Zimri or Zambri (Hebrew: זִמְרִי, Zimrī ; praiseworthy; Latin: Zambri) was a king of Israel for seven days. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 876 BCE, while E. R. Thiele offers the date 885 BCE.^[1] His story is told in 1 Kings, Chapter 16.

He was a commander who murdered king Elah at Tirzah, and succeeded him as king. However, Zimri reigned only seven days, because the army elected Omri as king, and with their support laid siege to Tirzah. Finding his position untenable, Zimri set fire to the palace and perished.

Omri became king only after four years of war with Tibni, another claimant to the throne of Israel.

The name Zimri became a byword for a traitor who murdered his master. When Jehu led a bloody military revolt to seize the throne of Israel, killed both Jehoram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah, and entered the citadel of Jezreel to execute Queen Jezebel, she greeted him with the words: "Is it peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?" (2 Kings 9:31). In John Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, the character of Zimri stands for the Duke of Buckingham.

References[link]

Zimri may refer to:

• Either of two characters in the Bible:
  • Zimri (prince), the Prince of the Tribe of Simeon during the time of the Israelites were in the desert
  • Zimri (king), King of Israel after Elah and before Omri
• Zimri (nation), a nation mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah
• Zimri (tribe), a Pashtun tribe in Pakistan

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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A monarch is the person who leads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and rules for life or until abdication. Monarchs may be autocrats (absolute monarchy) or ceremonial heads of state who exercise little or no power or only reserve power, with actual authority vested in a parliament or other body (constitutional monarchy).

Etymology[link]

The word monarch is derived from the Greek μονάρχης (from μόνος, "one/singular," and ἄρχων, "leader/ruler/chief") through the Latin: monarcha (mono: "one" + arch "chief") which referred to a single, at least nominally, absolute ruler. In current usage the word monarchy generally refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule, as elective monarchies are rare in the modern period (though they do still exist in Vatican City, Andorra and Malaysia).

Characteristics[link]

Most states have at most one monarch at any given time, although a regent may rule when the monarch is a minor, not present, or otherwise incapable of ruling. Two monarchs have ruled simultaneously in some countries, as in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta or the joint sovereignty of spouses or relatives (e.g. William and Mary of Kingdom of England and Scotland, Peter and Ivan of Russia, Charles and Joanna of Castile, etc.).

Monarchs have various titles — king or queen, prince or princess (e.g. Sovereign Prince of Monaco), Malik or Malikah (e.g. Maliks of Middle eastern Mamlakahs), emperor or empress (e.g. Emperor of Japan, Emperor of India), Shah of Iran, archduke, duke or grand duke (e.g. Grand Duke of Luxembourg). Prince is sometimes used as a generic term to describe any monarch regardless of title, especially in older texts.

Many monarchs are distinguished by titles and styles. They often take part in certain ceremonies, such as a coronation.

Monarchy is associated with political or sociocultural in nature hereditary rule; most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family (over a period of time called a dynasty) and trained for future duties. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority (Salic law). While traditionally most monarchs have been male, female monarchs have also ruled in history; the term queen regnant refers to a ruling monarch, as distinct from a queen consort, the wife of a reigning king.

Some monarchies are non-hereditary. In an elective monarchy, the monarch is elected but otherwise serves as any other monarch. Historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors (chosen by prince-electors but often coming from the same dynasty) and the free election of kings of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Modern examples include the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia and the pope of the Roman Catholic Church, who serves as Sovereign of the Vatican City State and is elected to a life term by the College of Cardinals.

Monarchies have existed throughout the world, although in recent centuries many states have abolished the monarchy and become republics. Advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the immediate continuity of leadership, with a usually short interregnum (as illustrated in the classic phrase "The [old] King is dead. Long live the [new] King!"). However, this only applies in the case of autocratic rule. In cases where the monarch serves mostly as a ceremonial figure (e.g. most modern constitutional monarchies) real leadership does not depend on the monarch.

The nine European Monarchs who attended the funeral of King Edward VII of Britain, photographed at Windsor Castle on 20 May 1910. Standing, from left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, King Manuel II of Portugal, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, King George I of Greece and King Albert I of Belgium. Seated, from left to right: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George V of Britain and King Frederick VIII of Denmark.

Postcard from 1908 showing nineteen of the world's reigning monarchs: (left to right) King Rama V/Chulalongkorn of Siam, King George I of Greece, King Peter I of Serbia, King Carol I of Romania, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Sultan Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Emperor Nicholas II of the Russia, King Edward VII of Britain, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, King Gustav V of Sweden, King Haakon VII of Norway, King Frederick VIII of Denmark, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Emperor Guangxu of China, Emperor Meiji of Japan, King Manuel II of Portugal and King Alfonso XIII of Spain.

A form of government may in fact be hereditary without being considered monarchy, such as family dictatorship or political families present in some nominally democratic countries.

