Tamara Nefedova was born in Khadabulak, Zabaikalsk district of Chita region. Soon she moved to Ufa, where she spent her whole life.

In 1972, she graduated from the Philology department of Bahskir State University. In 1986, she finished her studies at the Artistic and Technical Design of Printed Goods department of Moscow Polygraphic Institute (now Moscow State University of Printing Arts).

Tamara Nefedova is most widely known for her work in journalism. From 1973, she worked at the Evening Ufa newspaper, starting out as an artist. There, she retouched black-and-white works of photojournalists, drew headpieces, and had her drawings of Ufa published.

She was wonderfully talented in more than one field: soon, the artist began writing about the city. A respected local history expert, she published and edited the city’s local studies newspaper and wrote books about the Ufa preparatory school No. 3 (widely known as “Mariinka”) and Gostiny Dvor (a historic shopping arcade).

Nefedova was a member of the Artists Union of the Soviet Union since 1978, member of the Artists Unions of Russia and Bashkortostan since 1995. From 1987, she took part in republican, regional, national, and international exhibitions.

She passed away in 1995 in Ufa.

In 2021, the artist’s book called Aksakov’s Birthplace was published to mark her 70th anniversary. The book is centered around a novella titled St Vitus’ Dance (first published in 1992), which Nefedova planned to incorporate into a larger project— Aksakov’s Birthplace—that was never completed. The edition also included her works Gostiny Dvor (1999) and Mariinka (2000).