Pierre Peschier

Pierre Peschier
Pierre Peschier painted by Jens Juel
Born	(1739-11-01)1 November 1739 Geneva, Switzerland
Died	16 January 1812(1812-01-16) (aged 72) Copenhagen, Denmark
Nationality	Swiss-Danish
Occupation	Merchant
Awards	Order of the Dannebrog

Pierre Peschier (1 November 1739 - 16 January 1812) was a Swiss-born Danish merchant. He founded a successful trading house in Copenhagen in 1768 which later fell victim to the economic crisis of the 1800s and closed in 1815. Peschier's former home at Holmens Kanal in Copenhagen, now known as the Peschier House, is part of Danske Bank's headquarters.

Peschier was born in Geneva 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 1768, he was called to Denmark by Frédéric de Coninck for whom he worked for some years before establishing his own trading house. He was naturalized in 1776. Peschier mainly traded in grain but also 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 millions 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.

From 1799, Denmark experienced a period f 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 groceer Lauritz Nicolai Hvidt was unsuccessful in his efforts to help the company in 1810.