Classification[link]

A particular case is the French co-prince of Andorra, a position held by the elected President of France. Nonetheless, he is still generally considered a monarch because of the traditional use of a monarchical title (even though Andorra is, strictly speaking, a diarchy.) Similarly, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia is considered a monarch despite only holding the office for five years at a time. On the other hand, several life-time dictators around the world have not been formally classified as monarchs, even if succeeded by their children, but that may be more to do with international political sensitivities than with semantics.

Succession[link]

Hereditary succession within one family has been most common. The usual hereditary succession is based on some cognatic principles and on seniority, though sometimes merit has played a part. Thus, the most common hereditary system in feudal Europe was based on cognatic primogeniture where a lord was succeeded by his eldest son or, if he had no son, by either his brother, his daughters or sons of daughters. The system of tanistry was semi-elective and gave weight also to merits and capability.

The Quasi-Salic succession provided firstly for male members of the family to succeed, and secondarily males descended from female lines. In most feudal fiefs, females (such as daughters and sisters) were allowed to succeed, should the male line fail, but usually the husband of the heiress became the real lord and most often also received the title, jure uxoris. Great Britain and Spain today continue this model of succession law, in the form of cognatic primogeniture. In more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of proximity and primogeniture battled, and outcomes were often idiosyncratic.

As the average life span among the nobility increased (thanks to lords limiting their personal participation in dangerous battles, and generally improved sustenance and living conditions among the wealthy), an eldest son was more likely to reach majority age before the death of his father, and primogeniture became increasingly favoured over proximity, tanistry, seniority and election.

Later, when lands were strictly divided among noble families and tended to remain fixed, agnatic primogeniture (practically the same as Salic Law) became more usual: the succession would go to the eldest son of the monarch, or, if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the nearest male relative through the male line, to the total exclusion of females.

In some countries however, inheritance through the female line was never wholly abandoned, so that if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the eldest daughter and to her posterity. (This, cognatic primogeniture, was the rule that let Elizabeth II become Queen.)

In 1980, Sweden became the first monarchy to declare equal primogeniture or full cognatic primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne.^[1] Other kingdoms (Netherlands in 1983, Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991 and Denmark in 2009) have since followed suit.

In some monarchies, such as Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only after that to the monarch's children (agnatic seniority). In some other monarchies (e.g. Jordan), the monarch chooses who will be his successor, who need not necessarily be his eldest son.

Whatever the rules of succession, there have been many cases of a monarch being overthrown and replaced by a usurper who would then often install his own family as the ruling monarchy.

History[link]

Monarchs in Africa[link]

A series of Pharaohs ruled Ancient Egypt over the course of three millennia (circa 3150 BC to 31 BC) until it was conquered by the Roman Empire. In the same time period several kingdoms flourished in the nearby Nubia region, with at least one of them, that of the so-called A-Group culture, apparently influencing the customs of Egypt itself.

West Africa hosted the Kanem Empire (700 - 1376) and its successor, the Bornu principality which survives to the present day as a part of the Federation of Nigeria.

In East Africa, the Aksumite Empire and later the Ethiopian Empire (1270–1974) were ruled by a series of monarchs. Haile Selassie, the last Emperor of Ethiopia, was deposed in a communist coup.

Central and Southern Africa were largely isolated from other regions until the modern era, but they did later feature kingdoms like the Kingdom of Kongo (1400–1914).

As part of the Scramble for Africa, Europeans conquered, bought, or established African kingdoms and styled themselves as monarchs.

Currently the African nations of Morocco, Lesotho and Swaziland are sovereign monarchies under dynasties that are native to the continent. Places like St. Helena, Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands are ruled by the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the King of Spain, while so-called sub-national monarchies of varying sizes can be found all over the rest of the continent e.g. the Yoruba city-state of Akure in south-western Nigeria is something of an elective monarchy, with its reigning Oba having to be chosen by an electoral college of nobles from amongst a finite collection of royal princes and princesses of the realm.

Monarchs in Europe[link]

Queen of United Kingdom (as well as Canada, Australia, and other Commonwealth realms)

Prince was a common title within the Holy Roman Empire, along with a number of higher titles listed below. Such titles were granted by the Emperor, while the titulation of rulers of sovereign states was generally left to their own discretion, most often choosing King or Queen. Such titulations could cause diplomatic problems, and especially the elevation to Emperor or Empress was seen as an offensive action.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries most small monarchies in Europe disappeared, merging to form larger entities, and so King is the most common title for male rulers and Queen has become the most common title today for female rulers.

As of 2010^[update] in Europe there are twelve monarchies: seven kingdoms, one grand duchy, one papacy, and two principalities, as well as the diarchy of Andorra.

Monarchs in Asia[link]

Japanese Emperor Hirohito, Crown Prince Akihito, Crown Princess Michiko and Empress Nagako, 1959

In China, before the abolition of the monarchy in 1912, the Emperor of China was traditionally regarded as the ruler of "All under heaven". "King" is the usual translation for the term wang 王, the sovereign before the Qin dynasty and during the Ten Kingdoms period. During the early Han dynasty, China had a number of small kingdoms, each about the size of a county and subordinate to the Empress or Emperor of China.

