Pierre Peschier (1 November 1739 – 16 January 1812) was a Danish merchant. He founded a successful trading house in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in 1768 which later fell victim to the economic crisis of the 1800s and closed in 1815. Peschier's former home at

Holmens Kanal Holmens Kanal is a short street in central Copenhagen. Part of the main thoroughfare of the city centre, it extends from Kongens Nytorv for one block to a junction with a statue of Niels Juel where it turns right towards Holmens Bro while the thr ...

in Copenhagen, now known as the Peschier House, is part of

Danske Bank Danske Bank A/S (, ) is a Danish multinational banking and financial services corporation. Headquartered in Copenhagen, it is the largest bank in Denmark and a major retail bank in the northern European region with over 5 million retail custome ...

's headquarters.

Early life

Peschier was born in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

in 1739 to Pierre Peschier and Marguerite Blisson. His father was a pharmacist. He apprenticed as a merchant and working in Portugal, the Netherlands and England in 1765-68 where he achieved a great knowledge of international trade, especially with respect to East Indian

colonial goods In economics, colonial goods are goods imported from European colonies, in particular coffee, tea, spices, rice, sugar, cocoa and chocolate, and tobacco. At a time when food and agriculture represented a relatively large proportion of overall ec ...

Successful years in Denmark

In 1768, he was called to Denmark by

Frédéric de Coninck Frédéric de Coninck (2 December 1740 – 4 September 1811) was a Dutch merchant and shipowner active in Copenhagen, Denmark. Biography Frédéric de Coninck was born at The Hague in the Netherlands. In 1763, he moved to Copenhagen to set up a ...

for whom he worked for some years before establishing his own trading house. He was naturalized in 1776. Peschier mainly traded in grain but was also very active in trade with colonial goods from East India on the Russian market. He was considered Asiatic Company's best customer. He generated average sales of DKK 2 million during his best years but twice had to apply for court receivership due to the baldness with which he managed his affairs. His quick come back were no doubt partly due to support from the state. He had close ties to finance minister Ernst von Schimmelmann who provided him with advance payments in return for his advice to the government.

Crisis years and death

From 1799, Denmark experienced a period of economic crisis which hit Peschier's trading house hard but he was helped adverse times by credits from Bankkontoret. In 1804, the ties between the state and Peschier's trading house became even closer and both his nephew Agier Wexelsen from Bankkontoret were made partners in the company. Pechier's influence in the company dwindled and it was from then on de facto operated by the state. For a few years the company managed to generate reasonable profits but from 1807 times worsened. The company responded by moving into large-scale trade with timber from Norway but only the state profited from it. The grocer Lauritz Nicolai Hvidt was unsuccessful in his efforts to help the company in 1810. Peschier died a poor man in 1812. His companies were liquidized by a commission established in 1815. Hvidt practically considered the enterprise a scam but the involvement of the state moderated his reactions. Many forest owners had come in deep debt by trading with it.

Personal life

On 15 October 1784, Peschier married Marie Susanne Grodtschilling (baptized 14 September 1762 in Copenhagen - died 18 October 1816), daughter of captain-lieutenant and later counter admiral Frederik G. (1731–92) and Suzanna Marie Prescher (1744–68). Peschier became a

Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

in 1809.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peschier, Pierre 1739 births 1812 deaths 18th-century Danish businesspeople Danish businesspeople in shipping Danish merchants 18th-century businesspeople from the Republic of Geneva Immigrants to Denmark–Norway Merchants from Denmark–Norway