Timeline of Dr Maria Montessori’s Life

1870

Maria Montessori is born on 31 August in Chiaravalle, Ancona province, Italy, to Alessandro Montessori, a civil servant, and Renilde Stoppani, a well-educated and progressive woman.

1875–1876

The Montessori family moves to Rome. The following year Maria is enrolled in the local state school. She later enrols in a boys’ technical school in Rome, with a science and engineering emphasis — defying the era’s expectations for girls.

1890

Against opposition from her father, Maria pursues her ambition to become a doctor. After initial rejection, she is eventually admitted to the University of Rome medical programme — reportedly with the endorsement of Pope Leo XIII.

1896 — Milestone

Becomes one of the first women to obtain a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Rome. She specialises in psychiatry and paediatrics.

Represents Italy at the International Women’s Congress in Berlin, delivering an address on the rights of working women, including equal pay for equal work. Studies the writings of French doctors Itard and Séguin, who worked with children with disabilities.

1897–1899

Audits courses in pedagogy at the University of Rome and reads all major works in educational philosophy over the previous 200 years.

In 1899, attends a women’s congress in London and is received by Queen Victoria. Begins a lectureship in hygiene and anthropology at the teacher training college for women in Rome (1899–1906).

1900

Works at the psychiatric clinic in Rome. Appointed director of the Orthophrenic School — a model institution for training teachers of children with developmental disabilities. Over two years, she experiments with sensory materials, achieving results so remarkable that some students pass the same state exams as typically developing children.

1901–1908

Begins a second degree in education, experimental psychology, and anthropology at the University of Rome. Visits elementary schools to conduct anthropological research.

From 1904–1908, lectures in anthropology and biology at the University of Rome’s school of education, incorporating clinical observations from Rome’s elementary schools. These lectures become the basis of Pedagogical Anthropology (1910).

6 January 1907 — Landmark

The First Casa dei Bambini Opens

The first Children’s House (Casa dei Bambini) opens at 53 Via dei Marsi in the San Lorenzo district of Rome on the Feast of the Epiphany. This is the moment the Montessori Method is born. Children aged three to six, placed in a carefully prepared environment with child-sized furniture and specially designed materials, demonstrate an extraordinary capacity to educate themselves.

1908–1909

A second Children’s House on Via Solari in Milan, run by Anna Maria Maccheroni, opens in 1908.

In 1909, Maria gives the first training course in her method to approximately 100 students in Rome. In the space of a month, she writes her first book: Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all’educazione infantile nelle Case dei Bambini. It will be translated into over 20 languages. The English edition is titled The Montessori Method.

1910–1911

Two parallel teacher training courses held in Rome (1910). Second book published: L’Antropologia pedagogica (Pedagogical Anthropology).

In 1911, Maria resigns her teaching post at the University of Rome and gives up her private medical practice to concentrate entirely on education. The Montessori Method is already being practised in English and Argentinean schools and is beginning to spread into Italian and Swiss primary schools. Model schools are established in Paris, New York, and Boston.

1912

The English edition of The Montessori Method is published in the United States in an edition of 5,000 copies. Within days, it sells out, reaching second place on the year’s nonfiction bestseller list.

1913

Runs the First International Training Course in Rome under the patronage of Queen Margherita. Students attend from Italy, Europe, Australia, South Africa, India, China, the Philippines, the United States, and Canada.

The Montessori Educational Association is founded in the United States, with members including Alexander Graham Bell, his wife Mabel Bell, and President Wilson’s daughter, Margaret Woodrow Wilson. Maria makes her first trip to the United States.

1914–1915

Second International Training Course in Rome (1914). Third book, Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook, published in New York.

Second trip to the United States (1915), accompanied by her son Mario. At the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, a Montessori class works in a glass pavilion, observed by thousands of visitors. The classroom wins two gold medals.

1916

Moves to Barcelona at the invitation of the city government; Barcelona remains her home until General Franco’s coup in 1936. Fourth International Training Course held in Barcelona. A model Montessori school, a children’s chapel, and a teacher training institute are established in Barcelona with backing from the Catalan government. Fourth book published: L’autoeducazione nelle Scuole Elementari (English title: The Advanced Montessori Method).

1919–1925

Training course in London (1919) using the format that would become standard: fifty hours of lectures, fifty hours of teaching with materials, fifty hours of classroom observation. Training courses continue in London, Milan, Amsterdam, and Dublin through the early 1920s.

In 1920, lectures at Amsterdam University, outlining for the first time her ideas on secondary school education. In 1921, helps found the New Education Fellowship (today the World Education Fellowship).

