Maria Elena Björnson (16 February 1949 – 13 December 2002) was a theatre designer.

She was born in Paris to a Norwegian father and Romanian mother, and was the great-granddaughter of the Norwegian playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903.

[citation needed] She died of epilepsy at her home in Hammersmith on Friday 13 December 2002, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery.

[3] In 2006, the refurbished Young Vic opened a new studio theatre named the "Maria" in her memory.

The first performance there was Love and Money by Dennis Kelly, directed by Matthew Dunster and designed by Anna Fleischle.