Halfdan Petterøe

Halfdan Petterøe (22 February 1876 – 3 September 1939) was a Norwegian businessperson, founder of the tobacco brand Petterøes.

He was born in Nøtterøy as a son of Elias Petterøe (1844–1887) and Amalie Elisabeth Hansen (1849–1933). In 1902 he married treasurer Karen Abel Helene Elise Falchenberg (1874–1945). His daughter Aase (1904–59) followed him as CEO on his death. She was married to chief physician Knut Aas, and another daughter Eva (1908–94) was married to architect Christian Astrup.

He moved to Kristiania in 1892, took commercial training and was hired in Tiedemanns Tobakksfabrikk. In 1900 he established his own company, an import and trade company for tobacco, and in 1905 he founded the tobacco factory H. Petterøe Tobakkfabrikk. Within ten years he led the third largest tobacco company in Norway, and one of the few newer tobacco establishments that managed to thrive.

From 1920 to 1923 and in 1931 Petterøe chaired the interest organization Tobakksfabrikantenes landsforening. He was also a board member of Centralbanken from 1922 to 1926 and of Kristiania Port Authority. He died in September 1939 in Oslo.