Martha Stewart's Real Name: Martha Helen Kostyra

Quick answer: Martha Stewart's documented original name is Martha Helen Kostyra. Encyclopaedia Britannica lists that form as also known as, and Encyclopedia.com calls it her original name, dating her birth to August 3, 1941, in Jersey City, New Jersey (Britannica; Encyclopedia.com).

Real name and early life

She is known professionally as Martha Stewart. Both sources say she was born August 3, 1941, in Jersey City, and raised in Nutley, New Jersey, in a Polish American household. Britannica says the traditional arts of cooking, sewing, canning, housekeeping, and gardening were practiced at home, that she started planning birthday parties for neighbor children while still in grammar school, and that she paid her college tuition with modeling jobs in New York City. Encyclopedia.com likewise records a Barnard College B.A. in 1963. She married Andrew Stewart in 1961, Britannica says; the same article gives a 1990 divorce, while Encyclopedia.com dates the divorce to 1989.

Career highlights

Britannica says she worked as a stockbroker at a small Wall Street firm from 1965 to 1972, then moved with her family to Westport, Connecticut, and restored a Federal-style farmhouse, Turkey Hill, as she built a catering business into Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Encyclopedia.com traces the same path from early life and modeling into the media and home-furnishing company. She became a magazine, book, and television presence around Martha Stewart Living. After a later legal case, Britannica says, she returned to daytime television with Martha (2005–12), was appointed chief editorial, media, and content officer in 2010, and later rejoined the company's board and, in 2012, resumed duties as chairman once an SEC ban from a 2006 settlement had expired.

Legal matters

Britannica records that she was convicted in 2004 and served five months in prison and five months of home detention. Encyclopedia.com says she was indicted and subsequently convicted on four counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to government investigators, and that she stepped down as chairman and chief executive during the case. Those are the documented legal outcomes; they are not the focus of this page.

Name notes for searchers

Martha Helen Kostyra is the documented original name; the professional name is Martha Stewart. Searchers looking for the founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia are usually aiming at the same person.