Marguerite Naseau

Marguerite Naseau (July 1594 – February 1633) was a French nun and the first member of Daughters of Charity.

Biography Marguerite Naseau was born in a peasant family in July 1594 in Suresnes. She did not have formal education. As a self-taught, she started reading by asking help from the passers-by “in learning letters, words, and pronunciation.” She then taught others including the uneducated girls.

In 1630, after she heard the preaching of Vincent de Paul, she approached him to serve in Parisian Confraternity of Charity. She later got his permission to provide charitable works in Paris and around for the needy as she did before in her village.

She played important role along with de Paul and Louise de Marillac in transforming the Parisian Confraternity of Charity into a benevolent organization.

In February 1633, while working among the plague-stricken in Paris, she died of “plague after sharing a bed with a sick girl”.