Sœur Emmanuelle
Sœur Emmanuelle (born Madeleine Cinquin, November 16, 1908 – October 20, 2008) was a Belgian-born French nun.
Sœur Emmanuelle | |
|---|---|
 Sœur Emmanuelle in 2003 | |
| Born | November 16, 1908 |
| Died | October 20, 2008 (aged 99) Callian, Var, France |
| Occupation | Nun and humanitarian |
She was born in Brussels, Belgium, the daughter of a family that made lingerie. At the age of six she saw her father drown. She learned at the Sorbonne, earning a degree in philosophy. In 1929 she made a religious promise and became a nun.
She worked in Notre-Dame de Sion high school in İstanbul in 1930s.
In 1971 she saw how poorly trash collectors in Cairo, Egypt were doing, and decided to live with them. She stayed until 1993, when she went back to France. After she went back, she became very famous in France and was liked by audiences and talk-show hosts.
Besides her work with the poor, she is also known for having had views that are not like how religion normally is, such as being for the use of birth control and being for the idea of priests to marry. She has been voted one of the most popular people in France, and has been compared to Mother Teresa. (Although she does not agree with this comparison). In 2003, French television broadcast Soeur Emmanuelle: An exceptional woman.
She died on 20 October 2008.
Les Amis de Soeur Emmanuelle (The Friends of Sister Emmanuelle) is a charitable organization based in Brussels.
Other websites
- 95-year-old nun is France's favourite woman
- (in French) De Madeleine Cinquin à Sœur Emmanuelle Archived 2006-02-14 at the Wayback Machine