Athena (Nuno) Martinou, a powerful woman in Greek shipping, died Friday night at the age of 97.
She was the richest woman in Europe and, in fact, a personal friend of Queen Elizabeth – although she preferred to keep a low profile, not flaunting her power and financial means.
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He decided in 1971 to manage the ships of his family’s Metanitis family. Together with his sons Thanasis, Dino and Andreas, he founded the company Thenamaris Ships Management.
In the 90s, especially in 1991, when Athena decided to hand over the reins to her children, Thanasis Martinos left the company to develop the Eastern Mediterranean region.
In 1997, Andreas followed suit, founding the shipping company Minerva Marine, effectively leaving younger brother Dino at the helm of Tenamaris.
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In a story about how she fell in love with the sea, she said: “I am from Kefalonia, but the fact that I was born in Klifada played a part in my love for the sea, and I saw it. The ships pass and say to my friends: “We will sail too, we went. We were crazy about it, and we did it, and the whole family had a blast.”
“I was not alone in this effort. My husband was close to me from the first moment, but mainly my son Thanasis, who from the age of fourteen was doing statistics and writing down what a ship needed. My husband, Ioannis Martinos, loved the sea. Thanasis, from the first discussion, I wasn’t the driving force behind this effort, but I’m a tough, do-it-yourself person, if you want something, you can do it.”
In 1964, Athena (Nuno) Martino entered shipping. In 1971, he founded the shipping company Tenamaris, and by 1975, the fleet consisted of 36 ships.
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“I was never a manager”, Athena points out to Martino, but insists: “I loved Tenamaris, not the manager. I wanted my ships to increase, and it happened.”
“Eleni” was the second ship, we had no money, Thanasis was finishing high school, I got money, we went to London to sign Thanasis, who then told me we would raise the Greek flag. The Harbor Master in London asked me: Do you know a typewriter? I told him, yes, I sat down and wrote the papers, Thanasis took them, and that’s how we got the steamer.
Athena (Nuno) Martino’s story reveals: “We bought the first ship in 1964 for 80,000 pounds. It was a 20-year-old ship. “Thanasis” was a Lebanese ship, we built it to fly, we put it in Cyprus and in 1967, Patera bought it for 300,000 dollars. We sold it to the family”.
Watch Adina (Nuno) Martino’s interview on EINEAVTES:
Athena I. Martinou Foundation Reports
The starting point for creating the Foundation was Athena I. Martino’s passion for the sea and her offering to the community, which actively revolves around the sea and feels its daily presence in its veins.
Even today at 90, her love of life is what defines her. She herself is, as she characteristically says, “sea-like, feminine”. Her whole attitude towards life is about the ocean. Love and passion, respect and devotion. That’s why she embraces life in all its aspects, calm and peaceful, or turbulent and stormy. Because Athena I. Martino, like the sea, is not static. Brave and ambitious, hard-working and persistent, discreet and low-key, he was the Nuno of Greek shipping.
Every act, every movement in Athena I. Martino’s life was inspired by the sea. She was generous with those who loved and respected her. He pursued his dream with a lot of work, dynamism and passion and won the respect and recognition of the shipping world on his merits.
Athena I. Martino always turns to the sea for strength, and she wants to repay the generosity shown to her. As the waves of the ocean travel far and wide, she also wants to make a decisive contribution to the implementation of programs for the welfare of Greek society through her foundation’s essential but silent public welfare work. To travel beyond its limits, to go away