Mother Teresa: The Saint and Her Nation

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A personality of Mother Teresas calibre and global reach does not come about by chance. To provide a well-rounded portrait of this influential figure, this book approaches her in the context of her familial background and ethnic, cultural and spiritual milieus. Her life and work are explored in the light of newly discovered information about her family, the Albanian nations spiritual tradition before and after the advent of Christianity, and the impact of the Vatican and other influential powers on her people since the early Middle Ages. Focusing on her traumas, ordeals and achievements as a private individual and a public missionary, and her complex spirituality, this book contends that Mother Teresas life and her nations history, especially her countrymens relationship with Roman Catholicism, are interconnected. Unravelling this interconnectedness is essential to understanding how this modern spiritual and humanitarian icon has come to epitomise her ancient nations cultural and spiritual DNA.

Reviews

[Alpions] new and scrupulously researched study shows that she, with her turbulent early years, was even more remarkable than we thought. [Alpions] recent research reveals a darker truth about Mother Teresas history. Yet it is precisely her early troubles that may ensure her resonance in a world facing similar calamities. Fascinated with her formative years, Alpion, a British sociologist, believes that the young Teresas trauma was the crucible in which the saint was formed. Alpion finds the same early upheaval at the root of the most troubling aspect of her later life: her 50-year dark night of the soul, revealed in posthumous letters, during which Teresa felt as though Jesus had totally abandoned her. Her perception of divine withdrawal, he suggests, was a recapitulation of the loss of her father [who, when she nine, suffered a] sudden and agonising death, possibly by poisoning. Some who like their saints simple may choose not to hear him. But Mother Teresa has not been a simple saint for quite a while. Alpions research will continue thus filling in more blanks in Teresas early life. -- David Van Biema * LIFE Magazine *
Serious scholars and casual readers alike will find much to ponder in [Mother Teresa: The Saint and her Nation] a book that at the very least enriches our understanding of one of the 20th centurys most enduring figures. * Spiked *
This scrupulously researched study shows that [Mother Teresa] was even more remarkable than we thought. * De Libris Book Club *
Besides offering a pleasant read, the book is a testimony of new academic levels reached by the author. His meticulous efforts to bolster his claims with public documents related to Mother Teresa as well as new documents and facts deserve commendation and emulation from anyone in this discipline. * Southeast European and Black Sea Studies *
A well-rounded portrait of this influential figure. * Black Christian News Network *
[T]he book raised new questions and opened new venues for future research. * Journal of Church and State *
Mother Teresa: The Saint and Her Nation is a beautifully written and moving account of the complex set of personal, familial and national relationships that shaped this saintly figure. Gzim Alpion offers the reader an incredibly well-researched political histography and genealogy, showing us the foundational importance of Albania and Skopje and of key figures such as grandmother Drane and mother Roza. In this fascinating book, not only does Mother Teresa newly appear as a fully formed super-individual but the power and importance of sociological inquiry are also refreshingly revealed. * Sean Redmond, Professor of Screen and Design, Deakin University, Australia *
This book constitutes one of the rare scholarships capable of delivering the promise of consilience without incurring the usual cost of reductionism. Cultural and ethnic backgrounds, social and political factors, psychological development and trauma, family relationships and so onhow to bring all these to bear upon a spirituality that soars above it all in the timeless dimension of faith and devotion, without explaining the latter away It takes both great science and art to capture the spirituality of Mother Teresa in the manner of a blooming lotus with roots, mud and all. This is exactly what Gzim Alpion has accomplished in Mother Teresa: The Saint and Her Nation. * Dr Louise Sundararajan, (PhD Harvard) Fellow of the American Psychological Association and Editor-in-Chief of Palgrave Studies in Indigenous Psychology *
Insightful and original, creative and extensively researched, this is a fine book that sheds new light on the life, work and formative Albanian background of Mother Teresa. There is much to learn about the tension between Teresas private and public life, as well as her traumas and accomplishments in this valuable and rich book. * Professor Jolyon Mitchell, FRSA, New College, The University of Edinburgh *
Gzim Alpion turns into a veritable archaeologist-cum-detective in the construction of the book. The process unravels and pierces the veneer of a monolithic religious call popularly believed in the transformation of Gonxhe Agnes Bojaxhiu. Layers of hitherto unimaginable evidencepolitical, social and historicalare scooped up that actually encompassed the field and habitus and acted as compelling pushes and pulls for St Teresa of Calcutta since her childhood. This thorough and timely study is a very good read. * Professor Bonita Aleaz, Former Head of the Department of Political Science, The University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India *
Very rarely does one find a work of epic dimensions that covers three generations of a family and spans across many ages in the history of a nation. Gzim Alpions text interweaves the Albanian national and cultural unconscious with Mother Teresas character using the insight of a psychoanalyst, sensitivity of a preacher and authority of an oracle. While making Teresa the most ideal representative of the countrys layered and tumultuous history, it also successfully synecdochises Albanian history into a convincing character. The book is a triumph of historical knowledge, sociological understanding and narrative acumena tour de force so far as life-story writing is concerned. * Professor Jyotirmaya Tripathy, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India *
In this fascinating and important book, Gzim Alpion offers a deep, powerful and at times quite moving insight into the life of Mother Teresa and the formative and critical tensions between her life, her nation and the Roman Catholic church. This is not just a biography. It is a complex exercise in historical exegesis, spiritual biography and cultural analysis. Anyone wishing to understand the multifactored impact and significance of Mother Teresa will find this book invaluable. If you thought you knew and understood Mother Teresa, this book will make you think again. * Professor John Swinton, School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, Kings College, The University of Aberdeen *
Even more than two decades after her death, controversy continues to surround the life and times of Mother Teresa, the Albanian-born, Kolkata-based Nobel Prize winning saint. In this comprehensive study by Gzim Alpion, her Albanian roots are explored in a way never done previously. Dr Alpion, an authority on Mother Teresa, has written a book which will engage and enlighten academic as well as general readers all over the world. * Daya K. Thussu, Professor of International Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University *
Few of us are unaware of the remarkable contribution made by Mother Teresa, but who is she really In his fascinating new book, Gzim Alpion places the saint into her historical context, exploring the roots of her religious personality in the framework of familial and national history. Using newly available evidence, Alpion brings Mother Teresa into much clearer focus. This comprehensive academic study of the saint establishes Alpion as the leading authority in the field. Alpion has penned what will certainly become the standard guide to Mother Teresas heritage and her life. * Bernd J. Fischer, Professor of History, Indiana University *

Author Bio

Educated at Cairo University and Durham University, Gzim Alpion lectured at the Universities of Huddersfield, Sheffield Hallam, and Newman prior to his appointment in 2002 in the Department of Sociology at the University of Birmingham. He joined the Department of Political Science and International Studies in 2010 and the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Criminology in 2016. Gzims specializations encompass the sociology of religion, nationalism, fame, race, media, film and authorship. He is considered the most authoritative English-language author on St Teresa of Calcutta and the founder of Mother Teresa Studies. In his recent publications Gzim has explored the concept of charism/a from a sociological and public theology perspective, Enoch Powells populist rhetoric in the context of the eugenics discourse, and the reasons for the absence of modern spiritual icons in celebrity studies. Gzim is currently developing the idea of fame capital as a variable in an intranational and international context, examining The Dark Night of the Soul phenomenon from a sociological perspective, and exploring the role of religion in fabricating national identity.