Maarja Jakobson

**Maarja Jakobson**

Maarja Jakobson, born on December 8, 1977, in Tartu, Estonia, is a talented actress known for her work in television, theater, and film, with a career that took off in the late 1990s. She is a distant descendant of Carl Robert Jakobson, a significant figure in the 19th-century Estonian national awakening.

Jakobson graduated from the Tartu 15th Secondary School (currently Tartu Descartes Lyceum) in 1995. She initially studied German at the University of Tartu for a year before pursuing her passion for acting at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn. Under the guidance of esteemed theatre pedagogue Ingo Normet, she graduated in 2000, sharing her journey with notable classmates like Kersti Heinloo and Margus Prangel.

In 2002, she earned a master’s degree in theatre and drama, graduating cum laude, after furthering her studies at the Berlin University of the Arts. Her on-screen journey began with the role of Jane Peterson in the long-running Eesti Televisioon drama series *Õnne 13*, a part she has played for over two decades.

Her film debut came in 1999 in *Kass kukub käppadele*, and she continued to build her reputation, notably starring in films like *Stiilipidu* (2005) and *Sügisball* (2007), for which she won the Best Actress award at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. Recognized on an international scale, she received the European Shooting Stars Award at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2006. Since then, Jakobson has embraced a freelance acting career, performing across various esteemed theatres in Estonia.