Wait? Montessori was a person???

I’m not sure if you realize this, but Dr. Maria Montessori was a cold stone renegade.

When I started my Montessori training, I really struggled to read Absorbent Mind. I’m not sure if you have ever read it, but it is heavy reading. I put it down and instead picked up Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work by E.M. Standing, and what I read was nothing short of amazing. After reading about her, I could easily get through Absorbent Mind, and found that I had a deeper appreciation for what it had to say. 

So here we go: Crash Course on Dr. Montessori!

Birth and Schooling

Maria Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, Italy, on August 31, 1870, into an influential family. Her mother encouraged her to have an interest in biology and to continue her education as she grew into a woman. After initially wanting to get a university degree in engineering, she pivoted to a goal of going to medical school (both professions, btw, were not deemed suitable for women at the time.) 

Many people discouraged her, specifically the university itself, as well as her father. But no man would get in her way, no siree. She took classes to pass all the required entrance exams and enrolled in the University of Rome’s medical program. 

Not shockingly, she was harassed and mistreated by male students and professors. At that time, it was improper for a woman to be in the presence of a naked body with men in the same room, so she returned to the morgue in the evenings, working with cadavers through the night. Alone. She also hated the smell of formaldehyde (I can’t imagine why), so she took up smoking to block the smell.

Yea. Room of dead bodies, alone, smoking. Renegade.

After University

While in school, she focused on pediatrics and psychology, graduating in 1897. After med school, she focused on teaching disabled children, researching, speaking, and visiting different asylums. 

It was around this time that Dr. Montessori began a relationship with Giuseppe Montesno. They bore a son named Mario in 1898. Had she married him, she would be expected to leave her career and child rear full time. But, as we already established, she was a renegade and would not give up what she had worked hard to achieve. So she kept this relationship secret, and they agreed to never marry anyone else. 

Giuseppe eventually did marry another woman. Dr. Montessori sent Mario to be raised by a wet nurse in the country, and they were not united until Mario was a teenager. 

Then, in 1900, she accepted a job at a school that trained teachers to work with disabled children called, The Orthophrenic school. It was here that Dr. Montessori began down a path that would lead her to her educational method.

Many children with these different disabilities were widely written off as useless. Often times their parents would leave them there to live out their days. Dr. Montessori saw that they could not care for themselves and began teaching them simple, practical life lessons. As time went on, they mastered these skills, so she began to teach and develop materials for academic learning. As she saw these children thrive, she wondered if this method would work for typically developed children. 

She later left The Orthophrenic school to continue her studies, focusing on a wide variety of topics such as psychology, anthropology, and educational philosophy, while spending a great deal of time observing elementary schools. At this time, she came back to two of her early inspirers: Itard and Seguin. 

The First Casa de Bambini

The San Lorenzo district of Rome was having a problem. In an apartment complex for low-income families, young children had to be left to their own devices while both parents went to work. These young children (ages 2-7) ran amuck in the complex causing much distress and destruction. Dr. Montessori was invited to start a school for these children in 1906. She called this school Casa de Bambini (The Children’s House.) She used all she had learned thus far and the materials she had created. 

While she continued her research, lectures, and studies, Dr. Montessori appointed a teacher to lead the class under her direction. It was in this class that Dr. Montessori began to build the foundation of her educational method. Children were given purposeful work, practical life skills, and academic lessons. The classroom was equipped with furniture that matched their size and was composed of multiple rooms and an outdoor space. Dr. Montessori’s goal was to offer the children freedom to move, choose their own work, and participate in uninterrupted work periods.

Dr. Montessori Kickin’ Butt and Taking Names

As the San Lorenzo Casa de Bambini children showed increased abilities in reading, writing, behavior, and self-guided work, people began to notice Dr. Montessori’s work and its impact on children. Over the next few years, several other Children’s Houses opened, and interest in her method grew both in Italy and internationally. Several training courses were held, and eventually, she left medicine to entirely focus on her educational work. Over the next 26 years, Dr. Montessori traveled worldwide to give lectures, training courses, and guidance to educators about her method. 

After reuniting with Mario, they worked closely to spread and refine the Montessori Method. Together, they form Montessori Association International (AMI), an organization dedicated to upholding authentic Montessori practice. 

Dr. Montessori, interestingly enough, had a connection with Mussolini. For some time, Mussolini was highly supportive of the Montessori movement. However, as things started to boil over with WWII, Dr. Montessori split ties with him and was forced to flee to India. 

It was here in India that she and Mario began to develop the elementary materials and curriculum. They coined the term cosmic education and started developing botany, zoology, history, and geography lessons. Dr. Montessori also gave 16 training courses during her time there. 

My favorite story from India is when she told the Black Strip for the first time. She attached a giant blot of black fabric to two different bicycles. They rode through the streets, letting the black fabric roll out, telling the story of the universe and the evolution of life. 

Dr. Montessori was finally able to leave India in 1946. She spent her last years traveling all over Europe giving lectures and trainings. 

On May 6, 1952, Dr. Montessori died of a cerebral hemorrhage in the Netherlands. Mario continued her legacy, creating more elementary work and later adolescent pedagogy. 

This is just a short summary of her life. If you are interested in learning more, I highly recommend reading Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work by E.M. Standing. It is a fascinating book and gives you a fantastic look into Dr. Montessori’s life. 

You can find it here: https://amzn.to/3R9qn59

Thanks for hanging out with me! Feel free to leave a comment below (I am sure I made some kind of mistake somewhere in this tiny biography) to share your thoughts or just let me know what you want to learn about! 

Hugs and giggles!