Who Is Maria Popova? Age, Biography, and Wiki
Born on July 28, 1984, Maria Popova is a Bulgarian writer and ardent advocate for literature. Her remarkable career as a cultural curator has led her to become one of the most influential voices in the literary world. As of 2025, Maria Popova is 40 years old and continues to inspire many through her work on "Brain Pickings," a well-known blog that curates ideas from literature, science, and philosophy.
Popova's unique blend of intellect and creativity has garnered her a dedicated following. Through her website and various social media platforms, she has transformed the way people engage with literary and philosophical texts.
| Occupation | Blogger |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | July 28, 1984 |
| Age | 41 Years |
| Birth Place | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Horoscope | Leo |
| Country | Bulgaria |
Popularity
Maria Popova's Popularity over time
Height, Weight & Measurements
Maria Popova maintains a healthy lifestyle, which is reflected in her physical appearance:
- Height: 5 feet 6 inches (167.6 cm)
- Weight: Approximately 130 lbs (59 kg)
- Body Measurements: 34-26-36 inches (86-66-91 cm)
Family, Dating & Relationship Status
As of 2025, Maria Popova remains a private individual regarding her romantic life. She has been linked to various personalities in the past but has not publicly confirmed any long-term relationship. Rumors of a potential boyfriend or girlfriend swirl around her, but she continues to focus on her career and personal growth.
Maria values her family deeply, often referencing her parents’ influence on her intellectual pursuits. However, specifics about her family remain undisclosed, as she prefers keeping her personal life out of the public eye.
Popova's parents are ethnic Bulgarians who, as noted by Bruce Feiler for The New York Times, "met as teenage exchange students in Russia ... [h]er father ... an engineering student who later became an Apple salesman ... her mother ... studying library science".
In interview, Popova states that in childhood, one of her grandmothers often read to her from a collection of encyclopedias.
As recounted in interview to Geoff Wolinetz of Bundle.com, Popova first worked when she was about 8 years old, making the Bulgarian yarn folk art dolls called martenitsas, worn beginning on the first of March where Popova describes selling them on the street as children would sell drinks at a lemonade stand.
Net Worth and Salary
Maria Popova's hard work and commitment to her craft have resulted in a significant financial impact. Although the exact figures are not publicly disclosed, estimates suggest that her net worth in 2025 is between $2 million and $5 million. This wealth primarily stems from her popular blog, speaking engagements, and literary projects.
As a successful writer and curator, her earnings are supplemented by book deals, sponsorships, and collaborations that reflect her expertise and reputation in the literary community.
In 2013, Popova received criticism on how she championed her site to be "ad-free" and a "labor of love" that requires reader donations to sustain itself, while she covertly received revenue from affiliate advertising from Amazon.
Tom Bleymaier, founder of a startup in Palo Alto, California, wrote a post on an anonymous Tumblr blog calling Popova out for her actions. Using his own calculations, Bleymaier extrapolated that Popova could make anywhere between $240,000 and $432,000 a year with these affiliate advertisements.
Career, Business and Investments
Maria Popova's career trajectory has been nothing short of remarkable. After founding "Brain Pickings" in 2006, she has spent nearly two decades establishing herself as a thought leader and cultural commentator. Her work covers a vast array of topics, highlighting the intersection of literature, science, and art.
In recent years, Maria has expanded her influence through various initiatives, including:
Popova graduated from the American College of Sofia in Bulgaria, a secondary school, in 2003. She relocated to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a degree in communications, though for years, up to 2012, her grandmother had wanted her to get an MBA.
Popova paid for her tuition by working four part-time jobs on top of a full college course load: as an advertising representative for The Daily Pennsylvanian, as an intern for a local writer, as an employee for a work-study job at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, and as a staff member for a small start-up advertising agency in Philadel
phia.
Social Network
Maria Popova is highly active on social media, utilizing platforms to engage with her audience and share insights. Her following includes:
- Twitter: Over 350,000 followers
- Instagram: Approximately 200,000 followers
- Facebook: Around 100,000 followers
In 2006, she began the blog Brain Pickings as an email sent each week to seven of her friends, now renamed The Marginalian. Krista Tippett in On Being describes it as "[n]ow a website, Twitter feed, and weekly digest...
cover[ing] a wide variety of cultural topics: history, current events, and images and texts from the past." It includes several sections and has graphics, photographs, and illustrations in addition to written content. As of December 2012, The Guardian was reporting that the blog had "1.2 million readers a month and 3m page views".
Anne-Marie Slaughter describes Popova's blog as "like walking into the Museum of Modern Art and having somebody give you a customized, guided tour."
Education
Maria Popova holds a degree in Communications from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her educational background has played a crucial role in shaping her analytical and critical thinking skills, which she applies in her writing and curation.
In conclusion, Maria Popova in 2025 remains an extraordinary figure whose contributions to literature and culture continue to inspire readers worldwide. With her passion for knowledge and creativity, she is poised for even greater achievements in the years to come.
In addition to her writing and related speaking engagements, she has served as an MIT Futures of Entertainment Fellow, as the editorial director at the higher education social network Lore, and has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Wired UK, and other publications. Since 2010, she has resided in Brooklyn, New York.
She is the creator of "The Universe in Verse", a large-scale annual celebration of science and the natural world through poetry.
