Mother Teresa - Singer

She built a global network to serve the dying and destitute, won a Nobel Peace Prize, and became a saint - yet also faced pointed criticism for conditions in the very homes meant to offer mercy.

Activists Singer / Musician Music Activism 20th Century

A life in dates

2026Feast day, 5 September.5 September 20262025MotherBiopic about her life26 August 2025More about this, 2025 film by Teona Strugar MitevskaIMDb2023Mother Teresa & MeBiopic about her lifeMore about this, 2023 film directed by Kamal MusaleIMDb2003Mother Teresa of CalcuttaBiopic about her life19 October 2003More about this, 2003 television film directed by Fabrizio CostaIMDb1997Died5 September 1997Congressional Gold MedalAward1996Honorary Citizen of the United StatesAward1992UNESCO Prize for Peace EducationAward1990Honorary Citizen of ZagrebAward1986Honorary Doctorate at the Laval UniversityAward1985Presidential Medal of FreedomAward1982Honorary Companion of the Order of AustraliaAward1980“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.”In their wordsAs quoted in Love Until It Hurts: A Tribute to Mother Teresa and the work of the men and women of the Missionaries of Charity (1980) byRead the whole statement

Bharat RatnaAward1979“I was amazed when I learned that in the West so many young people are on drugs. I tried to understand the reason for this. Why?”In their wordsWhen receiving the Nobel peace price in 1979. As quoted from Hitchens, C. (2012). The missionary position: Mother Theresa in theory andRead the whole statement

Nobel Peace PrizeAward1978Balzan PrizeAward1977“I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?”In their wordsStatement of 1977, as quoted in Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (2011) by Susan Ratcliffe, p. 373Read the whole statement

1976Pacem in Terris AwardAward1975“People are happier. There are more jobs. There are no strikes.”In their wordsMother Teresa in Emergency Rule period, 1975-77; quoted in: David Aikman (1998), Great souls: six who changed the century, p. 244Read the whole statement

1971“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted.”In their wordsAs quoted by Malcolm Muggeridge in Something Beautiful for God (1971)Read the whole statement

1969Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International UnderstandingAward1962“Often I wonder what does really God get from me in this state - no faith, no love - not even in feelings. The other day I can't tell you how bad I felt.”In their wordsSeptember 1962On her dark night of spiritual desolation amidst devotion, in a letter to Bishop Lawrence Trevor Picachy (September 1962), as quoted inRead the whole statement

Ramon Magsaysay AwardAward1910Born26 August 1910

Photos 12

Memorial House of Mother Teresa in her native Skopje

Missionaries of Charity motherhouse in Calcutta

Missionaries of Charity in traditional saris

Nirmal Hriday, Mother Teresa's Calcutta hospice, in 2007

President Ronald Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony as First Lady Nancy Reagan looks on, 20 June 1985.

Mother Teresa with Michèle Duvalier in January 1981

In their own words 10

Mother Teresa

10 statements, newest first

I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.
1980, As quoted in Love Until It Hurts: A Tribute to Mother Teresa and the work of the men and women of the Missionaries of Charity (1980) by, Own words
Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear. The tongue moves but does not speak.
Sep 1979, Letter to Michael van der Peet (September 1979), quoted in "Mother Teresa Did Not Feel Christ's Presence for Last Half of Her Life, Letters, Own words
I was amazed when I learned that in the West so many young people are on drugs. I tried to understand the reason for this. Why?
1979, When receiving the Nobel peace price in 1979. As quoted from Hitchens, C. (2012). The missionary position: Mother Theresa in theory and, Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Congressional Gold Medal1997

Honorary Citizen of the United States1996

UNESCO Prize for Peace Education1992

Honorary Citizen of Zagreb1990

Honorary Doctorate at the Laval University1986

Presidential Medal of Freedom, Ronald Reagan1985

Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia1982

Bharat Ratna1980

Nobel Peace Prize1979

Balzan Prize1978

Pacem in Terris Award1976

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding1969

Ramon Magsaysay Award1962

Templeton Prize

Damien-Dutton Award

Albert Schweitzer prize

Padma Shri

Order of the Smile

Grand Order of Queen Jelena

National Order of Honour and Merit

Order of Merit

Order of the British Empire

Honorary Doctorate from the University of Cambridge

Honorary Doctor of the University of Hong Kong

Honorary Doctorate from the University of Alberta

Honorary Doctor of the Jagiellonian University of Krakow

In their orbit

Father: Nikollë Bojaxhiu

About this person

Born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in Skopje in 1910, she left for Ireland at 18 to join the Sisters of Loreto, then moved to India, where she would spend most of her life. In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, a congregation devoted to "the poorest of the poor" that grew to operate in over 133 countries with more than 4,500 nuns running homes for those dying from HIV/AIDS, leprosy, and tuberculosis, along with soup kitchens, clinics, orphanages, and schools. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, but her work drew scrutiny for poor conditions and lack of pain relief in her facilities. She was canonised by the Catholic Church on 4 September 2016. She died on 5 September 1997, a date now observed as her feast day.

Country

Albania

In common with Mother

Ruth PfauBoth received Damien-Dutton Award

Musicians from Albania 5

Fame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.