Mother Teresa might be a house-hold name when it comes to humanitarian issues, but sadly the individual behind the name has been somewhat lost in years.  Nënë Tereza, Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu was an Albanian-born, Roman Catholic nun who for over forty years ministered the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, first in India and then in other countries

She gained international fame in the 1970s, in part because of a documentary, and  book, Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge.  In 1979 she won the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 1989, India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna.  She made other people her life's focus, helping countless amounts of others whether they had AIDS, suffered from leprosy, had cancer, or just felt confused and needed guidance.  

Several have criticized Mother Teresa's actions over the years, most notably Christopher Hitchens in his book The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa In Theory And Practice, where the atheist accused her of actually hurting poor people.  While she did not erect large scale hospitals in her name, she also didn't believe the Western style of medicine was the best way to help the plight of the poor and sick.  She was not a believer of inhuman institutions, but rather an example of what single individuals have the power to do in their own daily lives.  She didn't see her role as "the ender of poverty," but fully embraced the notion that negativity, in fact, exists in our world, and that we can learn from it and work with it as individuals.  

She was a leader in that she lived by example.  She believed in free will and demonstrated that a conscious act of love requires a moral choice.  She in turn affected the lives of dozens of thousands or more with interpersonal relationships, and showed anyone else is capable of the same depth.  

After her death in 1997, she left behind the Mother Teresa Foundation.  It serves to connect individuals with humanitarian efforts.