The Japanese monarchy is now the only monarchy to still use the title of Emperor. Between 1925 and 1979, Iran was ruled by an Emperor that used the title of "Shahanshah" (or "King of Kings" in Gelf). Thailand and Bhutan are like the UK in that they are constitutional monarchies ruled by a King. Saudi Arabia and many other Middle Eastern monarchies are ruled by a Malik and parts of the United Arab Emirates, such as Dubai, are still ruled by monarchs.

Oman is led by Monarch Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said. The Kingdom of Jordan is one of the Middle East's more modern monarchies is also ruled by a Malik. In Arab and arabized countries, Malik (absolute King) is absolute word to render a monarch and is superior to all other titles. Nepal abolished their monarchy in 2008. Sri Lanka had a complex system of monarchies from 543BC to 1815. Between 47BC-42BC Anula of Sri Lanka became the country's first female head of state as well as Asia's first head of state.^{[dubious – discuss]}

In Malaysia's constitutional monarchy, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (The Supreme Lord of the Federation) is de facto rotated every five years among the nine Rulers of the Malay states of Malaysia (those nine of the thirteen states of Malaysia that have hereditary royal rulers), elected by Majlis Raja-Raja (Conference of Rulers). Under Brunei Darussalam's 1959 constitution, His Majesty Paduka Seri Baginda, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah is the head of state with full executive authority, including emergency powers, since 1962. The Prime Minister of Brunei is a title held by the Sultan of Brunei. As the prime minister, the Sultan presides over the cabinet.

Monarchs in the Americas[link]

The concept of monarchy existed in the Americas long before the arrival of European colonialists.^[2][3] When the Europeans arrived they referred to these tracts of land within territories of different aboriginal groups to be kingdoms, and the leaders of these groups were often referred to by the Europeans as Kings, particularly hereditary leaders.^[4]

Pre-colonial titles that were used included:

• Cacique – Aboriginal Hispaniola and Borinquen
• Tlatoani – Nahuas
• Ajaw – Maya
• Qhapaq Inka – Tawuantin Suyu (Inca Empire)
• Morubixaba – Tupi tribes
• Sha-quan – King of the world used in some America Indian tribes

The first local monarch to emerge in North America after colonization was Augustin I, who declared himself Emperor of Mexico in 1822. Mexico again had an emperor, Maximilian I from 1863 to 1867. In South America, Brazil had a Portuguese royal house ruling as emperor between 1822 and 1889, under Emperors Pedro I and Pedro II.

Monarchs in Tonga[link]

Tonga was ruled by a chief and the chief is in charge of one village. The cities were governed by the Prime Minister of Tonga. Tonga was falling apart because the chiefs would start war with other villages and Tonga would fall apart. Tonga did not know what to do and then the chiefs thought that a Monarch would bring balance to the Kingdom of Tonga and peace. The following day was the day that Tonga received a Monarch, so Tonga celebrated with games, dancing and singing.

Between 1931 and 1983 nine other previous British colonies attained independence as kingdoms, all, including Canada, in a personal union relationship under a shared monarch. Therefore, though today there are legally ten American monarchs, one person occupies each distinct position.

Titles and precedence[link]

The normal monarch title in Europe — i.e., the one used if the monarch has no higher title — is prince or princess, by convention. As an absolute ruler, a monarch can choose a title. However, titles are usually defined by tradition and diplomatic considerations.

Note that some of these titles have several meanings and do not necessarily designate a monarch. A Prince may be a person of royal blood (some languages uphold this distinction, see Fürst). A Duke may be a British peer. In Imperial Russia, a Grand Duke was a son or grandson of the Tsar or Tsarina. Holders of titles in these alternative meanings did not enjoy the same status as the monarchs of the same title.

Within the Holy Roman Empire, there were even more titles that were used occasionally for monarchs although they were normally noble; Margrave, Count Palatine, and Landgrave. A monarch with such a low title was still regarded as more important than a noble Duke.^{[citation needed]}

The table below lists titles in order of precedence. According to protocol any holder of a title of monarchy took precedence over all holders of a lower title. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom was arguably the most powerful monarch of her time, but at banquets was seated below all the Emperors until she took the title of Empress of India.

The pope is the Bishop of Rome (a celibate office always forbidden to women), in English however, reports of female popes such as (Pope Joan) refer to them as pope and Popess is used, among other things, for the second trump in the Tarot deck; some European languages also have a feminine form of the word pope, such as the Italian papessa, the French papesse, and the German Päpstin.

Titles by region[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

When a difference exists below, male titles are placed to the left and female titles are placed to the right of the slash.

