Axel von Fersen was born in 1755 to Field Marshal Axel von Fersen the Elder and countess Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie.
He was nephew of Eva Ekeblad and grandson of General Hans Reinhold Fersen.
Axel was born the second of four children; he had two sisters, Hedvig Eleonora and Eva Sophie, and one brother, Fabian Reinhold.
Two female cousins, Ulrika von Fersen and Christina Augusta von Fersen, were Swedish ladies-in-waiting and leading socialites of the Gustavian age.

Von Fersen's ancestors came from Estonia to Sweden at the time of the Thirty Years' War, which took place from 1618–1648.
The family made their name during the reigns of Christina (queen regnant), Charles X, and Charles XI.
In 1735, the von Fersen family purchased Steninge Palace, which overlooks Mälaren, a lake outside of Stockholm, Sweden.

Von Fersen's father, the de facto parliamentary leader of the Hats party, was the most politically influential man in Sweden at that time and also one of the richest in the realm.
He was the lord of four grand houses in Sweden: Löfstad [inherited through his wife], Steninge, Ljung and Mälsåker.
He also owned mines, land, forests and iron foundries in Sweden and Finland, and a large share of Sweden's East India Company, the country's most profitable undertaking ever.

The younger Axel was influenced by French culture, owing in part to his father's services to Louis XV of France.
Under his childhood tutor, von Fersen learned several languages including French, Latin, English, German and Italian.
His later education was primarily military.
Axel von Fersen was born in 1755 to Field Marshal Axel von Fersen the Elder and countess Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie. He was nephew of Eva Ekeblad and grandson of General Hans Reinhold Fersen. Axel was born the second of four children; he had two sisters, Hedvig Eleonora and Eva Sophie, and one brother, Fabian Reinhold. Two female cousins, Ulrika von Fersen and Christina Augusta von Fersen, were Swedish ladies-in-waiting and leading socialites of the Gustavian age.
Von Fersen's ancestors came from Estonia to Sweden at the time of the Thirty Years' War, which took place from 1618–1648. The family made their name during the reigns of Christina (queen regnant), Charles X, and Charles XI. In 1735, the von Fersen family purchased Steninge Palace, which overlooks Mälaren, a lake outside of Stockholm, Sweden.
Von Fersen's father, the de facto parliamentary leader of the Hats party, was the most politically influential man in Sweden at that time and also one of the richest in the realm. He was the lord of four grand houses in Sweden: Löfstad [inherited through his wife], Steninge, Ljung and Mälsåker. He also owned mines, land, forests and iron foundries in Sweden and Finland, and a large share of Sweden's East India Company, the country's most profitable undertaking ever.
The younger Axel was influenced by French culture, owing in part to his father's services to Louis XV of France. Under his childhood tutor, von Fersen learned several languages including French, Latin, English, German and Italian. His later education was primarily military.
Axel von Fersen the Younger