Dr. Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was one of the most influential pioneers in early childhood education of the 1900s. Her ideas are known and recognised throughout the world and have significantly influenced mainstream education.

Having completed a degree in engineering, she pursued her primary interest – medicine. She was the first woman to graduate from the University of Rome Medical School, and she became interested in education only through her work as a doctor. With her background in medicine, she approached education not as a philosopher but as a scientist. She used the classroom as her forum for observing children and for developing her ideas about the most effective way to help them achieve their full potential.

Dr. Montessori put her ideas into practice, retaining and developing those that worked well. Her success was so great that she travelled the world, establishing schools and lecturing about her discoveries while writing numerous books and articles.

She died in Holland in 1952 at the age of 82 having profoundly influenced childhood education throughout the world. Today there are more than 6,000 and 200 public Montessori schools in the United States alone, and thousands more throughout Europe and Asia.