Current monarchs[link]

Use of titles by non-sovereigns[link]

It is not uncommon that people who are not generally seen as monarchs nevertheless use monarchical titles. There are at least five cases of this:

• Claiming an existing title, challenging the current holder. This has been very common historically. For centuries, the British monarch used, among his other titles, the title King of France, despite the fact that he had had no authority over French territory since the fifteenth century. Such as any one of the numerous antipopes who have claimed the Holy See.
• Retaining the title of an extinct monarchy. This can be coupled with a claim that the monarchy was in fact never, or should never have been, extinct. An example of the first case is the Prince of Seborga. Examples of the second case are several deposed monarchs or otherwise pretenders to thrones of abolished monarchies, e.g., Leka, Crown Prince of Albania who is styled by some as the "King of The Albanians." Retaining the title of an extinct monarchy can, however, be totally free of claims of sovereignty, for example it was customary of numerous European Monarchies to include "King of Jerusalem" in their full titles. When it comes to deposed monarchs, it is customary to continue the usage of their monarchical title (e.g., Constantine II, King of the Hellenes) as a courtesy title, not a constitutional office, for the duration of their lifetime. However the title then dies with them and cannot be used by anyone else unless the crown is restored constitutionally. Monarchs who have freely abdicated lose their right to use their former title. However where a monarch abdicated under duress (e.g., Michael I of Romania), it is customary to see the abdication as invalid and to treat them as deposed monarchs entitled to use their monarchical style for their lifetime.
• Inventing a new title. This is common by founders of micronations, and also may or may not come with a claim of sovereignty. When it does, it is disregarded by state leaders. A notable example is Paddy Roy Bates, styling himself the "Prince of Sealand," but not recognized as such by any national government, thus failing at least the constitutive condition for statehood (see Sealand for a fuller discussion of his claims). Another known example is that of Norton I, who invented the title "Emperor of the United States of America" and later declared himself "Protector of Mexico."
• Usage of a monarchical title by a fictional character. This is common in fairy tales and other works geared to children, as well as works of fantasy. Examples include Princess Leia and Princess Summerfall Winterspring.
• Honorific nicknames in popular music and other aspects of popular culture, such as "King of Rock and Roll".

See also[link]

• List of monarchs by country
• List of living former sovereign monarchs
• Archontology

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up monarch or kingship in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• A Glossary of European Noble, Princely, Royal and Imperial Titles
• Regnal Chronologies King lists worldwide
• Archontology
• African Kingdoms Imperial Throne Leadership and Enthronements
• Imperial House Foundation – Africa/USA/Europe – interview

Maria Montessori (August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) was an Italian physician and educator, a noted humanitarian and devout Catholic best known for the philosophy of education which bears her name. Her educational method is in use today in public and private schools throughout the world.

Life and Career[link]

Birth and Family[link]

Maria Tecla Artemesia Montessori was born on August 31, 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy. Her father, Alessandro Montessori, 33 years old at the time, was an official of the Ministry of Finance working in the local, state-run tobacco factory. Her mother, Renilde Stoppani, 25 years old, was well educated for the times and was probably related to Italian geologist and paleontologist Antonio Stoppani.^[1]

1883–1896: Education[link]

Early education[link]

The Montessori family moved to Florence in 1873 and then to Rome in 1875 because of her father's work. Montessori entered a public elementary school at the age of 6 in 1876. Her early school record was “not particularly noteworthy”^[2], although she was awarded certificates for good behavior in 1st grade and for "lavori donneschi", or “women's work", the next year.^[3]

Secondary school[link]

In 1883^[4] or 1884,^[5] at the age of 13, Montessori entered a secondary, technical school Regia Scuola Tecnica Michelangelo Buonarroti, where she studied Italian, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, accounting, history, geography, and sciences. She graduated in 1886 with good grades and examination results. That year, at the age of 16, she continued at the technical institute Regio Istituto Tecnico Leonardo Da Vinci, studying Italian, mathematics, history, geography, geometric and ornate drawing, physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, and two foreign languages. She did well in the sciences and especially in mathematics. She initially intended to pursue the study of engineering upon graduation, an unusual aspiration for a woman in her time and place. However, by the time she graduated in 1890 at the age of 20, with a certificate in physics–mathematics, she had decided to study medicine instead, an even more unlikely pursuit given cultural norms at the time.^[6]

University of Rome—Medical school[link]

Montessori moved forward with her intention to study medicine. She appealed to Guido Baccelli, the professor of clinical medicine at the University of Rome but was strongly discouraged. Nonetheless, in 1890, she enrolled in the University of Rome in a degree course in natural sciences, passing examinations in botany, zoology, experimental physics, histology, anatomy, and general and organic chemistry, and earning her diploma di licenza in 1892. This degree, along with additional studies in Italian and Latin, qualified her for entrance into the medical program at the University in 1893.^[7] She was met with hostility and harassment from some medical students and professors because of her gender. Because her attendance of classes with men in the presence of a naked body was deemed inappropriate, she was required to perform her dissections of cadavers alone, after hours. She resorted to smoking tobacco to mask the offensive odor of formaldehyde.^[8] Montessori won an academic prize in her first year, and in 1895 secured a position as a hospital assistant, gaining early clinical experience. In her last two years she studied pediatrics and psychiatry, and worked in the pediatric consulting room and emergency service, becoming an expert in pediatric medicine. Montessori graduated from the University of Rome in 1896 and in so doing became the first female to earn the distinction of a doctor of medicine. Her thesis was published in 1897 in the journal Policlinico. She found employment as an assistant at the University hospital and started a private practice.^[9][10])

1896–1901: Early Career[link]

