The daughter of a Novgorod-based merchant, Vasiliy Sobakin, Marfa was selected by Ivan among twelve marriage finalists.

It was rumoured that she was unintentionally poisoned by her mother, who gave her a potion supposedly meant to increase her fertility.

Despite rapidly losing weight and barely standing, Marfa was nonetheless married to Ivan on 28 October 1571 in Aleksandrovska Sloboda.

[1] Her death increased her husband's paranoia, because she died in what was meant to be an impregnable fortress filled with loyal subjects.

The story of Marfa's selection and death is the base of the historical verse drama The Tsar's Bride by Lev Mei.