Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, Macedonia. Her original name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She left her parents at the age of 18, and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of Nuns. She came to India in 1931. From 1931 to 1948, she taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta (now Kolkata). But the sufferings of the poor and slum dwellers caught her attention. She received permission of her superiors to devote herself for the poor people of the country. Initially, Mother Teresa had little fund. But she depended upon Divine Providence, and financial support came forth. This helped her to extend the scope of her work.

In 1950, Mother Teresa started her won order, "The Missionaries of Charity". In 1965, the society became an international religious family by the decree of Pope Paul VI. Her fame extended internationally. By the time of her death in 1997, the Missonaries of Charity had 610 foundations in 123 countries in all the seven countries.

For over 45 years, Mother Teresa ministered the poor, sick, orphaned and the dying. Her beautification was made by Pope John Paul II, who followed her death, gave her the tittle "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta".

Mother Teresa was the recipient of a number of awards. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 at Oslo, Norway. She refused the Ceremonial Banquet and asked that the amount of $192,000 be given to the poor in India. She received the Philippines-based Ramon Magsaysay Award, and Honorary Companion of the order of Australia, the order of Merit from both United Kingdom and United States, the Balzan Prize, Albanian Golden Honour of the nation and many more. She was named 18 times in the early Gallup's most admired man and woman poll. She also received India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1980.

Teresa's Missonaries of Charity had won acclamation throughout the country and the world. In 1952, Mother Teresa opened the first home for the dying. She gave it the name Nirmal Hriday, the Home of Pure Heart. She also opened a home for those suffering from Leprosy and called it Shanti Nagar or the city of peace. As the Missonaries of Charity took in increasing numbers of lost children, she opened the Nirmala Shishu Bhaban, a dwelling place for the orphants and the homeless youth. She also began the Corpus Christi Movement for the Priests in 1981.

She died on 5th September, 1997 at the age of 87. She was granted a state funeral by the Indian Government in gratitude for her services to the poor of all religious in India.