# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/maximilian-kolbe
# Generated: 2026-09-01T00:27:37.882Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/maximilian-kolbe"
name: "Maximilian Kolbe"
slug: "maximilian-kolbe"
description: "A Polish friar walked into the starvation bunker at Auschwitz and traded his life for a stranger's. That act in August 1941 turned Maximilian Kolbe into the patron saint of a century defined by camps and cruelty."
tagline: "Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic Church (1894–1941)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Fr.Maximilian_Kolbe_in_1936.jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1894-01-08"
deathDate: "1941-08-14"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           68.53
  momentum:             20
  historical:           29.977116
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: 181
tags:
  - name: "Religious Figures"
    slug: "religious-figures"
  - name: "TV Personality"
    slug: "tv-personality"
  - name: "News Broadcasting"
    slug: "news-broadcasting"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Religion"
    slug: "religion"
  - name: "20th Century"
    slug: "20th-century"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q153850"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Maximilian%20Kolbe"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%81%D1%96%D0%BC%D1%96%D0%BB%D1%8F%D0%BD_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B1%D1%8D"
    title: "Максімілян Кольбэ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B1%D0%B5"
    title: "Максимилиан Колбе"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maksymilian_Maria_Kolbe"
    title: "Maksymilian Maria Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxmili%C3%A1n_Kolbe"
    title: "Maxmilián Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximilian Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximilian Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CE%B1%CE%BE%CE%B9%CE%BC%CE%AF%CE%BB%CE%B9%CE%B1%CE%BD_%CE%9A%CF%8C%CE%BB%CE%BC%CF%80%CE%B5"
    title: "Μαξιμίλιαν Κόλμπε"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maksimiliano_Kolbe"
    title: "Maksimiliano Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximiliano_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximiliano Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximilian Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximiliano_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximiliano Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%A7%DA%A9%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%85%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86_%DA%A9%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%87"
    title: "ماکسیمیلیان کلبه"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximilian Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilien_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximilien Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maksimiliaan_Kolbe"
    title: "Maksimiliaan Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximilian Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximiliano_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximiliano Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gom.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe"
    title: "Maximilian Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%90%D7%9F_%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%91%D7%94"
    title: "מקסימיליאן קולבה"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maksimilijan_Kolbe"
    title: "Maksimilijan Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szent_Maximilian_Kolbe"
    title: "Szent Maximilian Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maksimilianus_Kolbe"
    title: "Maksimilianus Kolbe"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maxmili%C3%A1n_Kolbe"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maximilien_Kolbe"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://hr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maksimilijan_Kolbe"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Massimiliano_Maria_Kolbe"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Raymund Kolbe was born in Poland on 8 January 1894 and became a Conventual Franciscan friar and priest, taking the name Maximilian Maria. He spent years promoting devotion to the Virgin Mary, founded the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, ran an amateur-radio station with the call sign SP3RN, and oversaw several publications and organizations. When the Germans occupied Poland during World War II, he ended up in Auschwitz. There, he volunteered to die in place of Franciszek Gajowniczek, a man selected for execution. Kolbe was sent to the starvation bunker and died on 14 August 1941. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 1982, declared him a martyr of charity, and named him patron saint of amateur radio operators, drug addicts, political prisoners, families, journalists, and prisoners—calling him "the patron of our difficult century."