From 1896 to 1901, Montessori worked with and researched so-called "phrenasthenic" children—in modern terms, children experiencing some form of mental retardation, illness, or disability. She also began to travel, study, speak, and publish nationally and internationally, coming to prominence as an advocate for women's rights and education for mentally disabled children.^[11]

Work with mentally disabled children[link]

After graduation from the University of Rome in 1896, Montessori continued with her research at the University's psychiatric clinic, and in 1897 Montessori was accepted as a voluntary assistant there. As part of her work there, she visited asylums in Rome where she observed children with mental disabilities, observations which were fundamental to her future educational work. She also read and studied the works of 19th century physicians and educators Jean Marc Gaspard Itard and Edouard Seguin, who greatly influenced her work. Also in 1897, Montessori audited the University courses in pedagogy and read “all the major works on educational theory of the past two hundred years.”^[12]

Public advocacy[link]

In 1897 Montessori spoke on societal responsibility for juvenile delinquency at the National Congress of Medicine in Turin. In 1898, she wrote several articles and spoke again at the First Pedagogical Conference of Turin, urging the creation of special classes and institutions for mentally disabled children, as well as teacher training for their instructors.^[13] In 1899 Montessori was appointed a councilor to the newly formed National League for the Protection of Retarded Children, and was invited to lecture on special methods of education for retarded children at the teacher training school of the College of Rome. That year Montessori undertook a two-week national lecture tour to capacity audiences before prominent public figures.^[14] She joined the board of the National League and was appointed as a lecturer in hygiene and anthropology at one of the two teacher-training colleges for women in Italy.^[15]

Orthophrenic School[link]

In 1900 the National League opened the Scuola Magistrale Ortofenica, or Orthpophrenic School, a “medico-pedagogical institute” for training teachers in educating mentally disabled children with an attached laboratory classroom. Montessori was appointed co-director.^[16] 64 teachers enrolled in the first class, studying psychology, anatomy and physiology of the nervous system, anthropological measurements, causes and characteristics of mental disability, and special methods of instruction. During her two years at the school, Montessori developed methods and materials which she would later adapt to use with typical children.^[17]

The school was an immediate success, attracting the attention of government officials from the departments of education and health, civic leaders, and prominent figures in the fields of education, psychiatry, and anthropology from the University of Rome.^[18] The children in the model classroom were drawn from ordinary schools but considered "uneducable" due to their deficiencies. Some of these children were later able to pass public examinations given to so-called "normal" children.^[19]

1901–1906: Further studies[link]

In 1901, Montessori left the Orthophrenic School and her private practice, and in 1902 she enrolled in the philosophy degree course at the University of Rome. (Philosophy at the time included much of what we now consider psychology.) She studied theoretical and moral philosophy, the history of philosophy, and psychology as such, but she did not graduate. She also pursued independent study in anthropology and educational philosophy, conducted observations and experimental research in elementary schools, and revisited the work of Itard and Seguin, translating their books into handwritten Italian. During this time she began to consider adapting her methods of educating mentally disabled children to mainstream education.^[20]

Montessori's work developing what she would later call “scientific pedagogy” continued over the next few years. Still in 1902, Montessori presented a report at a second national pedagogical congress in Naples. She published two articles on pedagogy in 1903, and two more the following year. In 1903 and 1904, she conducted anthropological research with Italian schoolchildren, and in 1904 she was qualified as a free lecturer in anthropology for the University of Rome. She was appointed to lecture in the Pedagogic School at the University and continued in the position until 1908. Her lectures were printed as a book titled Pedagogical Anthropology in 1910.^[21]

[edit] 1906–1911: Casa dei Bambini and the spread of Montessori's ideas

[edit] The first Casa

In 1906 Montessori was invited to oversee the care and education of a group of children of working parents in a new apartment building for low-income families in the San Lorenzo district in Rome. Montessori was interested in applying her work and methods to mentally normal children, and she accepted.^[22] The name Casa dei Bambini, or Children's House, was suggested to Montessori, and the first Casa opened on January 6, 1907, enrolling 50 or 60 children between the ages of two or three and six or seven.^[23]

At first, the classroom was equipped with a teacher's table and blackboard, a stove, small chairs, armchairs, and group tables for the children, and a locked cabinet for the materials that Montessori had developed at the Orthophrenic School. Activities for the children included personal care such as dressing and undressing, care of the environment such as dusting and sweeping, and caring for the garden. The children were also shown the use of the materials Montessori had developed.^[24] Montessori herself, occupied with teaching, research, and other professional activities, oversaw and observed the classroom work, but did not teach the children directly. Day-to-day teaching and care were provided, under Montessori's guidance, by the building porter's daughter.^[25]

In this first classroom, Montessori observed behaviors in these young children which formed the foundation of her educational method. She noted episodes of deep attention and concentration, multiple repetitions of activity, and a sensitivity to order in the environment. Given free choice of activity, the children showed more interest in practical activities and Montessori's materials than in toys provided for them, and were surprisingly unmotivated by sweets and other rewards. Over time, she saw a spontaneous self-discipline emerge.^[26]