In 1924, meets Benito Mussolini, resulting in official recognition and the widespread establishment of Montessori schools across Italy. In 1925, Mario Montessori takes the London training course and receives his Montessori Diploma. In 1926, Maria speaks on “Education and Peace” at the League of Nations in Geneva.

1929 — Landmark

Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Founded

The First International Montessori Congress is held in Helsingør, Denmark. Maria and her son Mario co-found the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), initially headquartered in Berlin (moving to Amsterdam in 1935), to protect and promote the integrity of Montessori education worldwide. A Montessori teacher training centre with a model school has been built in Rome, with Maria’s direct collaboration with the architects.

1931–1932

International training courses in Rome and England (1931). Lectures at Berlin University. Mahatma Gandhi visits Montessori schools in Rome.

Second International Montessori Congress in Nice (1932). Maria delivers lecture Peace and Education, published by the International Bureau of Education, Geneva.

1933–1934

The Nazis systematically destroy the Montessori movement in Germany, closing all Montessori schools in 1933. Third International Montessori Congress held in Amsterdam.

In 1934, following conflicts with the Fascist system, all Montessori schools in Italy “cease to exist … in a single day” (Rita Kramer). Fourth International Montessori Congress held in Rome.

1936

Fifth International Montessori Congress in Oxford, England; further principles of Montessori education for Cosmic Education and secondary schools are developed.

General Franco’s coup forces Maria to flee Barcelona for England, then Amsterdam. The Netherlands becomes her home. A training centre with model school is established in Laren, near Amsterdam — where Cosmic Education materials are used for the first time. AMI headquarters moves to Amsterdam. At this time, there are over 200 Montessori schools in the Netherlands alone. The Secret of Childhood published in London.

1937–1938

Sixth International Montessori Congress in Copenhagen (1937); theme: “Educate for Peace.” Maria delivers several lectures later collected in Education and Peace.

Seventh International Montessori Congress in Edinburgh (1938). Speech at the Sorbonne in Paris, making one of her many public appeals for peace.

1939–1946 — India

Seven Years in India: The Birth of Cosmic Education

Maria departs for India with Mario to run what was to be a three-month training course at the invitation of the Theosophical Society. When Italy enters the Second World War in 1940, Mario is interned as an enemy alien and Maria is confined to the compound — though permitted to continue her work.

Mario is released in August 1940, out of the Viceroy’s respect for Maria and in honour of her 70th birthday. Together they run training courses in Madras, Kodaikanal, Karachi, Ahmedabad, and Ceylon, training thousands of teachers.

It is in India that Maria further develops the Cosmic Education Plan for the Elementary years — connecting children aged 6–12 to the interconnectedness of all life, knowledge, and history. The Child (1941) and Reconstruction in Education (1942) published in India.

1946–1948

Maria and Mario return to Europe in 1946. Training course in London; visit to Scotland. Education for a New World published in India.

In 1947, Maria and Mario establish a Montessori Centre in London. Trip to Italy: revival of the Montessori Society; Montessori establishments begin to reopen. Return visit to India to give a training course in Adyar.

In 1948, training courses in Ahmedabad, Adyar, and Poona; lectures in Bombay. The Discovery of the Child, To Educate the Human Potential, and What You Should Know about Your Child published in Madras. De l’enfant à l’adolescent published in French.

1949–1951 — Landmark

Nobel Peace Prize — Nominated Three Consecutive Years

Maria Montessori is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949, 1950, and 1951 in recognition of her lifelong contribution to peace through education. In 1949, The Absorbent Mind — widely regarded as her masterwork — is published in India. Also published: Formazione dell’uomo (The Formation of Man).

Eighth International Montessori Congress in San Remo, Italy (1949). Lecture tour of Norway and Sweden (1950). Speaks at the General Conference of UNESCO in Florence. International conference held in Amsterdam in honour of Maria Montessori’s 80th birthday.

Ninth International Montessori Congress in London (1951). Last training course run by Maria Montessori, held in Innsbruck, Austria.

6 May 1952

Maria Montessori Passes Away, Age 81

Maria Montessori dies peacefully in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands. She is buried at the local Catholic cemetery. On her gravestone, by her own request, reads:

“I beg the dear all-powerful children to unite with me for the building of peace in Man and in the World.”

Her son Mario continued her work, leading the AMI for decades. Today, an estimated 20,000 Montessori schools operate across more than 110 countries — the enduring legacy of a life lived entirely in service of children and peace.