Victoria was born into a leading tribal family in Madagascar at a time when Christian missionaries had been expelled. After this persecution, she was among the first pupils at a mission school run by nuns. In 1863, she was baptized, but it was hard to be Catholic in her circle. Though she wanted to become a nun, she was married to the chief minister’s son, who drank heavily and was unfaithful. When a new persecution began, she encouraged her fellow Catholics, and helped the local church survive. She was beatified in 1989.