Mother Maria
Mother Maria (Yelizaveta Pilenko, Kuzmina-Karavayeva, Skobtsova by marriage; 1891, Riga, Russian Empire – 1945, Nazi camp, Germany) – a poetess, religious and public figure, nun, heroine of the French Resistance.
Yelizaveta Pilenko (Kuzmina-Karavayeva, Skobtsova by marriage) was born in Riga. Was passionate about poetry from her youth. Emigrated after the Revolution. Took the veil in 1932. Joined the Resistance movement in German-occupied Paris and helped Soviet prisoners of war. Was arrested by the Nazis at the beginning of 1943 and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp. On 31 March 1945 Mother Maria voluntarily exchanged places with a woman who had been sentenced to death in the gas chamber. The Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople canonized the nun Maria in 2004.
Юлия Александрова. Наша святая
Элина Чуянова. Елизавета с улицы Элизабетес
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