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Mother Teresa Age, Biography, Facts & More

Mother Teresa

Bio
Real NameAnjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu
NicknameBlessed Teresa of Calcutta
ProfessionAlbanian Roman Catholic nun and missionary
Physical Stats & More
Heightin centimeters- 152 cm
in meters- 1.52 m
in Feet Inches- 5’
Personal Life
Date of Birth26 August 1910
Birth PlaceÜsküp, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
(modern Skopje, Republic of Macedonia)
Date of Death5 September 1997
Place of DeathCalcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India
Age (as on 5 September 1997)87 Years
Zodiac sign/Sun signVirgo
NationalityOttoman subject (1910–1912)
Serbian subject (1912–1915)
Bulgarian subject (1915–1918)
Yugoslavian subject (1918–1943)
Yugoslavian citizen (1943–1948)
Indian citizen (1948–1997)
HometownSkopje, Macedonia
SchoolNot Known
CollegeNot Known
Educational QualificationsLearned English at Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland.
FamilyFather- Nikollë Bojaxhiu (Albanian businessman, benefactor and politician
Mother- Dranafile Bojaxhiu
Brother- Lazar Bojaxhiu
Sister- Aga Bojaxhiu
Mother Teresa with her parents and sister
ReligionCatholic
EthnicityAlbanian
HobbiesPhilanthropic activities
Major Controversies• She had been criticized by the media for issuing orders related with financial mismanagement.
• When Indira Gandhi suspended civil liberties in 1975, she was criticized for making a controversial statement in which she said: "People are happier. There are more jobs. There are no strikes."
• She was criticized for encouraging members of her order to secretly baptise dying patients.
• In 1991, British Journal The Lancet's editor, Robin Fox, criticized her for serving low quality medical care at her Home for Dying Destitutes in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
Boys, Affairs and More
Marital StatusUnmarried
HusbandN/A
ChildrenSons- N/A
Daughters- N/A

Mother Teresa

Some Lesser Known Facts About Mother Teresa

  • Mother Teresa was born in Skopje (modern Republic of Macedonia), a city situated at the crossroads of the Balkans.
  • She was the youngest among the three children of her parents.
  • In her childhood, she was fascinated by the lives of missionaries and their service in Bengal, India.
  • She was baptised as Gonxha Agnes.
  • At the age of five and a half, she received her First Communion and was confirmed in November 1916.
  • Her father died when she was 8 years old.
  • In September 1928, moved by her desire to become a missionary, she left her home at the age of 18 to join the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto in Ireland.
  • When she left her home at the age of 18, she never again saw her family members in her life.
  • She received the name Sister Mary Teresa after St. Therese, at Sisters of Loreto in Ireland.
  • She arrived in India in the year 1929 and began her novitiate in Darjeeling.
  • While in Darjeeling, she learnt Bengali and started teaching at St. Teresa’s school.
  • On 24 May 1931, she took her first religious vows as a nun.
  • On 14 May 1937, she took her solemn vows while teaching at the Loreto Convent School in Eastern Calcutta (now Kolkata).
  • In 1944, she became headmistress of Loreto Convent School, after serving there for almost 20 years.
  • She was hugely disturbed by the Bengal famine of 1943 and the outbreak of Hindu/Muslim violence in August 1946.
  • On 10 September 1946, she received her inspiration, her call within a call, while traveling by a train from Calcutta to Darjeeling.
  • On 17 August 1948, she wore a blue-bordered white sari for the first time and passed through the gates of Loreto Convent to enter the world of the poor.
  • On 21 December 1948, she visited a slum for the first time and cared for an old man lying sick on the road, washed the sores of some children and nursed a woman dying of hunger and TB.
  • After getting permission from the Vatican, a new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially established in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 7 October 1950.
  • At the height of the Seige of Beirut in 1982, she rescued 37 children trapped in a front line hospital.
  • By the year 1996, she was operating 517 missions in more than 100 countries.
  • In 1962, she was awarded with Padma Shri (4th highest civilian award given by the Government of India).
  • She was awarded with Phillippines-based Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1962.
  • She has become an international celebrity by the early 1970s.
  • In 1980, she was awarded with India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna.
  • In 1992, her official biography was written and published by an Indian Civil Servant, Navin Chawla.
  • In 1979, she was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.
  • In 1997, actress Geraldine Chaplin played Mother Teresa in Mother Teresa: In the Name of God’s Poor.
  • In 2014, a film, The Letters, was made which was based on her letters to Vatican Priest Celeste van Exem and her role was played by Juliet Stevenson.
  • In the 2007 movie, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, Mother Teresa was portrayed by Megan Fox.
  • 4 September 2016, has been scheduled as the canonisation date for Mother Teresa by the Vatican.