Teresa, Mother

(1910–1997)

   Missionary and Order Founder.

   Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Yugoslavia. In 1928 she travelled to India as a Roman Catholic missionary teacher. Twenty years later she founded the Order of the Missionaries of Charity to serve the medical and educational needs of the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. Her nuns wear white saris with blue stripes and are now well known for their work with the under-privileged in many countries. Mother Teresa achieved international recognition for her work; she was the first recipient of the Pope John XXIII Prize and she also won the Nobel Peace Prize. In recent years she has been criticised for her uncompromising stand against abortion and contraception.

   M. Muggeridge, Something Beautiful for God (1971).