Born in Latvia, in Alūksne apriņķis, in a family of farmers. In the second half of the 19th century, the parents, together with other Latvians, emigrated from Latvia and established a colony in Russia in the Luga district of the St. Petersburg province near the railway station Belaya (after 1919 Strugi Krasnaya).

Married to Kārlis Elstiņš (son of Fricis), a farmer of Estonian descent. Lived in Pskov Oblast, in the villiage of Zavizhye, Rozhnitskiy. There was a Lutheran church and a Latvian school in the village. Her husband Kārlis loved to read books and ordered newspapers from St. Petersburg.

Children: Emīlija (b. 1899), Alvīne (b. 1902), Augusts (b. 1905), Otīlija (b. 1907), Amālija (b. 1911), daughter Bertīne and two sons Jānis and Rūdolfs died in childhood.

Daughter Emīlija and her family were deported to Murmansk Oblast in 1931, son Augusts was arrested and shot in Leningrad in 1938.

Krīstīne Elstiņa had a total of 24 grandchildren, of whom 17 survived and reached adulthood.

Last place of residence Russia (USSR), Strugi Krasnye district.

In 1941 and after World War II, her children and grandchildren move from Russia's Pskov Oblast to Latvia.