Father Damien was born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium, and missionary who dedicated his life to the lepers of Hawaii and eventually contracted the disease himself. He was declared a Saint by the Catholic Church. Father Damien has been described as a "martyr of charity". In the Anglican Communion and other Christian denominations, Damien is considered the spiritual patron for leprosy and outcasts.

Jozef De Veuster was the youngest of seven children and fourth son of the Flemish corn merchant Joannes Franciscus ("Frans") De Veuster and his wife Anne-Catherine ("Cato") Wouters in the village of Tremelo in Flemish Brabant in rural Belgium on 3 January 1840. His older sisters Eugénie and Pauline became nuns, and his older brother Auguste (Father Pamphile) joined the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Picpus Fathers).

Jozef was forced to quit school at age 13 to work on the family farm.

His father, a small farmer, sent him to a college a