[1] She was born on 2 August 1885 in Dorpat (modern Tartu, Estonia), to Jan Niecisław Baudouin de Courtenay, a noted linguist, and his second wife Romualda Baudouin de Courtenay née Bagnicka, a journalist and historian.

In 1911, she was one of the first women to obtain a first degree diploma from the Saint Petersburg Imperial University, based on her thesis „Język modlitewnika maryjnego, wieku XVI wydanego przez prof. Ptaszyckiego”, ("The language of the Saint Mary prayer book, from 16th century, published by prof. Ptaszycki ") written under the supervision of prof. Tadeusz Zieliński.

During this time she published two linguistic works: „Ałbanja i Ałbańcy” and „Kamień Latyr i Gorod Ałtyr”.

Between 1927 and 1935 she served as a professor and founder of the chairs of ethnography and ethnology at the Stefan Batory University of Wilno (modern Vilnius, Lithuania).

Initially married to her father's student Max Vasmer, she divorced him and remarried Stefan Ehrenkreutz, a professor of law and a senator of Poland.