31/08/1870 : Born in Chiaravalle, Italy, to a middle ­class family. She was the only child of Alessandro Montessori and Renilde Stoppani.

1884 : Enrols in a technical school for boys.

1890 Study of mathematics and physical and natural sciences.

1896 Maria Montessori defends her doctoral thesis in psychiatry. She became Italy’s first woman doctor.

1899 : Creation of the School of Speech Therapy.

1902 : : Maria Montessori translates Jacques Itard’s books into Italian.

05/01/1907 : Creation of the Casa dei Bambini in Rome.

1909 : First training courses in his pedagogy.

1911 : : Opening of the first Montessori schools in the U.S.A.

1922 : Creation of the Vienna School.

1934 : Exile to the Netherlands with her son Mario Montessori.

1939 to 1945: Departure for India. She meets Gandhi and becomes interested in newborn babies.

1945 : At the end of the war, she reopens the schools that had been closed in Italy. She opens a Montessori school in London.

She spent the rest of her life in Europe. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 195O, 1951, 1952.

She died in Holland on 06/05/1952. 06/05/1952.

Maria Montessori, or the origin of Montessori pedagogy

Montessori education has a rich and fascinating history. It originated with Maria Montessori, an Italian pedagogue born in 1870. In 1897, she became the first woman in Italy to receive a medical degree. She soon developed a keen interest in mental health. She came into contact with children from a psychiatric clinic, who were considered psychologically inferior and excluded from the educational system. She felt that these children, too, had the right to an adapted education. So she designed specific equipment to help them learn differently, by stimulating them through movement.

The results she achieved were so remarkable that some of her so-called “deficient” pupils passed their school exams with a higher average than their “normal” counterparts. After observing and analyzing the children's behavior for a long time, she discovered that her learning method could also be adapted to individuals without mental deficiencies. She therefore agreed to take charge of the children in an underprivileged village and set up the first “children's home”. She observed the children very closely and personalized her teaching methods, adapting to all their developmental needs. Her pedagogy is suitable not only for all children, but also for different ages, especially pre-schoolers.

She has trained and taught all over the world, using her own teaching practices that transcend languages, cultures and religions. She has followed educational concepts such as respect for children's sensitive periods, self-discipline, autonomy, free will and co-education. Her training aims to sublimate everyone's potential by learning through absorption, simply by following the course of life. Respect for the child as a creative energy endowed with great intelligence is thus at the heart of its values. Gandhi also emphasized the wisdom of this vision, and likened his ideology to that of Montessori. Their approach defines how vital it is to cultivate peace through education.

Maria Montessori in a Few Dates

1870-1952

31/08/1870 : Born in Chiaravalle, Italy, to a middle ­class family. She was the only child of Alessandro Montessori and Renilde Stoppani.

1884 : Enrols in a technical school for boys.

1890 Study of mathematics and physical and natural sciences.

1896 Maria Montessori defends her doctoral thesis in psychiatry. She became Italy’s first woman doctor.

1899 : Creation of the School of Speech Therapy.

1902 : : Maria Montessori translates Jacques Itard’s books into Italian.

05/01/1907 : Creation of the Casa dei Bambini in Rome.

1909 : First training courses in his pedagogy.

1911 : : Opening of the first Montessori schools in the U.S.A.

1922 : Creation of the Vienna School.

1934 : Exile to the Netherlands with her son Mario Montessori.

1939 to 1945: Departure for India. She meets Gandhi and becomes interested in newborn babies.

1945 : At the end of the war, she reopens the schools that had been closed in Italy. She opens a Montessori school in London.

She spent the rest of her life in Europe. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 195O, 1951, 1952.

She died in Holland on 06/05/1952. 06/05/1952.

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