Opening of Montessori School

Date: January 6, 1907 • Location: Rome, Italy

Italian educator Maria Montessori opened her first school and day-care centre for working-class children in Rome, employing a philosophy of education that now bears her name.

Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for her philosophy of education and her writing on scientific pedagogy. At an early age, Montessori enrolled in classes at an all-boys technical school, with hopes of becoming an engineer. She soon had a change of heart and began medical school at the Sapienza University of Rome, becoming one of the first women to attend medical school in Italy; she graduated with honors in 1896. Her educational method is in use globally in many public and private schools.