Based on her observations, Montessori implemented a number of practices that became hallmarks of her educational philosophy and method. She replaced the heavy furniture with child-sized tables and chairs light enough for the children to move, and placed child-sized materials on low, accessible shelves. She expanded the range of practical activities such as sweeping and personal care to include a wide variety of exercises for care of the environment and the self, including flower arranging, hand washing, gymnastics, care of pets, and cooking. She continued to adapt and refine the materials she had developed earlier, altering or removing exercises which were chosen less frequently by the children. Also based on her observations, Montessori experimented with allowing children free choice of the materials, uninterrupted work, and freedom of movement and activity within the limits set by the environment. She began to see independence as the aim of education, and the role of the teacher as an observer and director of children's innate psychological development.^[27]

The spread of Montessori education in Italy[link]

The first Casa dei Bambini was a success, and a second was opened on April 7, 1907. The children in her programs continued to exhibit concentration, attention, and spontaneous self-discipline, and the classrooms began to attract the attention of prominent educators, journalists, and public figures.^[28] In the fall of 1907, Montessori began to experiment with teaching materials for writing and reading—letters cut from sandpaper and mounted on boards, moveable cutout letters, and picture cards with labels. Four and five year old children engaged spontaneously with the materials and quickly gained a proficiency in writing and reading far beyond what was expected for their age. This attracted further public attention to Montessori's work.^[29] Three more Case dei Bambini opened in 1908, and in 1909 Italian Switzerland began to replace Froebellian methods with Montessori in orphanages and kindergartens.^[30]

In 1909, Montessori held the first teacher training course in her new method in Città de Castello, Italy. In the same year, she described her observations and methods in a book titled Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica Applicato All'Educazione Infantile Nelle Casa Dei Bambine (The Method of Scientific Pedagogy Applied to the Education of Children in the Children's Houses).^[31] Two more training courses were held in Rome in 1910, and a third in Milan in 1911. Montessori's reputation and work began to spread internationally as well, and around that time she gave up her medical practice to devote more time to her educational work, developing her methods and training teachers.^[32] In 1919 she resigned from her position at the University of Rome, as her educational work was increasingly absorbing all her time and interest.

1909–1915: International recognition and growth of Montessori education[link]

As early as 1909, Montessori's work began to attract the attention of international observers and visitors. Her work was widely published internationally, and spread rapidly. By the end of 1911, Montessori education had been officially adopted in public schools in Italy and Switzerland, and was planned for the United Kingdom.^[33] By 1912, Montessori schools had opened in Paris and many other Western European cities, and were planned for Argentina, Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, Syria, the United States, and New Zealand. Public programs in London, Johannesburg, Rome, and Stockholm had adopted the method in their school systems.^[34] Montessori societies were founded in the United States (the Montessori American Committee) and the United Kingdom (the Montessori Society for the United Kingdom).^[35] In 1913 the first International Training Course was held in Rome, with a second in 1914.^[36]

Montessori's work was widely translated and published during this period. Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica was published in the United States as The Montessori Method: Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in the Children's Houses, where it became a best seller.^[37] British and Swiss editions followed. A revised Italian edition was published in 1913. Russian and Polish editions came out in 1913 as well, and German, Japanese, and Romanian editions appeared in 1914, followed by Spanish (1915), Dutch (1916), and Danish (1917) editions. Pedagogical Anthropology was published in English in 1913.^[38] In 1914, Montessori published, in English, Doctor Montessori's Own Handbook, a practical guide to the didactic materials she had developed.^[39]

Montessori in the United States[link]

In 1911 and 1912, Montessori's work was popular and widely publicized in the United States, especially in a series of articles in McClure's Magazine, and the first North American Montessori school was opened in October 1911, in Tarrytown, New York. Scottish-born American inventor Alexander Graham Bell and his wife became proponents of the method and a second school was opened in their Canadian home.^[40]. The Montessori Method sold quickly through six editions.^[41] The first International Training Course in Rome in 1913 was sponsored by the American Montessori Committee, and 67 of the 83 students were from the United States.^[42] By 1913 there were more than 100 Montessori schools in the country.^[43] Montessori traveled to the United States in December 1913 on a three-week lecture tour which included films of her European classrooms, meeting with large, enthusiastic crowds wherever she traveled.^[44]

Montessori returned to the United States in 1915, sponsored by the National Education Association, to demonstrate her work at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California, and to give a third international training course. A glass-walled classroom was put up at the Exposition, and thousands of observers came to see a class of 21 students. Montessori's father died in November of 1915, and she returned to Italy.^[45]

Although Montessori and her educational approach were highly popular in the United States, she was not without opposition and controversy. Influential progressive educator William Heard Kilpatrick, a follower of American philosopher and educational reformer John Dewey, wrote a dismissive and critical book titled The Montessori Method Examined, which had a broad impact. The National Kindergarten Association was critical as well. Critics charged that Montessori's method was outdated, overly rigid, overly reliant on sense-training, and left too little scope for imagination, social interaction, and play.^[46] In addition, Montessori's insistence on tight control over the elaboration of her method, the training of teachers, the production and use of materials, and the establishment of schools became a source of conflict and controversy. After she left in 1915, the Montessori movement in the United States fragmented, and Montessori education was a negligible factor in education in the United States until 1952.^[47]

1915–1939: Further development of Montessori education[link]

In 1915, Montessori returned to Europe and took up residence in Barcelona, Spain. Over the next 20 years Montessori traveled and lectured widely in Europe and gave numerous teacher training courses. Montessori education experienced significant growth in Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Italy.

