26
Mother Teresa Is Born in Skopje
On August 26, 1910, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu — later known around the world as Mother Teresa — was born in Skopje, then part of the Ottoman Empire.
Over the course of her life, she would become one of the most recognizable humanitarian and religious figures of the 20th century, devoting decades to working among the poor and sick in India.
From Skopje to India
Mother Teresa was born into a family of Albanian descent. Her childhood name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, with “Gonxha” meaning “flower bud” in Albanian.
Religion played an important role in her early life, and as a teenager she became increasingly interested in missionary work.
At the age of 18, she left her family and traveled to Ireland to join the Sisters of Loreto, a Catholic religious community with missions in India.
There she took the name Sister Mary Teresa, inspired by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
A New Life in Calcutta
In 1929, Teresa arrived in India, where she would spend most of the rest of her life.
She initially worked as a teacher and later became headmistress at a girls' school in Calcutta, now known as Kolkata.
For nearly two decades, her life was centered around teaching. But the severe poverty she saw beyond the walls of the school increasingly affected her.
A “Call Within a Call”
On September 10, 1946, while traveling by train, Teresa experienced what she later described as a “call within a call.”
She became convinced that she should leave the convent school and dedicate herself directly to people living in extreme poverty.
After receiving permission from the Catholic Church, she left the Loreto convent in 1948 and began working in the poorer neighborhoods of Calcutta.
She adopted the simple white sari with blue borders that would later become one of the most recognizable symbols of her work.
The Missionaries of Charity
In 1950, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a new Catholic religious congregation dedicated to caring for people who were poor, sick, homeless, orphaned, or dying.
The organization began in Calcutta but gradually expanded far beyond India.
Its members established homes for abandoned children, hospices for the terminally ill, and facilities for people suffering from serious diseases.
By the time of Mother Teresa's death, the Missionaries of Charity had thousands of members working in hundreds of centers around the world.
The Nobel Peace Prize
Mother Teresa's work brought her international attention, and in 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Committee honored her for her humanitarian work and her efforts to bring help to people experiencing extreme suffering.
She became one of the world's best-known advocates for caring for people who were often ignored or abandoned by society.
A Global Icon — and a Controversial Figure
Mother Teresa was widely admired for choosing to live and work among some of the world's poorest people, but her legacy has also been debated.
Critics questioned standards of medical care in some facilities operated by her organization and challenged some of her strongly conservative views on subjects such as abortion and contraception.
Supporters, however, emphasized that her mission focused on providing care, dignity, and companionship to people whom others had often neglected.
Few religious figures of the 20th century inspired such widespread admiration while also generating such intense discussion about charity, medicine, poverty, and faith.
From Agnes to Saint Teresa
Mother Teresa died in Calcutta on September 5, 1997, at the age of 87.
Her religious order continued its work after her death, while her name remained internationally associated with humanitarian service and care for the poor.
In 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified her. On September 4, 2016, Pope Francis canonized her as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.
A Life That Began on August 26
When Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in Skopje on August 26, 1910, there was little to suggest that her name would eventually become known around the world.
She left her home as a teenager, traveled thousands of kilometers to India, and built an organization that eventually operated across more than a hundred countries.
More than a century after her birth, Mother Teresa remains one of the most recognizable — and discussed — humanitarian figures of modern history.
Other events on this day
Credits: 1st photo: White House / U.S. National Archives — Public Domain.