MOTHER Teresa, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who devoted her life to helping the sick and the poor, died at the age of 87 today (Sept 5, 1997), of a heart attack at the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.
Born under the name Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on 26 August 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia, she was educated about the nature of charity by her Catholic parents, and at 18, Agnes became a nun by joining the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin, Ireland.
There she began using the name Sister Mary Teresa, in conjunction with St. Thérèse of Lisieux.
In 1929, she went to Darjeeling, India & lived her beginning period there.
Later, she was assigned to Calcutta to teach at St. Mary’s High School for Girls, which is specifically for underprivileged girls.
After making the Last Pledge in 1937, she took the title of Mother & became the principal of the school in 1944.
In September 1946, Mother Teresa went through a spiritual experience that urged her to leave the teaching profession to help the poor & sick in Calcutta.
After getting approval a year and a half later, she started her new mission.
Throughout the 50s & 60s, she established orphanages, maternity homes, civic communities, family clinics and mobile clinics and numerous other forms of assistance to make the lives of those less fortunate easier.
She founded the Missionaries of Charity, the organisation that mobilises various foundations and welfare activities.
After being recognised by Pope Paul VI in 1965, the charity expanded worldwide, inviting more contributors and volunteers.
In 1979, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work for the poor.
Her order rapidly spread around the world to care for the poor, sick and marginalised in over 120 countries.
Mother died in 1997 when her order had 610 institutions in 123 countries worldwide. Mother Teresa was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2003 and her 100th birthday was celebrated around the world by many with special tributes.
India has created a stamp with her image, and Mother Teresa is considered one of the foremost humanitarian figures of the 20th century. – September 5, 2026
