Jeanne Jugan was born on October 25, 1792, in Cancale, Brittany, France. One of eight children, she lost her father at sea as a child and worked as a kitchen maid in her teens. In 1816, she declined a marriage offer, believing God had a different purpose for her. She served in a hospital in Saint Servan and joined the Third Order of the Admirable Mother in 1818. Her life was devoted to prayer and service. The Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor was born in 1839 when Jeanne opened her heart and her home to the first Resident, an elderly destitute woman named Anne Chauvin. By 1850, the order had grown to over 100 Sisters.
The Little Sisters of the Poor began their mission in Oceania in 1884, arriving in Melbourne with six French and two English Sisters. They expanded to Sydney in 1886, with the first house being at Leichardt. The universality of the Congregation was also manifest in the community which included five French Sisters, one English, one Irish and one American. The Little Sisters then went to Auckland, New Zealand in 1888, welcoming their first local vocation soon after.
The Province of Oceania took shape with the Sisters’ arrival in Noumea, New Caledonia in 1897. Further foundations followed in Dunedin (1904), Perth (1920), Adelaide (1912), Hastings and Drummoyne (1956), Kalgoorlie (1969), and Western Samoa (1971). Due to fewer Little Sisters, some Homes are now owned and managed by other organisations.
In 1851, a small group of Little Sisters crossed the English Channel to establish the first home outside France in Hammersmith, a suburb of London. Spain followed, then Belgium, Ireland, North Africa and North America.
The first truly missionary foundation was made in Calcutta, India in 1882. Our newest homes have been founded in the last decade in India, Peru and the Philippines.
Today there are Little Sisters following in the footsteps of Saint Jeanne Jugan and serving the needy elderly in 32 countries, including:
North America
South America
Oceania
Asia
Africa
Europe
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