Maria Montessori lived between 1870 and 1952. She was an Italian educator who has left her mark on education today. Her Montessori method of education is widely used all round the world. Many educationalists say it is the best system for child education. Montessori was also a doctor, philosopher and philanthropist. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times for her work.
Montessori was the first woman to graduate from the University of Rome’s Medical School. She trained as a psychiatrist and was interested in educating the "mentally retarded" and others with learning difficulties. She had great success when her class of “problematic” 8-year-olds had above-average scores in state reading and writing tests. This was described as "the first Montessori miracle."
Hearing about Maria’s achievements, Rome’s government asked her to start her own children’s school. In 1907, the Casa del Bambini opened in a poor neighbourhood of Rome. Montessori experimented with a philosophy she called “spontaneous self-development”, which meant letting children develop and learn at their own pace. Her methods once again met with great success. More schools opened and she gained worldwide fame.
Montessori was exiled from Italy because she refused to allow her schools to turn children into soldiers. She lived in Spain until the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. In 1939 she moved to India and spent ten years working on training courses, which are still seen as innovative today. She traveled the world lecturing until her death in 1952.
