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 Varbola is a village in Märjamaa Parish, Rapla County, in western Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by th ...

, the daughter of Priidik Lepp and Maria Sassi Lepp. She attended schools in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

and trained as a teacher in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

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 ) in 1913. Their son Reljo Utuste was born in Tallinn in 1923. Their nephew was writer . She died in 1940, the day before her 57th birthday, in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

. There is a collection of her papers at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepp, Marta 1883 births 1940 deaths 20th-century Estonian women writers Estonian women novelists Estonian dramatists and playwrights Estonian women dramatists and playwrights Estonian women short story writers Estonian modern pagans Estonian religious leaders Estonian newspaper editors Estonian women newspaper editors Estonian women educators People from Märjamaa Parish Modern pagan writers