1870

August 31 - Maria Montessori is born in Chiaravalle, Ancona, Italy.

1875

Maria moves with her family to Rome (the actual date is in question depending on what source you look at; some books state she moved when she was 3, 5 or 12)

1882

Maria goes to a boys’ secondary school in order to study mathematics.

1886

Maria graduates from high school and enrolls in a technical school to study engineering.

1892

Maria begins her studies in medicine.

1896

July 10-Maria receives her Doctorate of Medicine degree; she is the first woman to graduate from the University of Rome’s School of Medicine.

September – Maria serves as a delegate for Italy at the International Congress for Women’s Rights in Berlin, Germany; her proposal for equal pay for equal work for women is adopted.

Maria is appointed assistant doctor at the Psychiatric Clinic in the University of Rome.

1897

Maria lectures on the importance of educating disabled children at a national medical congress and at a national teacher’s congress in Turin, Italy.

1898

Maria becomes a member of the National League for the Education of Retarded Children.

Maria is appointed co-director with Dr. Giuseppe Montesano of the State Orthophrenic School (for mentally retarded children) in Rome.

Sometime between 1898 and 1900 Maria gives birth to her out of wedlock son Mario.

1899

Maria is a lecturer at the women’s teacher-training college.

1900

Maria attends a feminist congress in London and speaks out against the exploitation of child labor.

1901

Maria leaves the Orthophrenic School and returns to the University to study psychology and philosophy.

1904

The University of Rome appoints Maria as a lecturer in science and medicine and she chairs the Department of Anthropology.

1907

January 6 - Maria opens the first Casa dei Bambini in San Lorenzo, Italy.

1909

Summer – In Citta di Castello, the first Montessori training course is held.

Maria’s book, The Montessori Method, is published in Italian.

1911

Anne George, an American, goes to Rome to take Maria’s training course. The first American Montessori school opens in Tarrytown, New York; this is the result of great interest in a long article about Montessori that was published in the American magazine, McClure.

The Swiss and Italian public schools decide to use the Montessori Method as their standard system.

1912

The Montessori American Committee is formed by Anne George, Sam McClure and Mr. & Mrs. Bell; they organize the first international training course in Rome.

Maria’s book The Montessori Method is translated into English.

Renilde Stoppani Montessori dies in December.

1913

Maria visits the U.S. for the first time due to Sam McClure’s persuasion; there are already over one hundred Montessori schools in operation.  Maria gives a lecture at New York’s Carnegie Hall on December 6, 1913.  The Montessori American Committee becomes the Montessori Educational Association under the direction of Mabel Bell (Alexander Graham Bell’s wife) as president.

Spain’s first Montessori school opens.

The Advanced Montessori Method  (The Pedagogical Anthropology) is published.

1914

Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook is published.

William Heard Kilpatrick, a leading American educational theorist at Columbia University, criticizes Montessori’s philosophy as being outdated.

1915

Maria sets up a classroom at San Francisco’s Panama-Pacific International Exposition where thousands of people were able to observe her teaching method during the four months of the exhibit; the Montessori class won the only two gold medals for education.

May – Maria conducted her first American training course in Los Angeles.

November - Maria’s father dies while she was in the United States and she immediately returns home.

1916

The Montessori Educational Association (MEA) dissolves due to lack of support from Maria and the Montessori movement in the U.S. dies down for some time.

Maria gives her first training course in Barcelona, Spain, at the Seminari Laboratori de Pedagogia; students from Spain, Portugal, United States and Great Britain attended.

1917

Maria’s son Mario weds an American, Helen Christie.

1919

Maria lectures at a training course in England; her lectures now include methods and materials for 6-11 year olds.

1920

The Spanish government stops supporting the Montessori training institute due to Maria’s refusal to comply with the government’s politics.

1922

Maria is appointed a government inspector of schools in Italy.

1924

Maria meets with Mussolini, and he agrees that the Italian government should again support Montessori schools.

1927

The Montessori Society of Argentina is founded after Maria’s lectures in Buenos Aires, La Plata and Cordoba.

1929

The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) is founded in Berlin, Germany.

1930

The Child in the Church is published.

1931

Mussolini closes all the Montessori schools because the teachers would not pledge loyalty to Fascism. Maria leaves Italy and returns to Spain.

1932

Peace and Education and The Mass Explained to Children are published.

1935

The AMI relocates to Amsterdam and continues to be headquartered there.

1936

The Spanish Civil War begins and Maria leaves Spain for England.

Maria is invited to reside in Holland by one of her students, Ada Pierson.

The Secret of Childhood and The Child in the Family   are published.

1939

Maria and Mario fly to India to escape World War II (Mahatma Gandhi had visited the Casa dei Bambini in Rome).

Erdkinder and the Function of the University (The Reform of Education During and After Adolescence)   is published.

1940

June - Mario is sent to a prison camp because he is Italian (enemy alien) and India is under British rule.  Maria is, however, given permission to travel around India.

31 August – Mario is returned to his mother as a 70^th birthday gift from the Indians.  A palm leaf roof hut is built as Maria’s training center in Madras.

1946

August – Maria and Mario return to Holland and then travel to England.

Education for a New World is published.

1947

Maria and Mario start a training center in London, England, with Margaret Homfray and Phoebe Child as directresses.

Maria and Mario traveled for two years all around India (Madras, Bombay, Gwailor) and to Ceylon and Pakistan.

1948

The Discovery of the Child   is published.

1949

Maria addressed the Eighth International Montessori Congress with hopes that those in attendance (Catholics, Quakers, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists) could all work together to bring peace throughout the world.

The Absorbent Mind is published.

Maria Montessori is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

December – France bestows Maria with the Cross of the Legion of Honor (France’s highest honor).

1950

To Educate the Human Potential, What You Should Know About Your Child and The Formation of Man are published.

Maria addresses the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and receives standing ovations after each speech.

Maria Montessori is nominated again for the Nobel Peace Prize.

1951

Maria Montessori is nominated a third time for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Maria Montessori addresses a United Nations education conference in Florence, Italy.

1952

May 6 - Maria Montessori dies at the age of 81 in Noordwijk aan Zee, Holland.

1960

The American Montessori Society (AMS) is formed.

1967

The US Patent and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board denied exclusive trademark and registration of the term “Montessori” to any one particular organization.

1969

Quad City Montessori School is founded.  The Quad City Montessori Association was founded in 1969 by a group of dedicated parents and remains a parent-owned and directed, not-for-profit corporation.  Quad City Montessori School (QCMS) held its first classes in the fall of 1970, making it the first Montessori School in the area.

1970

The first classes at the Quad City Montessori School are held.

1990

The Italian government honors Dr. Maria Montessori by putting her on the 1000 Lire paper currency note.

2007

Today there are over 8,000 Montessori schools spanning 6 continuants.