Amélie Soulacroix
Encyclopedia
Marie-Josephine-Amélie Soulacroix (1821 - September 26, 1894), was a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 philanthropist and charity worker. Daughter of a rector of the Académie of Lyons, on June 23, 1841, she married the lawyer, littérateur and philanthropist Antoine Frédéric Ozanam in the church of Saint-Nizier in Lyons. The marriage was a very happy one and there was one child, Marie, born in 1845.

Ozanam's naturally weak constitution fell a prey to consumption
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

, which he tried to cure by visiting Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, where he had been born, but on the sea voyage back to France his condition worsened and he died at Marseilles on September 8, 1853. He was beatified
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...

 by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

 in the cathedral church Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...

 in 1997.

Only 32 at the time of her husband's death, Amélie never remarried and was long to outlive him. She died after a short illness at the family home at Ecully, a town to the west of Lyons. on September 26, 1894 and her funeral took place at the parish church there.

In the intervening years she was to emerge as a strong figure in her own right, actively supporting many good causes, including the missionary work of Cardinal Charles Lavigerie
Charles Lavigerie
Charles Martial Allemand Lavigerie was a French cardinal, archbishop of Carthage and Algiers and primate of Africa.Born at Bayonne, he was educated at St Sulpice, Paris...

 and the Oeuvre du Bon-Pasteur.
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