Marina Tsvetaeva was born on October 8, 1892, in Moscow. On this day, Christians commemorate the Apostle John the Theologian, which is reflected multiple times in her poetry. Her father, Ivan Tsvetaev, was a well-known art historian and philologist, teaching at Moscow University. This was his second marriage; from his first, he had a son, Andrei, and a daughter, Valeria. Marina's mother, Maria Mein, was a professional pianist and a student of the famous Nikolai Rubinstein.

In 1894, Marina had a younger sister, Anastasia. Her parents, being creative individuals, instilled a love for art in their daughters. Marina learned to play the piano with her mother and studied foreign languages and literature with her father.

Marina spent a lot of time with her mother abroad, which allowed her to speak German and French fluently. She initially attended a private girls' gymnasium in Moscow and later a boarding school for girls in Germany and Switzerland. At the age of 16, Tsvetaeva became fascinated with Old French literature and even began attending lectures at the Sorbonne, but did not complete her studies.

Tsvetaeva's first collection of poems, "Evening Album," was published in 1910. In 1912, she released her second collection, "The Magic Lantern," and married Sergei Efron, with whom she had a daughter, Ariadne. During the Civil War years (1917-1922), poetry became a way for Tsvetaeva to express her feelings. She also wrote plays.

In 1922, Tsvetaeva moved to Berlin, then to Czechoslovakia, and back to Berlin. During this period, she created "The Poem of the Mountain" and "The Poem of the End." In 1925, she had a son, Georgy. The poems from 1922-1925 were published in the collection "After Russia" in 1928, but they did not bring her popularity abroad. In emigration, her prose received more recognition.

The 1930s were difficult for Tsvetaeva, and in 1939 she returned to the USSR. Her daughter and husband were arrested on charges of espionage; Sergei was executed in 1941, and her daughter was rehabilitated 15 years after her imprisonment.

On August 31, 1941, Tsvetaeva took her own life. She was buried on September 2, 1941, in Yelabuga at the Peter and Paul Cemetery, but due to the war, the exact location of her burial remains unknown.