You’ve heard of Dr. Maria Montessori if you’re familiar with the Montessori Method, but did you know that her work was a family affair? Her son Mario Sr., and grandson, Mario Jr. (as well as numerous other relatives) have worked hard to carry on the Montessori education tradition.
In 1898, Maria Montessori gave birth to her only child, Mario Montesano Montessori. She was in a romantic relationship with the boy’s father, Giuseppe Montesano, a fellow medical doctor. The couple never married, and due to familial and societal pressures of the time, young Mario was sent to live with another family. His mother visited him often, but she didn’t reveal she was his mother until later in his childhood. As an adolescent, he realized the truth and went to live with her.
After traveling with his mother while she worked around the world, Mario eventually settled in the United States and, at age 18, got married. He opened a well-known Montessori school in California, and with his wife Helen and his children, eventually moved to Spain to live with his mother. Mario and Helen had four children together: Marilena, Mario, Rolando, and Renilde.
Mario and his mother worked together closely for the rest of her life. Their relationship was fascinating, and his daughter Marilena wrote about him with great affection and respect. He worked hard to support Dr. Montessori as she explored and furthered her methods, and at many times he contributed to them as well. He worked alongside her to train teachers, handle logistical matters, and nurture her ideas.
Establishing the Association Montessori International
Maria Montessori and Mario Montessori in a casa. Mario is observing a child work with the cylinder blocks using their stereognostic sense.
Mario is well-known for having contributed many ideas and creative elements to the elementary and cosmic education portions of the Montessori approach. He became the director of AMI (Association Montessori International), the organization he and his mother formed in an effort to preserve the integrity of Montessori education. Chesterfield Montessori School is recognized by AMI, which holds us accountable to the rigorous standards of Dr. Montessori’s scientific approach to education. Click here to read more about what sets an AMI school apart from others.
Upon Maria’s death, she appointed her son as the heir to her work, a role which he embraced fully and worked on with dedication for the rest of his life. While he was never formally trained as a teacher, Mario Sr. was recognized as a born, intuitive educator. He spent his life dedicated to supporting children and refining the education methods that are still in use by thousands around the world, even today.
After the divorce between him and his first wife Helen, Mario Sr. married Ada Pierson, who was also a devotee of Montessori education. The couple supported his mother and her work both during her life and after her death, with Pierson continuing after Mario Sr. died in 1982.
Continuing the Legacy
Maria’s grandson Mario Jr. was not an educator, but he made major contributions to his father and grandmother’s work nonetheless. He originally studied agriculture, but went on to specialize in psychology. He dedicated much of his life work to the psychology field, but he always remained a staunch supporter and defender of high-quality Montessori education.
Maria Montessori with her grandson, Mario Jr.
Mario Jr. spoke out against the injustices of a law in the Netherlands that prevented three-year-olds from attending school, therefore preventing them from benefiting from the first year of a Montessori primary education. He also created an organization for Montessori quality control in the Netherlands after observing misuse of the methods in his son’s classroom. He felt strongly that the methods must be used as originally intended in order for children to benefit from them.
CMS is proud to continue the Montessori education tradition just as Dr. Maria Montessori and her family intended it. We believe that when a student’s natural, joyful spirit is fully expressed, they are able to develop into confident, satisfied, contributing members of the global community.
If you're here because you want to learn more about Montessori for yourself or your family, we'd love to chat with you. We welcome you to schedule a tour, or even inquiry about observing in classroom to see contemporary, authentic Montessori in action that Mario Montessori himself would be proud of!
