Maksimova was born on 5 November 1943, in
Kochenyovo, the daughter of two biologists who had temporarily moved there from
Tomsk State University to escape the war. She grew up in
Novosibirsk, where her parents became geographers at the Novosibirsk Pedagogical Institute. She studied mechanics and mathematics at
Novosibirsk State University, publishing her first paper on
Wilhelm Ackermann's
axioms for
strict implication in
relevance logic in 1964 and graduating in 1965. Meanwhile, in 1964, she joined the
Sobolev Institute of Mathematics, and remained there for the rest of her career. She defended her doctorate at Novosibirsk State University in 1968, a year after the death of her primary mentor at the university,
Anatoly Maltsev. She completed a
habilitation at the Sobolev Institute in 1986, and was promoted to full professor in 1993. She died on 4 April 2025, at the age of 81. ==Recognition==