Martta Koskinen 1896-1943

Martta Koskinen was a Helsinki seamstress, veteran of the Finnish Civil War, and activist of the SKP who was sentenced to death for high treason and executed by ring squad on 29 September 1943. She was the last woman executed in Finland. Koskinen was first imprisoned in Kotka in 1933 for revolutionary activity with several other women who had sided with the Reds, and had been sentenced to prison for treason. Koskinen was also accused of membership in a criminal organization (Finnish Communist Party) and writing clandestine literature.

Koskinen denied the charges, but she was sentenced to two years of prison for treasonous activity. Koskinen was an acquaintance of two notable female Finnish Communists: Hertta Kuusinen, daughter of Otto Wille Kuusinen, and Hella Wuolijoki. Koskinen worked as a seamstress for
Wuolijoki at the Marlebäck manor which Wuolijoki owned, and even when both were in prison. Koskinen was the last woman to be executed in Finland and the last Finnish civilian to be executed for a military crime.