Athena (Nounou) Martinou, the strongest woman in Greek shipping and one of the pioneers in the international maritime industry, passed away on Friday night at the age of 97.
She was the founder of the shipping giant Thenamaris Ships Management. She was a woman of social sensibilities who kept a low profile and avoided publicity and display of wealth.
In an interview on the show “Einautes” about how she fell in love with the sea, Athina Martinou said: “I am from Kefalonia, but the fact that I was born in Glyfada played a role in my love for the sea and I used to watch the ships pass by and tell my friends “and we will make steamers” and we did. We were mad about it and we did it and the whole family had a blast.”
“In this effort, I was not alone. My husband was close to me from the first moment, but mainly it was my son Thanasis, who from the age of fourteen was doing statistics and writing down how many crew, what a ship needs. My husband, Ioannis Martinos, loved the sea. Thanasis, from the first discussion, was an active part of this effort. I wasn’t the driving force, but I was the person who could make the difficult, easy. When you want something, you can do it. I never did a directory. I loved Thenamaris, not the manager. What I wanted was for my ships to increase and that happened” said Athna Martinou.
Continuing on about her life, she said “the “Eleni”, it was the second ship, we had no money, Thanasis was finishing high school, I found money and we went to London for Thanasis to sign, who told me then, we will raise the Greek flag . The Harbor Master in London asked me “do you know a typewriter?” I told him “yes” and sat down and wrote the documents, Thanasis took them and that’s how we received the steamer. We bought the first ship in 1964 for 80,000 pounds. It was a 20 year old ship. “Thanasis” was a Lebanese ship, it was for flying, we built it, we made it Cypriot and in 1967, we sold it to the Patera family who bought it for 300,000 dollars”.
The Athena I. Martinou Foundation outlines the personality of Nunou Martinou
Starting point for the creation of the Foundation, Athena I. Martinou’s passion for the sea and destination the offering to society, which is active around the sea and feels its daily presence in its veins.
She herself, as she characteristically says, is “like the sea, feminine”.
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