as Ambassador to China he was among the Rotarians in Beijing who in 1996 established the "Beijing Fellowship Group of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong". The Rotary Club of Copenhagen visited China in 1998 and entered into a friendship agreement with the Rotarians in Beijing. Ambassador Bramsen served as a vice-president of the Beijing Rotarian group from 1999 to 2001.
In November 2000 Ambassador Bramsen helped organize the official RI visit to China of RI President Frank Devlyn, RIPE Richard D. King and RIPN Bhichai Rattakul. After this visit the two groups of Rotarians, in Beijing and in Shanghai, were granted the status of provisional Rotary Clubs. When he left China in 2001, Ambassador Bramsen became a life long member of the provisional Rotary club of Beijing.
In November 2000, Rotarian Christopher Bo Bramsen was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by the RC of Copenhagen. He served as a member of the 2001-02 RI Ad Hoc Committee for the Development of Rotary in China and the 2004-05 RI Diplomatic Protocol Committee. He is currently a member of the 2005-06 RI Extension of Rotary - China Subcommittee.
In November 2005 Ambassador Bramsen accepted the appointment by RI President Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar, to serve for a 3 year period as Rotary International's Special Representative on issues related to China.
Christopher Bo Bramsen speaks Danish, English, French, German, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish, and has a rudimentary knowledge of Chinese. He is married to Gudrun Islandi Bramsen from Iceland. They have three children. Areas of interest: Jazz, (plays saxophone), scuba diving and photography.
February 2006.