Apostle Paul Apostle of the people (Pablo, Pal)

25th January is the day on which his conversion is celebrated (Damascus experience around 35/36 AD, see Apostles 9 and 13).  He is said to have been born in 10 AD (sometimes his birth date is given as 5 AD) in Tarsus in Asia Minor, as son of a strict Pharisee, and is given the usual Hebrew lessons, as prescribed by the Torah, in order to take up the profession of his father, a weaver of tent carpets and tent-maker.  For his higher education he goes to Jerusalem, where his forceful temperament eventually leads him to the fanatic Pharisees who are pursuing Christians.  He joins them in these pursuits and even allows his friend Stephanus to be stoned to death.  He is also responsible for the incarceration and execution of many other Christians.  He later converts to Christianity and becomes the most important and controversial apostle of Christendom (four missionary journeys, author of seven of the thirteen letters of Paul in the New Testament to the Christian community).  He is counted among the ten greatest personalities of human history. 
In 64 AD he dies the martyr’s death in Rome at the hands of Emperor Nero who has him beheaded.  
Until the thirteenth century, Paul is represented mostly barefoot, wearing a tunic and coat, and carrying a scroll or Bible.  From the thirteenth century on, his insignia is the sword.