Mother Teresa

1910 – 1997

Mother Teresa, born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, who received the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize and was canonised in 2016. Critics including Christopher Hitchens and the medical journal The Lancet documented that her Homes for the Dying provided minimal pain relief, reused syringes, and rejected modern hospital care for residents while she herself was flown to high-end Western hospitals for her own treatment. She accepted large donations from Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and from convicted American fraudster Charles Keating, refused to return Keating's money when asked by the prosecution, and used her global platform to oppose contraception, abortion, and divorce in poor countries.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM