Maria Helena (Ellen) Jolin was born in 1854 in Stockholm was a Swedish writer, painter and graphic artist and aunt to Einar Jolin. She studied privately with Fredrik Scholander, Kerstin Cardon and the Norwegian painter Carl Hansen. She then studied for a short period at the Technical School. in 1877 she entered the Academy of Arts. In 1889 she went to Paris and studied there with J. J. Lefebvre at the Académie Julian. Jolin has mainly painted in watercolor and her motifs often depict painterly cityscapes and landscapes in fine-tuned colors. She is represented at, among others, the National Museum and the Norrköping Art Museum

​