Maria Montessori 1870 - 1952

Maria Montessori was born in Italy, at Chiaravalle in the province of Ancona, on 31st August, 1870. Unusual in her day, Maria enrolled as a medical student, the first woman in Italy to do so and continued on to become a doctor, taking her degree in 1894.

Some time after graduation, and as assistant doctor at the Psychiatric Clinic at the University of Rome, she became interested in the so called 'idiot children' of her day and later in the work of Itard and Séguin, two pioneers in the education of children.

A series of lectures by Montessori on Moral Education drew the attention of the then Italian Minister of Education and resulted ultimately in Maria Montessori becoming the Director of the school for hopelessly deficient children. Some of these hopelessly deficient children later went on to compete successfully in public examinations!

It was perhaps because of the accolades Montessori received for her work that she began to wonder what was happening to normal children that her pupils equalled them - thoughts that must surely have been the turning point in her life and the foundation upon which her incredible dedication came to be built.

In 1907 Montessori opened the first Casa dei Bambini ("Children's House") in a slum area of Rome. It was attended by sixty normal slum children, children who were to be dubbed the New Children by international media representatives that deluged the school.

From that time, literally until her death at the age of eighty one, Maria Montessori continued to develop her philosophy, techniques and materials, she lectured world wide, published many books, trained teachers and established the standards and oversaw the spread of what is now known as the "Montessori Method".

Maria Montessori died in Holland on 6th May, 1952.

Maria Montessori - An Historical Perspective (Montessori Foundation website)...