Maria Tecla Artemesia Montessori, born in Italy on the thirty-first of August eighteen seventy, was a very determined and inquisitive individual whose works have reverberated in healing ways within education for over one hundred and fifty years. Simply a mind ahead of its time.
Where It All Began…
Her father was a soldier, civil servant and later an accountant and her mother was an elementary school teacher. Maria wanted to become an engineer, which was an alien concept for women at that time – audacious so she enrolled at a technical institution (Regio Instituto Leonardo da Vinci) rather than the usual secondary school route.
Maria then went on to follow her dreams of becoming a doctor but this was met with opposition by her parents (who encouraged her to qualify as a teacher instead) and of course those running the medical schools at the time. In hagiographical explanations, it is stated that Pope Leo XIII was the individual who allowed Maria’s dreams of becoming a doctor to have any realisations at all. She proceeded to study physics, natural sciences and mathematics at the University of Rome. Fearless in her pursuit, Maria faced much mockery and dissent from her male peers; she had to work alone whilst dissecting human body parts because mixed classes weren’t allowed in scientific laboratories at the time. Yet she persisted, qualified and became one of the first women to study at medical school in Italy; news of which was spread around fast.
Heartbreaking Separations!
What I have found quite interesting is her relationship with her son and the story of her and her child’s father. I must stress here that there are no first hand accounts of how Maria felt or what she said about this so all we have are assumptions based on extended family reactions.
She gave birth to Mario on the thirty-first of March in eighteen ninety-eight; however, she was not married and sex and procreation outside of marriage was a frowned upon practice at that time. Mario was a product of a relationship she had with a colleague – Giuseppe Ferruccio Montesano – at the Orthophrenic School, a school opened for special needs children. They were both appointed as co-directors of the institution. His family were against the marriage due to class differences and Maria’s mother insisted, on hearing of her pregnancy, that Mario was kept a secret so as not to destroy their reputations. Pressured by her family because of the situation, Maria agreed to have Mario registered at birth by ‘unknown parents’, fostered by a woman called Mancia Carlotta and to keep the birth of her child a secret. Giuseppe and Maria both promised not to marry anyone else but only a year later, he got married!
The internal battle within her must have been quite intense. Heartbroken at the relationship being quashed; lover’s promises broken; guilty for not being able to raise her only child and on top of that not being able to openly acknowledge her relationship to him. For her then to have achieved what she did within the educational field makes total sense but is also a testament to her indomitable spirit.
She did see Mario periodically but could never admit to him that she was his mother. Maria quit her role as co-director and decided to turn her career towards education instead of medicine; determined on improving educational pedagogy and practices. Aged fifteen Mario approached Maria and told her that he knew she was his mother. Their relationship was very close knit in later years although she only ever admitted publicly to him being her son close to her death.
The Phoenix
A way of healing herself from the emotional turmoil of having to deny her child led to her recreating herself, reshaping her focus in life and producing what I know, even today, is an unmatched and significantly cutting edge and far-reaching approach and insight into child development and educational practices.
Maria studied the works of French doctors Edouard Seguin and Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard who both worked with disabled children who heavily influenced her own pedagogy and formation of her educational materials. She lectured on a range of topics including hygiene, anthropology, biology and after completing her second degrees in education and experimental psychology continued to lecture and wrote many books on child development and educational pedagogy.
She opened her first school, called a ‘Casa Dei Bambini’ in 1907 in Rome and a year later another was opened in Milan. The book called ‘The Montessori Method’ was a training course she delivered in 1909 to over one hundred teacher training students. This book has been translated into many different languages and was sold out within a few days of first being published in the USA. Maria visited the USA for the first time in 1913 and there the Montessori Education Association was established. In the same year, she ran her first international training course from her home in Rome with students from as far as South Africa, China, Canada and the Philippines attending – in person not online!
On her second trip to the USA, she travelled with her son! Her training courses in London began from 1919 and in 1925 Mario received his Montessori diploma! Maria travelled to Ireland to visit schools in 1927 and Montessori schools continued to be opened globally.
Unwavered!
However in 1933 and 1934 respectively both Hitler and Mussolini closed all her schools because she refused to promote their propaganda. She published the ‘Secret of Childhood’ in 1936 and in 1939 moved to India with Mario to continue training and supporting the schools being opened out there. Maria left India in 1946, when the war ended. She visited Scotland and published ‘Education for a New World’ in the same year! In 1948 she published ‘The Discovery of the Child’, ‘To Educate the Human Potential’ and ‘What You Should Know about Your Child’. All books that I have read twice over. Maria was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949 and 1950. She was also nominated again in 1951 and received it. She published ‘The Absorbent Mind’ in 1949; another perspicacious read.
My Most Unforgettable Character
Her last training course before her death was held in Austria in 1951. Mario gives an account of her death in his published article ‘My Most Unforgettable Character’ in the Reader’s Digest in 1965. During a discussion about heading to Ghana she transcended at her home in Holland on May 6th 1952.
Maria left the blueprint of inclusivity, objectivity, understanding and supporting the child through their learning experiences with an educational approach that to me is bar none.
As an avid traveller and author, the life and works of Maria Tecla Artemesia Montessori continue to be insightfully inspiring based on her authorship alone, let alone her appetite for and willingness to travel global during tumultuous times. And then there is the legacy she left. Her approach to education was and continues to be innovative yet so simple and respectful of nature. Respecting the natural processes of the development of the child; fiercely protecting the autonomy of the child and meticulously documenting her observations and realisations of her approach. This has left the world with the gift of simply studying and implementing her pedagogy and practices effectively.
Anthea Davidson-Jarrett, 14/05/22
Bibliography
Maria Montessori Her Life and Work, Standing, E. M, Penguin Putnam Inc, 1998
The Best Weapon for Peace: Maria Montessori, Education and Children’s Rights, Moretti, E, The University of WisconsinPress, 2021
Maria Montessori A Biography, Kramer, R, New York G P Putnam and Sons, 1976
America’s Early Montessorians, George A, Naumburg M,Parkhurst H and Pyle A, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020
Online References
Family Search by Frank Santoro: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Q3-DZYS?cc=2046896&wc=MCT6-SNL%3A351012501%2C361047601%2C361111101
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Santoro-144
Timeline of Maria Montessori’s Life, Association Montessori Internationale:
https://montessori-ami.org/resource-library/facts/timeline-maria-montessoris-life
Images: Montessori Press: http://montessori-press.ru/photos/1-3