Spain (1915–1936)[link]

On her return from the United States, Montessori continued her work in Barcelona, where a small program sponsored by the Catalonian government begun in 1915 had developed into the Escola Montessori, serving children from three to ten years old, and the Laboratori i Seminari de Pedagogia, a research, training, and teaching institute. A fourth international course was given there in 1916, including materials and methods, developed over the previous five years, for teaching grammar, arithmetic, and geometry to elementary school children from six to twelve years of age.^[48] In 1917 Montessori published her elementary work in L'autoeducazionne nelle Scuole Elementari (Self-Education in Elementary School), which appeared in English as The Advanced Montessori Method.^[49] Around 1920, the Catalonian independence movement began to demand that Montessori take a political stand and make a public statement favoring Catalonian independence, and she refused. Official support was withdrawn from her programs.^[50] In 1924, a new military dictatorship closed Montessori's model school in Barcelona, and Montessori education declined in Spain, although Barcelona remained Montessori's home for the next twelve years. In 1933, under the Second Spanish Republic, a new training course was sponsored by the government, and government support was re-established. In 1934, she published two books in Spain, Psicogeometrica and Psicoarithemetica.^[51] However, with the onset of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, political and social conditions drove Montessori to leave Spain permanently.^[52]

The Netherlands (1917–1936)[link]

In 1917, Montessori lectured in Amsterdam, and the Netherlands Montessori Society was founded.^[53] She returned in 1920 to give a series of lectures at the University of Amsterdam.^[54] Montessori programs flourished in the Netherlands, and by the mid-1930s there were more than 200 Montessori schools in the country.^[55] In 1935 the headquarters of the Association Montessori Internationale, or AMI, moved permanently to Amsterdam.^[56]

The United Kingdom (1919–1936)[link]

Montessori education was met with enthusiasm and controversy in England between 1912 and 1914.^[57] In 1919, Montessori came to England for the first time and gave an international training course which was received with high interest. Montessori education continued to spread in the United Kingdom, although the movement experienced some of the struggles over authenticity and fragmentation that took place in the United States.^[58] Montessori continued to give training courses in England every other year until the beginning of World War II.^[59]

Italy (1922–1934)[link]

In 1922, Montessori was invited to Italy on behalf of the government to give a course of lectures and later to inspect Italian Montessori schools. Later that year Benito Mussolini's Fascist government came to power in Italy. In December, Montessori came back to Italy to plan a series of annual training courses under government sponsorship, and in 1923, the minister of education Giovanni Gentile expressed his official support for Montessori schools and teacher training.^[60] In 1924 Montessori met with Mussolini, who extended his official support for Montessori education as part of the national program.^[61] A pre-war group of Montessori supporters, the Societa gli Amici del Metodo Montessori (Society of Friends of the Montessori Method) became the Opera Montessori (Montessori Society) with a government charter, and by 1926 Mussolini was made honorary president of the organization.^[62] In 1927 Mussolini established a Montessori teacher training college, and by 1929 the Italian government supported a wide range of Montessori institutions.^[63] However, from 1930 on, Montessori and the Italian government came into conflict over financial support and ideological issues, especially after Montessori's lectures on Peace and Education.^[64] In 1932 she and her son Mario were placed under political surveillance.^[65]. Finally, in 1933, she resigned from the Opera Montessori, and in 1934 she left Italy. The Italian government ended Montessori activities in the country in 1936.^[66]

Other countries[link]

Montessori lectured in Vienna in 1923, and her lectures were published as Il Bambino in Famiglia, published in English in 1936 as The Child in the Family. Between 1913 and 1936 Montessori schools and societies were also established in France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, Serbia, Canada, India, China, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand.^[67]

The Association Montessori Internationale[link]

In 1929, the first International Montessori Congress was held in Elsinore, Denmark, in conjunction with the Fifth Conference of the New Education Fellowship. At this event, Montessori and her son Mario founded the Association Montessori Internationale or AMI “to oversee the activities of schools and societies all over the world and to supervise the training of teachers.”^[68] AMI also controlled rights to the publication of Montessori's works and the production of authorized Montessori didactic materials. Early sponsors of the AMI included Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, and Rabindranath Tagore.^[69]

Peace[link]

In 1932, Montessori spoke on Peace and Education at the Second International Montessori Congress in Nice, France; this lecture was published by the Bureau International d'Education, Geneva, Switzerland. In 1932, Montessori spoke at the International Peace Club in Geneva, Switzerland, on the theme of Peace and Education.^[70] Montessori held peace conferences from 1932 to 1939 in Geneva, Brussels, Copenhagen, and Utrecht, which were later published in Italian as Educazione e Pace, and in English as Education and Peace.^[71] In 1949, and again in 1950 and in 1951, Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, receiving a total of six nominations.^[72][73]

