Who was this woman who Mussolini first pledged to support but later ousted from her homeland, closing all Montessori schools in Italy by 1934? Whose ideas Hitler’s henchmen apparently trembled to contemplate? Fascist mentality demanded puppet-like obeisance that a person should be counted a free spirit and trained to independent thought and action was anathema. And the real Maria Montessori was safe in Holland, busy fanning the flames of this stronger fire even as Nazi boots ground out the last embers of their conflagration. A different sort of blaze had been kindled decades earlier, one no totalitarian government could quench. It was the 1930s, and the city was Berlin, or Vienna – it didn’t matter – the scene was enacted the same in both former metropolises of culture.īut the fire was too little, and too late. An effigy of Maria Montessori lay burning, the books she had authored charring nearby. In 1949 she left India, and returned to the Netherlands where she stayed until her death on May 6, 1952.An acrid cloud of smoke diffused over the city square while triumphant Nazi soldiers looked on. In 1939 she was invited to visit India, where she worked with her son, Mario Montessori, to lay a strong foundation for the Montessori Movement in India. She lived in Spain until the Spanish Civil War in 1936, at which time she moved to the Netherlands. Montessori from Italy because she refused to compromise her principles and make children into soldiers. The success of this school prompted the opening of many more like it around the world, and sparked an interest in the Montessori method of education. This is a Montessori principle known as “spontaneous self-development”. At this school, she focused on teaching children ways to develop their own skills at a pace they set for themselves. This school was called “Casa dei Bambini” or “Children’s House”. Montessori then started a school in Rome, which opened in 1907. Montessori to look into the effects of her teaching philosophy on children without disabilities.ĭr. Soon after working with these children, she had several 8 year olds take state exams, and they passed with above average scores. Montessori was appointed head of an institution in Italy that was devoted to the care and education of mentally handicapped children. As a member of the University’s Psychiatric Clinic, she became interested in educating children with special needs and learning disabilities. Montessori was the first woman to graduate from the University of Rome La Sapienza Medical School, and the first female doctor in Italy. Maria Montessori was born Augin Chiaravalle, Italy.

The maria montessori