Margareta Martin, Scandinavian culture expert, dies at 95

Think of the best-known exports from Scandinavia, and the mind might turn to anything from meatballs to minerals to wood and paper products.

For Atlanta and the Southeast, the most significant export was none of those. Finnish native Margareta Martin brought enthusiasm and skillful organizing following a move to Atlanta, a dynamic that helped establish a wide variety of cultural, business, artistic and culinary links between the Nordic world and here.

“A lot of people didn’t know (then) where Finland was,” said daughter Anya Martin.

She said her mother’s upbringing was steeped in a deep appreciation for nature and winter sports, a love of reading and family history and a passion for learning languages. Those inclinations followed her to Atlanta after her marriage to husband Bill.

The couple met at Indiana University, the first of her several American stops after being invited to study in the U.S in 1953.

“She yearned to travel the world and (at the same time) she was very proud of Finland, its leadership role in design, diplomatic relations, education, environmental innovation and clean energy,” said Anya Martin.

Margareta Martin died Dec. 1 after battling cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. She was 95.

Her prolific life will be remembered at a 1 p.m. March 28 memorial service at A.S. Turner and Sons, 2773 N. Decatur Road in Decatur. (Viewing will be at noon).

Following along with her husband’s various sociology teaching jobs, Margareta made several moves, settling, in Atlanta in 1970. Bill took a teaching position at Georgia State University and Margareta put her library science master’s degree to work as an information specialist for Coca-Cola as well as for Emory University’s library system.

A meetup with Marja Barron, a fellow Finlander who had founded the Atlanta Finland Society as a social club, lit a fire for Martin. The pair helped it grow into a wide-ranging showcase of the best of their home country through art and cultural offerings, concerts, lectures, exhibits, food and films.

Retired Atlanta attorney John Saunders, who worked with Finnish firms in Atlanta from the late 1970s onward and was appointed honorary Finnish counsel for the state of Georgia, said Margareta was quick to offer help.

“She was a real asset,” says Saunders. “A bridge between Finland and Georgia for sure.”

That help expressed itself in a myriad of ways, ranging from translation services to meeting with the spouses of Finnish executives looking to start or expand U.S. operations. She also huddled with Finnish ambassadorial people and college students alike, helping them get acclimated to a new country.

Saunders credits her hard work and compelling personal style as one factor among a number helping convince Finnish companies to cast their lot with Atlanta.

But there was much more than talk. Martin’s penchant for connecting left tangible footprints as well.

A Finland-based company had commissioned a statue of a high-performing runner from that country displayed during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. When the Olympics ended, the statue left town as well.

“I said, ‘Wait a minute, you can’t take that back, we need it here,’” says Saunders, but the plea fell on deaf ears.

A replacement was eventually commissioned, and Martin was instrumental in raising $140,000 to pay for it and its placement in Piedmont Park.

Another spate of diligent work resulted in an exhibition of the work of Finnish architect Eero Saarinen landing at the Museum of Design.

Fellow expat Arja Hanninen was among those who marveled as Martin balanced a pleasant and winning disposition with the willingness to work hard to overcome obstacles.

“She was very determined and when I first met her, I felt a little intimidated,” says Hanninen, who lauded her skill in putting together a cadre of skilled and capable volunteers.

Those talents also came to the forefront as she became a leading light in the now-defunct Scandinavian Festival, a multi-country exhibition that lasted into the early 2000s. Her work through the Scandinavian-American Foundation of Georgia helped foster many linkages and exhibits.