Maria Montessori

Montessori developed a revolutionary method of early childhood education that continues to influence many school programs around the world. The first woman in Italy to earn a medical degree, Montessori was a practicing physician working with developmentally disabled children when she discovered that these children were educable—a discovery that was in direct contrast to the prevailing notion that mentally retarded children should be confined to institutions for life. Further research with nondisabled children showed that Montessori's theories were applicable across the curriculum. A well-known pacifist, Montessori believed that a link existed between world peace and proper childhood education and regularly addressed international organizations on the subject. Her work in this area led to nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949, 1950, and 1951.

Biographical Information

Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, Ancona, Italy, in 1870. She graduated from Regia Scuola Tecnica Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1886 and Regia istituto tecnico Leonardo da Vinci in 1890. The first woman ever admitted to the school of medicine at the University of Rome, in 1896 Montessori became the first woman in Italy to graduate with a medical degree. She practiced medicine from 1896 to 1910, at the same time lecturing regularly at the Regio istituto superiore di Magistero Femminile, the Scuola magistrale Ortofrenica, and the University of Rome. An early feminist, Montessori began representing Italian women at women's conferences around the world shortly after obtaining her medical degree. She also began to treat mentally retarded children. She soon came to believe that, with proper instruction, they could be successfully educated according to their individual abilities, rather than spending their entire lives committed to mental institutions, as was the standard of the time. As she further developed her theories, Montessori decided to test her method on nondisabled children. Focusing on...