Marta Lepp

Marta Lepp
A young white woman with fair hair in a long braid, wearing dark, high collared clothes Marta Lepp, photographed as a young woman, from a 1936 book
Born	Marta Kirschbaum (1883-11-12)12 November 1883 Varbola, Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire
Died	11 November 1940(1940-11-11) (aged 56) Tartu, Estonia
Other names	Sophia Vardi (pseudonym), Marta Kirschbaum (after 1913), Marta Utuste or Maarda Utuste (after 1927)
Occupations	Writer, editor, educator, political leader

Marta Sophia Lepp Utuste (born Marta Kirschbaum; 12 November 1883 – 11 November 1940), also known as Sophia Vardi and Maarda Lepp-Utuste, was an Estonian writer, editor, educator, and political and religious leader.

Early life

Lepp was born in Varbola, the daughter of Priidik Lepp and Maria Sassi Lepp. She attended schools in Tallinn and trained as a teacher in Saint Petersburg.

Career

For her revolutionary activities, Lepp was imprisoned in Siberia in 1905, 1907, and 1910; she escaped at least once before her official release in 1910. In 1917, she returned to Estonia, where she taught Estonian language and history in Tallinn; she was also head of a women's political organization, and was editor of a newspaper, Our Free Land. She and her husband were adherents and leaders of Taaraism, an Estonian neo-pagan religion. Her writing included short stories, an opera libretto, a novel, and a three-volume memoir.

Personal life

Lepp married soldier Gustav Vladimir Kirschbaum (later known as Kustas Utuste) in 1913. Their son Reljo Utuste was born in Tallinn in 1923. Their nephew was writer Henn-Kaarel Hellat. She died in 1940, the day before her 57th birthday, in Tartu. There is a collection of her papers at the University of Minnesota.