Maria Teresia Ledóchowska

Maria Teresia Ledóchowska (29 April 1863, Loosdorf, Austrian Empire - 6 July 1922, Rome, Italy) was a Roman Catholic nun and African missionary.
Members of the Polish nobility, she and her siblings - including Wlodimir Ledóchowski, Ursula Ledóchowska and Ignacy Kazimierz Ledóchowski - were born on the estate of their father, Count Antoni Halka-Ledóchowski. Their uncle was Mieczysław Cardinal Ledóchowski.
From 1885 to 1890, Maria Teresia was lady-in-waiting to the grand duchess of Tuscany. She had no feeling for religious life until she read an address by Charles Lavigerie, to whom Pope Leo XIII had entrusted the evangelization of Africa. She began to publicize his cause, which soon attracted donations. 
She left the court, and, in 1894, organized the Sodality of St. Peter Claver for the African Missions and the Liberation of Slaves an association of laywomen to publicize the missions and administer funds. Leo approved the society on April 29, 1894. In 1897, it became a full-fledged religious order. Maria Teresia became known as "the nursing mother of the African missions". Between 1918 and 1933 the baptisms rose from 1.8 million to 4.9 million. 
Pope Paul VI beatified her on 19 October 1975. Her feast day is 6 July. Her living descendants include the hypnotist Igor Ledóchowski.
==External links==
*Profile of the Blessed Maria Teresia Ledóchowska (in Italian)
Category:1863 births
Category:1922 deaths
Category:Austrian Poles
Category:Beatified people
Category:Polish religious leaders
Category:Polish Roman Catholic nuns
Category:Polish Roman Catholics
Category:Founders of Roman Catholic religious communities
Category:Christian missionaries in Africa
Category:Polish Christian missionaries
Category:Female Christian missionaries
Category:19th-century venerated Christians
de:Maria Teresia Ledóchowska
fr:Marie-Thérèse Ledóchowska
it:Maria Teresa Ledóchowska
nl:Maria Theresia Ledóchowska
pl:Maria Ledóchowska (błogosławiona)