Mother Teresa became known to the world for her selfless work with the “poorest of the poor” in Kolkata, India. Born in 1910 in Skopje, now the capital of Macedonia, Mother Teresa began her novitiate in India in 1928. Since its inception in 1950, her order, the Missionaries of Charity, and its 400,000 sisters have opened more than 500 centers around the world to help the dying and destitute.

Mother Teresa was the recipient of many of the world’s most prestigious humanitarian awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Albert Schweitzer International Prize, and the Nobel Peace Prize. She died in 1997 and was canonized as a saint by Pope Francis in 2016.