The Catholic nun Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu is known throughout the world as Mother Teresa, as an example for a person who has dedicated her life to help the poor. Under the name of Saint Teresa of Calcutta she has been officially declared a saint of the Catholic church mostly for her work in India. But where did she come from? The Albanians see her as a national hero, in Kosovo they name churches and airports after her. The people remember her at Скопје, North Macedonia. But maybe we also need to connect her to the Ottoman Empire.
Mother Teresa was born in 1910 at Üsküp, Ottoman Empire. Her father came from Albania, her mother from Kosovo. Üsküp was the name of todays Скопје and to be even more confusing, Üsküp was the capital city of the Kosovo vilayet of the Ottoman Empire, consisting of parts of Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia. A mini-Yugoslavia during Ottoman times. From there she went to Ireland and India, she died at Calcutta in 1997.
You can visit the place where she was born at Скопје close to the Porta Macedonia, but there is only a commemorative plaque. Not far away they’ve built a memorial house for her and have set-up a statue. The house has a very special shape and design; it includes a museum and a chapel. It was opened in 2009, meaning that she herself has never seen it.
Memorial House of Mother Teresa
Скопје / Skopje
North Macedonia
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