Robert Macfie Thorburn

Robert Macfie Thorburn FRSE (27 April 1828 – 22 August 1896) was a 19th-century Swedish-Scots businessman and Swedish politician.

He was born in Kasen near Gothenburg, Sweden, one of ten children of William Thorburn (1780–1851) and his wife Janet Mafie (1790–1863), both from Scotland.

The family had moved from Scotland to Sweden in 1823 to help resolve financial difficulties in the firm of "Brodie & Thorburn" (set up by his younger brother James Thorburn and fellow Scot, William Brodie).

In 1851, when his father died, he and his brother, William Franklin Thorburn, took over the family import and shipping company, "William Thorburn and Sons" who seemed to deal in tea.

He also had interests in the company "Macfie Lindsay & Co" who dealt in sugar.