By: Marianna Gatto, ISDA Contributing Editor 

On Jan. 6, 1907, Maria Montessori opened the first Casa dei Bambini.

Did you know that Maria was among Italy’s first female physicians and opened a medical practice focusing on psychology?

She became especially interested in child psychology, development, and education, and traveled the world learning different approaches to such subjects.

Her first school, a full-day childcare center in the poor district of San Lorenzo, produced children that were attentive, self-disciplined, and eager to learn, thus disproving a long held belief that a capacity for learning was somehow linked to socioeconomic status.

The Montessori Method soon began sweeping the globe.

Today, many people covet her as an icon of feminism and a pioneer of education.

Read on: How Maria Montessori Defied Mussolini and Changed the World