Feminist. Pioneer. Icon. Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator and innovator that paved the way to breaking barriers in education and learning methods, reshaping how we think about learning and child development. As a scientist, she introduced an educational approach that continues to influence classrooms worldwide. Her Montessori Method, rooted in respect for children’s natural curiosity, emphasizes hands-on learning, independence, and carefully designed environments tailored to their developmental needs.
She entered the world on August 31, 1870, in the provincial town of Chiaravalle, Italy. Her father, Alessandro Montessori, served as a financial manager for a state operated industry, while her mother, Renilde Stoppani, was a well-educated advocate for women’s literacy, originating from an education-centric family, and possessed a remarkable education and a passion for reading-an uncommon trait among Italian women of her era. Maria inherited this thirst for knowledge, delving into various fields of study before crafting the educational methodology that now bears her name.
Maria initially had aspirations to become an engineer. When she graduated secondary school, she became determined to enter medical school and become a doctor. Despite her parents’ encouragement to enter teaching, and societal expectations that limited women’s access to higher education, Maria wanted to study the male-dominated field of medicine and she pursued her passion for science. After initially being refused, with the endorsement of Pope Leo XIII, Maria was eventually given entry to the University of Rome in 1890, becoming one of the first women in medical school in Italy and one of Italy’s first female physicians, earning her medical degree in 1896. This was groundbreaking at the time, as women were rarely admitted into medical programs.
Soon after her medical career began, Maria became involved in the Women’s Rights movement. She became known for her high levels of competency in treating patients, but also for the respect she showed to patients from all social classes. In 1897, Maria joined a research programme at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome, as a volunteer. This work initiated a deep interest in the needs of children with learning disabilities. In particular, the work of two early 19th century Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard and Edouard Séguin, his student. Maria was appointed as co-director of a new institution called the Orthophrenic School. In 1898 Maria gave birth to Mario, following her relationship with Giusseppe Montesano, her codirector at the school.
At the age of twenty-eight Maria began advocating her controversial theory that the lack of support for mentally and developmentally disabled children was the cause of their delinquency. The notion of social reform became a strong theme throughout her life, whether it was for gender roles, or advocacy for children.
In 1901 Maria began her own studies of educational philosophy and anthropology, lecturing and teaching students.
From 1904-1908 she was a lecturer at the Pedagogic School of the University of Rome. This period saw a rapid development of Rome, but the speculative nature of the market led to bankruptcies and ghetto districts. One such area was San Lorenzo district, where its children were left to run amok at home as their parents worked. In an attempt to provide the children with activities during the day to fend of the destruction of property, Maria was offered the opportunity to introduce her materials and practice to neurotypical children. There, in 1907, she opened the first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) bringing some of the educational materials she had developed at the Orthophrenic School.
Maria put many different activities and other materials into the children’s environment but kept only those that engaged them. What she came to realise was that children who were placed in an environment where activities were designed to support their natural development had the power to educate themselves. By 1909 Maria gave her first training course in her new approach to around 100 students. Her notes from this period provided the material for her first book published that same year in Italy, appearing in translation in the United States in 1912 as The Montessori Method, and later translated into 20 languages.
A period of great expansion in the Montessori approach now followed. Montessori societies, training programmes and schools sprang to life all over the world, and a period of travel with public speaking and lecturing occupied Maria, much of it in America, but also in the UK and throughout Europe.
Maria lived in Spain from 1917, and was joined by Mario and his wife Helen Christy, where they raised their 4 children Mario Jr, Rolando, Marilena and Renilde. In 1929, mother and son established the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) to perpetuate her work.