Maria Montessori was a devout Catholic and came from an educated family. Her father worked in the Ministry of Finance and managed the state tobacco factory. On her mother’s side she was related to Antonio Stoppani, a professor of theology and geology. The basic idea behind his theory on linking theology and the natural sciences formed the foundation on which Montessori developed her cosmic education.
From the experiences she gained during this time, she developed the Montessori method of educating children, which has since become popular in many parts of the world. After Montessori met Italy’s Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, the Montessori method was introduced in Italian schools in 1924. Thanks to this patronage, the Italian Montessori Society received support from the Fascist government. Montessori’s estrangement from the Fascist government only began in 1934, when the regime increasingly tried to interfere in the day-to-day work of the Montessori schools (for example, by requiring pupils to wear uniforms).
In 1934, Montessori’s supporters met in Rome for the 4th International Montessori Congress. After a major conflict with Italian Fascism, the Italian Montessori schools were also closed.
Her son Mario was born on 31.3.1898. Montessori kept the father a secret and did not marry him. Since having an illegitimate child was a disgrace for a woman at that time and would have meant the immediate end of any public activity, she gave birth to her child in secret. Mario grew up in the countryside with ordinary people and later accompanied his mother on her lecture tours as her “secretary”.
On 6.1.1907, the first Casa dei bambini (Children’s House) was opened in San Lorenzo, a slum-like district of Rome, on the initiative of a non-profit housing association. Neglected pre-school children were to be cared for in this institution. Here Montessori put her ideas about designing an environment suitable for children into practice and used sensory materials for the first time with children who had no disabilities. She used this institution to observe and further develop her “method”. The success was overwhelming. Visitors came from everywhere to see how neglected pre-school children had become tidy, independent children who laid the table on their own, served one another politely and skilfully, and could even already write and read.
On 6.5.1952, Maria Montessori died in Noordwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands.
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