Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa, born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, was an Albanian Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata (Calcutta), India in 1950. For over forty years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the Missionaries of Charity`s expansion, first throughout India and then in other countries.
Numerous awards were bestowed on her beginning with Padma Shri award in 1962. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and India`s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work.
She died on 5 September 1997. At the time of her death, Mother Teresa`s Missionaries of Charity had over 4,000 sisters (nuns), and an associated brotherhood of 300 members, operating 610 missions in 123 countries, including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children`s and family counseling programs, orphanages, and schools.