Seated on the ground with hands clasped, looking up at an angel who bears a palm of martyrdom. Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early fourth century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around the age of 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity and was martyred around the age of eighteen. More than 1,100 years after Catherine’s martyrdom, Joan of Arc identified her as one of the saints who appeared to and counselled her. The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates her as a Great Martyr and celebrates her feast day on 24 or 25 November, depending on the regional tradition. In Catholicism, Catherine is traditionally revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and she is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 25 November. Her feast was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969, but restored in 2002 as an optional memorial. Some modern scholars consider that the legend of Catherine was probably based on the life and murder of the virgin Saint Dorothea of Alexandria and the Greek philosopher Hypatia, with the reversed role of a Christian and Neo-Platonist in the case of the latter. On the other hand, the Catholic Encyclopedia states that “Although contemporary hagiographers look upon the authenticity of the various texts containing the legend of St. Catherine as more than doubtful, it is not therefore meant to cast even the shadow of a doubt around the existence of the saint”. The pyrotechnic Catherine wheel, which rotates with sparks flying off in all directions, took its name from the saint’s wheel of martyrdom. The lunar impact crater Catharina is named after Saint Catherine. Santa Catarina Island in Brazil and the State of Santa Catarina are also named after her. The Gulf of Santa Catalina is located in the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of North America. Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California, was named by Sebastián Vizcaíno, who arrived there on her feast day. The Santa Catalina Mountains in Arizona are her namesake.Kaarina, Finland, is named after her. One accepted origin of the namesake of St. Catharines, Ontario, is Saint Catherine of Alexandria, but there are other proposed explanations as “no definitive documentation exists to conclusively prove that the founders chose the unique spelling for any one particular reason”.St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota was founded in 1905 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and named for St. Catherine of Alexandria. University of Saint Katherine in San Marcos, California is the first Eastern Orthodox Christian university in the United States and the English-speaking world.[citation needed] St. Catherine’s School, is an independent Episcopal diocesan school in Richmond, Virginia. St Helen and St Katharine, a girls’ school in Oxfordshire, England celebrates “St. Katharine’s Day” each November. The name of St. Catharine’s School for Girls (Kwun Tong) in Hong Kong was chosen over that of St. Anne because it sounds better when translated into Chinese. St Catherine of Alexandria Parish and School in Oak Lawn, IL, US is named after St. Catherine.