Dr. Ruth Pfau (Pakistan’s Mother Teresa)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Dr. Ruth Pfau

• Dr. Ruth Pfau was born to a Christian family in Leipzig, Germany. 

• She had five siblings (4 sisters and 1 brother).

• During the bombings of the Second World War, her home was destroyed.

• After the end of the War, when East Germany was occupied by the Soviets, she moved to West Germany along with her family.

• While in West Germany, she chose medicine as her future career.

• During the 1950s, Dr. Ruth studied Medicine at the University of Mainz.

• After completing her studies, she joined the Daughters of the Heart of Mary – a Catholic order.

• In 1960, she was sent to Southern India by her order. However, due to a Visa issue, she became stuck in Karachi.

• Dr. Ruth was 29 years old when she first landed in Karachi. She travelled different parts of Pakistan and across the border of Afghanistan to help patients that were abandoned by their families. 

• She was so moved by the plight of Leprosy victims in Pakistan that she decided to stay forever in Pakistan to treat them.

• In 1962, she founded the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre in Karachi. Later, she set up its branches in all provinces of Pakistan, including Gilgit-Baltistan.

• She used to treat patients with a kind heart. Sometimes she used to set up open clinics in emergent situations and started treating patients diligently. 

• She had treated more than 50,000 families, and due to her tireless efforts, the World Health Organisation in 1996 declared Pakistan one of the first countries in Asia to be free of leprosy.

• In the early morning of 10 August 2017, Dr. Ruth died after a prolonged age-related illness in a hospital in Karachi.

• Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said, “Pfau may have been born in Germany, but her heart was always in Pakistan.”

• German Embassy released a statement that reads “With great concern we have got the sad massage of the death of Dr. Ruth Pfau. She was a devoted Christian nun and a member of the society of Daughters of the Heart of Mary. We are losing with her an important symbol of the German Pakistan friendship. Her services will never be forgotten.”

• Here’s is the snippet of Dr. Ruth Pfau’s life and her noble works towards the humanity: