Hanna Lindmark

Hanna Lindmark (24 November 1860 – 15 November 1941) was a Swedish entrepreneur, educator, and founder of home economics schools called Margaretaskolan. Created to provide girls with an education in preparing quality, home-cooked meals as well as in nutrition, hygiene, and Christianity, her schools became a chain of restaurants, shops, and banquet halls. For her efforts as a teacher, she was awarded the Illis quorum by the King of Sweden in 1927.

Biography Born in Arnäs, Ångermanland, Sweden, Lindmark grew up in difficult circumstances. Her mother, Cajsa Brita Persdotter, died in childbirth in 1869, the same year that Sweden was struck by crop failure and famine during the Swedish famine of 1867–1869. The family became so poor that at the age of nine, she was sold at a child auction to a person in her home parish of Arnäs who took her in for the lowest price. Until she turned 15, she was auctioned off annually to various foster parents. Her father Nils Olofsson, a local pauper, was married three times and had 22 children, ten of whom survived.

Lindmark decided early on to work her way out of poverty. An important inspiration was Anna Johansdotter Norbäck, known as Mother Anna. Norbäck was the founder of the church in Arnäs and her free congregation often visited Lindmark. This laid the foundation for Lindmark's strong faith in God and her dream of becoming a missionary. In one home she learned to read and write, and as a maidservant in the foster homes she was also allowed to cook and quickly became very appreciated. Eventually, she was employed as a cook by wealthy farmers, priests and merchants and as a housekeeper for the photographer Adele Kindlund in Östersund, Sweden. After just one year, she was able to expand, hire new staff and demand better facilities. One of the guests was the widower Axel Lindmark, a surveyor in the Swedish military's mapping division, who came to the restaurant with his children Oscar, Aimée and Robert. The two married in 1904 and began a happy marriage and a thriving work team.

Margaretaskolan In 1905, the Lindmarks moved to Norrköping and opened the first Margaretaskolan ('Margareta School'), a home economics school named after Princess (later Crown Princess) Margaret. Margaretaskolan was a success. The timing coincided with Norrköping's large art and industry exhibition in 1906, which created a demand for dining establishments.