Magdalene of Canossa

Italian Religious Sister and foundress

Magdalena di Canossa (1 March 1774 – 10 April 1835) was an Italian professed religious and foundress of the two Canossian congregations.Magdalena was a leading advocate for the poor in her region after she witnessed first hand the plight of the poor following the spillover effects of the French Revolution into the Italian peninsula through the Napoleonic invasion of the northern territories.

Canossa collaborated with humanitarians such as Leopoldina Naudet and Antonio Rosmini in her mission of promoting the needs of the poor and setting a new method of religious life for both men and women.

Her beatification was celebrated in Rome on 7 December 1941 and she was later canonized as a saint in Saint Peter's Square on 2 October 1988.