The Martha organisation (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

: Marttaliitto,

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: Martharörelsen) is a

organisation, founded by

Lucina Hagman Lucina Hagman (5 June 1853, Kälviä – 6 September 1946) was an early Finnish feminist and among the first female MPs in the world due to the 1907 Finnish parliamentary election. Life and career Hagman was the daughter of police master Nils Jo ...

in 1899. The organisation defines its activities as follows: "The Martha organisation is a citizens' organisation providing advice in home economics, with the aim of furthering welfare in homes and families, and providing diverse activities and possibilities of influencing the community to its members." The Martha organisation takes its name from the Biblical figure of

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...

The organisation has a three-tier structure. The lowest tier consists of local Martha communities and clubs, which the members belong to. These communities belong to

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Martha suborganisations. The Martha organisation itself is the statewide central organisation. The members of the Martha organisation, called ''Martta'', number about 50 000. The Martha communities now also accept male members.Vilenius, Esa
Willit Martat ottivat itselleen laatuaikaa lumikenkäretkellä
, ''Etelä-Saimaa'', 9 March 2004. Accessed 16 September 2009. They are called ''Martti'' or ''Matti''. Whereas the organisation's activity was previously focused mainly on the

countryside In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, ...

, the organisation has lately sought to expand to

cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

students have also formed Martha communities. Men have founded Martti clubs. The Swedish clubs for their own nationwide organisation called '' Marthaförbundet''. The organisation publishes a magazine called ''Martat'' that comes out six times a year. The magazine was formerly named ''Emäntälehti Martat''.

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Non-profit organisations based in Finland Women's organisations based in Finland