Maria Montessori (1870-1952)
Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator, and noted humanitarian; she was one of the first women to obtain a medical degree in Italy. She was extremely well-educated (she also studied biology, philosophy and psychology) and developed an innovative vision of education generating many new ideas despite the social and cultural limits of her time. She dedicated her life to the improvement of the human potential through the study of the natural, physical and psychic development of the child from the moment of birth and even earlier. She is best known for the "alternative" philosophy of education that bears her name and which has been the subject of much recent journalistic writing both in France and abroad. She opened the first “Children’s House” (the name she gave to her schools) in 1907 in Rome. There are now more than 22,000 Montessori schools in at least 110 countries worldwide (about 60 of these schools are in France). She was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (in 1949 and in 1950); these nominations followed her writings and lectures that increasingly tackled social issues that she considered were the result of inappropriate educational systems.
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