The Holy Martyr Vera was born on August 17, 1880, in the village of Veriyevo, Elatomsk District, Tambov Province, into the family of a prison guard. After graduating from the Kasimov Women's Gymnasium, she worked as a schoolteacher. However, due to her disagreement with the religious policies of the government, she was compelled to leave the field of education. In the late 1920s, she became the starosta of the Church of Saint Paraskeva in Kasimov.
In the summer of 1935, clergy and faithful believers were persecuted, arrested, and got imprisoned. Among them, there was Vera Samsonova. On June 28, 1935, she was incarcerated in Moscow's Butyrka Prison.
She openly opposed the Soviet government's policies, and particularly the strict separation of Church and school. Moreover, she travelled from house to house, secretly teaching children the Law of God. On August 2, 1935, the Special Council of the NKVD sentenced her to five years of imprisonment in a forced labour camp.
The harsh conditions of forced labour damaged her health. On February 19, 1940, she was kept to the central infirmary. She reposed on June 14, 1940, two weeks before the end of her sentence.
