Marmorston was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, then a part of the Russian Empire, the daughter of Aaron Marmoston and Ethel Wark Marmoston. Her family was Jewish. She moved to the United States as a child, with her parents, and grew up in Buffalo, New York. She completed her medical degree at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine in 1924.Emrich, John and Charles Richter. "Hidden Figures of AAI: Five Women Pioneers in Immunology" The American Association of Immunologists (April 2020).
