Mahadevi Varma was born in 1907 in Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh.She came off a lawyers family.She had two brothers and one sister.She received her early education at Jabbalpur in Madhya Pradesh.She received M.A in Sanskrit from the Allahabad University.She was married with Dr Swarup Narain Varma in 1914 when she was only 9 years of old but continued study after marriage.They mostly lived seperately due to their ideological differences.

Mahadevi Varma took the job of the first headmistress of Allahabad Mahila Vidyapeeth, which was started to spread cultural and literary education to girls through Hindi medium.Later, she became the President of the institute.She was also deeply influnced by Buddhism and also associated with Indian Freedom Movement. Mahadevi Varma also established herself as a painter. She herself illustrated her own poetic works like Deepshikha and Yama.

Mahadevi Varma was one of the famous poets of Chhayavaadi Hindi literature. Other famous poets in this Genres are Suryakant Tripathi `Nirala`, Jaishankar Prasad and Sumitranandan Pant. She is well known for her book Atita ke Chalchitra (The Moving Frames of the Past) and Smriti ki Rekhayen (The Flame of an Earthen Lamp) 1942.this book consists of 51 lyrics. All the poems are based on deep pain of separation from supreme one and are full of mysticism. For this quality she was often compared with Meerabai, the 16th century Saint Poet. Some of her other major books are Nihar (1930), Rashmi (1932), Neerja (1934), and Sandhya Geet (1936), Deepshikha (1942), Saptaparna(1960),m Saptaparna(1960), Agnirekha (1990, published after her death) .She also incorporated Indian Philosophy into her poems.

Among her famous prose works, Shrinkhala ki Kadiyan is about the troubles of Indian women. Her other major prose publications are Sahityakaar ki Astha, Path ke Saathi Sankalpita, Sambhashan. She mixed Tatsam and Tatdav words in her writings.She ushered a new era in Hindi Literature - Rahasyavaad. As she was a social reformer, a women activist,a cultural and political leader she selected her subject from this fields. Mahadevi Varma was awarded Gyanpeeth, the highest Indian literary award in 1982. In 1956 she was conferred with Padma Bhushan. She was the first woman Fellow of the Sahitya Akademi, in 1979.In 1988 she was given,the title of Padma Vibhushan by Indian Government.

She passed away on September 14, 1987.