Maria Stepanovna Zabolotskaya (born October 12, 1887, in St. Petersburg, died December 17, 1976, in Koktebel) was a medical worker, tour guide, museum employee, and fiction writer. She became the second wife of poet Maximilian Voloshin, officially in 1927, and remained his widow after his death in 1932.

Her father, Stefan Yakubovich Zabolotsky, was Polish and worked as a locksmith, while her mother, Paraskeva Antonovna (née Antoniuk), came from a family of Latgalian Old Believers. Due to her mother's marriage to a man of a different faith, relations with her relatives were strained.

After Maria's birth, the family moved to Rezhitsa (now Rezekne). In 1895, her father died of tuberculosis, and Maria's childhood was difficult. Her mother, suffering from tuberculosis, worked as a laundress and lived in harsh conditions. Maria's older brother, Stepan, became a homeless child, ended up in prison, and died in 1919.

At the age of 12, Maria attempted to take her own life by poisoning herself with a substance she stole from a family friend. She was saved, and the story made it into the newspapers. Several families offered to take her in, and from 1899, she lived with the Lebedev sisters. Among those who helped her was Elizabeth Yaroshenko, the wife of the brother of artist Nikolai Yaroshenko. Maria spent summers at the Yaroshenko estate, where she met prominent cultural figures.

In 1900, she enrolled in the 2nd grade of the M. N. Stoyunina Gymnasium in St. Petersburg. In gymnasium, Maria showed independence and a vibrant character. From 1902, she lived in the boarding house of E. I. Schmidt.

In 1905, to improve her health, Maria went to Yalta, then moved to Odessa and enrolled in the 6th grade of the S. A. von Hirsch-Bramm Gymnasium. In 1906, she graduated from the gymnasium with a silver medal.

In 1907 and 1908, she studied in the supplementary class of the Stoyunina Gymnasium and received a diploma as a private tutor. In 1909, she entered the Bestuzhev Courses, and in 1910, she attended lectures by I. P. Pavlov. Later, she graduated from the Midwifery Institute and worked as a midwife. With the onset of World War I, she left medical school and joined the army as a medical assistant. From 1915, she worked at the Petrograd Loan Office.

After the revolution, she moved to Yeisk, and then to Old Crimea. In 1919, she became the head of the outpatient clinic in the village of Dalnie Kamyshi near Feodosia, where she first met M. Voloshin.

In 1923, Voloshin wrote to his mother about the help of Maria Stepanovna, who became his close friend and supported his mother. During the German occupation of Koktebel, she preserved Voloshin's house and archive. In 1944, she underwent surgery on her stomach and esophagus. In 1945, she became the curator of the Voloshin Museum. In 1961, V. P. Kupchenko joined her as her assistant in the museum.

On December 15, 1976, Maria lost consciousness due to brain swelling and passed away on December 17. She was buried on Mount Kuchuk-Enishar next to Voloshin. Among those present at her funeral were M. N. Izergina, V. P. Kupchenko, Ekaterina Nikitichna Tolstaya, S. V. Tsigal, and Mirel Yakovlevna Shaginyan.