orig. Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu
born Aug. 27, 1910, Skopje, Maced., Ottoman Empire
died Sept. 5, 1997, Calcutta, India; beatified Oct. 19, 2003
Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity.
The daughter of a grocer, she became a nun and went to India as a young woman. After studying nursing, she moved to the slums of Calcutta (Kolkata); in 1948 she founded her order, which served the blind, the aged, the disabled, and the dying. In 1963 the Indian government awarded her the Padmashri ("Lord of the Lotus") for her services to the people of India, and in 1971 Pope John Paul II issued a special dispensation to expedite the process. She was beatified on Oct. 19, 2003, reaching the ranks of the blessed in the shortest time in the church's history.