Herman Petersen (13 December 171313 August 1765) was a Swedish merchant. Biography Herman Petersen was born on 13 December 1713 to Abraham Petersen, a wholesaler in Gothenburg and his wife Christina Tham. He was elected to serve as director of the Swedish East India Company for a period during the 18th century. Petersen traded great amounts of copper with France. He did so with his company Petersen & Bedoire, that he had started with his brother-in-law, Fredrik Bedoire. Petersen was a member of the so called Skeppsbroadel. Petersen was one of the wealthiest men in Sweden during the 18th century, and with all of his money, he bought several estates that still lasts in the family as of today. His children were raised to peerage after he had died. A nobiliary particle "af" were added to their surname. In 1741, he married Magdalena Bedoire, and in 1753 her cousin, Charlotta Bedoire. See also Erstavik Petersen House (Sweden) References Further reading 1713 births 1765 deaths 18th-century Swedish businesspeople Swedish East India Company people Swedish people of German descent 18th-century Swedish landowners People from Gothenburg