Suor Enrichetta Alfieri

Suor Enrichetta Alfieri was born in 1891 in village near Vercelli. She was known as “The Angel of San Vittore.” At the age of 21 she became a nun and entered a convent but she fell ill shortly thereafter and was paralyzed for 3 years. In 1923, she miraculously returned to good health and was sent to work at the San Vittore Prison in Milan. She created schools laboratories and nursery schools for the children of the inmates. On September 10, 1943, Milan was occupied by the Nazi-fascists who requisitioned part of the prison to use as a place of detention for Jews and political opponents while awaiting deportation. Sister Enrichetta became a point of reference to everyone. She did her best  to deliver messages, letters and parcels while acting as a liason with CLNAI outside the prison.
When she was found out, she was apprehended, locked up and condemned to death by firing squad, for espionage. It was only, thanks to the intervention of Cardinal Schuster, that she was saved. After the war she returned to San Vittore and continued to assist prisoners, until her death in 1951.