Beyond the Materials: The Lesser-Known Life of Maria Montessori
It’s hard to find a word more widely recognised in early education than Montessori. It brings to mind beautifully ordered shelves, wooden materials, and an unmistakable sense of calm, though, just as often, it’s attached to things that Maria Montessori herself never designed. And while her name is familiar, the woman behind it is often less so.
Over the years of deep diving into Montessori’s writings and philosophy, I’ve come to realise that understanding the context behind her work - her life, the choices she made, and the world she lived in - gives so much more meaning to the method itself. It explains why the materials are the way they are, why freedom and order coexist, and why she saw education as a force for peace.
Rather than stressing about following the curriculum perfectly, I’ve found it’s this wider context that brings guidance to how we have incorporated Montessori in our lives. So here are a few lesser-known facts about Maria Montessori that I’ve found fascinating, and that might just change the way you see her work!
1. she began her early studies in the hopes of becoming an engineer - not a doctor
Before she ever studied medicine, Montessori began her studies with the hopes of going into engineering, which was nearly unheard of for women in the 1890s. Her technical, methodical mindset later influenced her approach to materials: every Montessori material is carefully engineered to be self-correcting, precise, and hands-on - a legacy of that early training.
2. Her son Mario was born in secret — and changed everything
Maria Montessori had a child, Mario Montessori, with her colleague Giuseppe Montesano, but because they were unmarried, she was forced by social and professional pressures to keep the birth secret. Mario was raised by another family, and Maria only reconnected with him when he was older. Their eventual reunion was transformative - he became her closest collaborator, travelling the world with her, co-developing the Elementary curriculum, and ensuring her work continued after her death. Their bond deeply shaped her belief in the enduring connection between parent and child.
3. She was driven by social reform, not just pedagogy
Montessori saw her work as a peace movement, not just an educational one. Her early career as a doctor took her into asylums for “deficient” children, where she realized that the issue wasn’t mental illness but a lack of meaningful stimulation. This moment - seeing intelligence “awaken” through sensory materials - convinced her that education could be a tool for social justice and human dignity.
4. She was exiled - twice
Montessori’s international influence grew in part because she was forced to leave Italy.
In 1934, Mussolini demanded that Montessori schools adopt Fascist principles; she refused. Her schools were shut down, and she fled.
Later, during World War II, she was interned in India (as an Italian citizen under British rule) - but that exile became a creative turning point. She founded teacher training centers and developed the Cosmic Education framework, shaped by Indian philosophy and her experiences with interconnectedness and peace.
5. Her years in India changed her worldview
Living in India from 1939–1946 profoundly influenced her thinking. She worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, who shared her vision of peace through education. Her writings from this period, especially the idea of “education for peace” and the “cosmic task of the human being”, reflect Indian philosophical influences and a more spiritual tone.
6. She believed adults, not children, were the ones who needed to change
A recurring theme in her later work is that education isn’t about fixing children, it’s about transforming adults. She observed that when adults learned to observe, respect, and step back, children naturally revealed order, empathy, and concentration. Her emphasis on “the prepared adult” is one of the most overlooked, but vital, parts of her legacy.
Maria Montessori’s life was complex, courageous, and full of conviction. The more I learnt about her story, the more I see how her experiences shaped not just an educational method, but a way of seeing the world and our place within it.
If you’d like to dive deeper into her life and writings, a few interesting places to start are:
Each offers a glimpse into the woman behind the method - and a reminder that understanding her story is as valuable as understanding her materials!