--- description: Maria Montessori is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Maria Montessori: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt952486d4fcc54007/698a0af8b21a9c47245033c8/social-1931_Maria-Montessori.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1931: Maria Montessori Mar 5, 2020 11:33 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Illustration by Matt Smith for TIME; Ullstein Bild/Getty by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:33 AM CUT In thousands of classrooms around the world, as children work independently to solve math problems with beads and learn the alphabet with sandpaper letters, their activities can be traced back a century to Maria Montessori’s radical educational philosophy. One of the first female physicians in Italy, Montessori developed [early-childhood teaching methods](https://time.com/3582298/coming-to-our-senses-on-education-and-nutrition/ "undefined") that made the student a respected collaborator and independent thinker, rather than the submissive pupils of yore. In 1931, she trained teachers through her Association Montessori Internationale and hosted Mahatma Gandhi, who supported the use of her methods in India. Her approach has educated generations. —_Katie Reilly_ [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/maria-montessori-1931-time.html "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5792757/maria-montessori-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5792757/maria-montessori-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1931: Maria Montessori","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:33:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:20:04.768Z","description":"Maria Montessori is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5792757/maria-montessori-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year","Women of the Year - Tech/Athletes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt952486d4fcc54007/698a0af8b21a9c47245033c8/social-1931_Maria-Montessori.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt952486d4fcc54007/698a0af8b21a9c47245033c8/social-1931_Maria-Montessori.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1931_Maria-Montessori","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5792757/maria-montessori-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1931: Maria Montessori"}}]}] ```