Below are excerpts from Tony Trafficante’s article.
How Maria Montessori Defied Mussolini and Changed the World
Men were no match for Maria Montessori.
Excerpts from Tony Traficante, ISDA Contributing Editor
When Dr. Montessori graduated from medical school in 1896, she became one of Italy’s first female physicians and blazed the trail for other Italian women to pursue the same. Her early medical practice focused on psychiatry, working mostly with special needs children. Extremely disturbed by the learning difficulties suffered by these special children, Maria set out to vastly improve the curriculum.
On January 6, 1907, Dr. Montessori established the first of her Montessori schools, in a ghetto of Rome. It was called
“La Casa Dei Bambini,” the Children’s Home. Maria’s experiences, i.e., working with special needs children, became the foundation of the Montessori educational system. She later expanded the curricula to include all educational levels of students. As the success of the Montessori system spread worldwide, Maria gave up her medical practice to devote all her time to academic endeavors.
As the Montessori educational method grew in popularity, it attracted the attention of one Benito Mussolini. He became so enthused with the Montessori system that he agreed to serve as Honorary President of the Montessori Society of Italy. With Mussolini’s approval, Maria opened a teacher’s training college and a wide range of Montessori institutions throughout Italy.
As the years went by, Dr. Montessori’s ideological viewpoints, particularly as a pacifist, clashed with the Mussolini administration; and their relationship began to sour. Maria’s situation became worse in 1931 when she flat out refused to order her teachers to take the fascist loyalty oath. Furious, Mussolini closed the Montessori schools in Italy, forcing Maria to flee Italy in 1934 to escape political surveillance and harassment.
Maria Montessori lived through turbulent times. She was teaching in India when Italy and Great Britain became embroiled in war, and in 1940, Britain ordered the internment of all Italian nationals in the United Kingdom and its colonies. Although Maria was not confined, she was restricted to the Theosophical Society compound as a teacher. Not able to return to Italy, Maria lived in exile, in India, for the remainder of WWII.
Dr. Montessori was an extraordinary person: a physician, humanitarian, a highly respected educator, and an activist for women’s rights and peace. She, also, was the only Italian woman to appear on an Italian banknote. Even though Maria could have returned to Italy, she chose to spend her final days living with friends in Amsterdam. She died on May 6, 1952, at the age of 81.
There are hundreds of Montessori schools in the United States that are privately owned. Some former alumni of the Montessori schools include Larry Page and Sergey Brin (founders of Google), Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon), George Clooney, Helen Hunt, Peter Drucker (a management guru), Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Julia Child, and Princes William and Harry of England.)
https://www.bergamoschools.com/