Laren, the Netherlands (1936–1939)[link]

In 1936 Montessori and her family left Barcelona for England, and soon moved to Laren, near Amsterdam. Montessori and her son Mario continued to develop new materials here, including the knobless cylinders, the grammar symbols, and botany nomenclature cards.^[74] In the context of rising military tensions in Europe, Montessori increasingly turned her attention to the theme of peace. In 1937, the 6th International Montessori Congress was held on the theme of "Education for Peace", and Montessori called for a "science of peace" and spoke about the role of education of the child as a key to the reform of society.^[75] In 1938, Montessori was invited to India by the Theosophical Society to give a training course, and in 1939 she left the Netherlands with her son and collaborator Mario.^[76]

1939–1946: Montessori in India[link]

An interest in Montessori had existed in India since 1913, when an Indian student attended the first international course in Rome, and students throughout the 1920s and 1930s had come back to India to start schools and promote Montessori education. The Montessori Society of India was formed in 1926, and Il Metodo was translated into Gujarati and Hindi in 1927.^[77] By 1929, Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore had founded many "Tagore-Montessori" schools in India, and Indian interest in Montessori education was strongly represented at the International Congress in 1929.^[78]Montessori herself had been personally associated with the Theosophical Society since 1907. The Theosophical movement, motivated to educate India's poor, was drawn to Montessori education as one solution.^[79]

Internment in India[link]

Montessori gave a training course at the Theosophical Society in Madras in 1939, and had intended to give a tour of lectures at various universities, and then return to Europe.^[80] However, when Italy entered World War II on the side of the Germans in 1940, Britain interned all Italians in the United Kingdom and its colonies as enemy aliens. In fact only Mario Montessori was interned, while Montessori herself was confined to the Theosophical Society compound, and Mario was reunited with his mother after two months. The Montessoris remained in Madras and Kodaikanal until 1946, although they were allowed to travel in connection with lectures and courses.

Elementary material, Cosmic Education, and Birth to Three[link]

During her years in India, Montessori and her son Mario continued to develop her educational method. The term "cosmic education" was introduced to describe an approach for children aged from six to twelve years that emphasized the interdependence of all the elements of the natural world. Children worked directly with plants and animals in their natural environments, and the Montessoris developed lessons, illustrations, charts, and models for use with elementary aged children. Material for botany, zoology, and geography was created. Between 1942 and 1944 these elements were incorporated into an advanced course for work with children from six to twelve years old. This work led to two books: Education for a New World and To Educate the Human Potential.^[81]

While in India, Montessori observed children and adolescents of all ages, and turned to the study of infancy. In 1944 she gave a series of thirty lectures on the first three years of life, and a government recognized training course in Sri Lanka. These lectures were collected in 1949 in the book What You Should Know About Your Child.^[82]

In 1944 the Montessoris were granted some freedom of movement and traveled to Sri Lanka. In 1945 Montessori attended the first All India Montessori Conference in Jaipur, and in 1946, with the war over, she and her family returned to Europe.^[83]

1946–1952: The Last Years[link]

In 1946, at the age of 76, Montessori returned to Amsterdam, but she spent the next six years travelling in Europe and India. She gave a training course in London in 1946, and in 1947 opened a training institute there, the Montessori Centre. After a few years this centre became independent of Montessori and continued as the St. Nicholas Training Centre. Also in 1947, she returned to Italy to re-establish the Opera Montessori and gave two more training courses. Later that year she returned to India and gave courses in Adyar and Ahmedabad. These courses led to the book The Absorbent Mind, in which Montessori described the development of the child from birth onwards and presented the concept of the Four Planes of Development. In 1948 Il Metodo was revised again and published in English as The Discovery of the Child. In 1949 she gave a course in Pakistan and the Montessori Pakistan Association was founded.^[84]

In 1949 Montessori returned to Europe and attended the 8th International Montessori Congress in Sanremo, Italy, where a model classroom was demonstrated. The same year, the first training course for birth to three years of age, called the Scuola Assistienti all'infanzia (Montessori School for Assistants to Infancy) was established.^[85] She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Montessori was also awarded the French Legion of Honor, Officer of the Dutch Order of Orange Nassau, and was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of the University of Amsterdam. In 1950 she visited Scandinavia, represented Italy at the UNESCO conference in Florence, presented at the 29th international training course in Perugia, gave a national course in Rome, published a fifth edition of Il Metodo with the new title La Scoperta del Bambino (The Discovery of the Child), and was again nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1951 she participated in the 9th International Montessori Congress in London, gave a training course in Innsbruck, was nominated for the third time for the Nobel Peace Prize. Montessori died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Noordwijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, at the age of 81.^[86]

Educational Philosophy and Pedagogy[link]

Early influences[link]

Montessori's theory and philosophy of education were initially heavily influenced by the work of Jean Marc Gaspard Itard, Édouard Séguin, Friedrich Fröbel, and Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, all of whom emphasized sensory exploration and manipulatives.^[87][88] Montessori's first work with mentally disabled children, at the Orthophrenic School in 1900–1901, used the methods of Itard and Seguin, training children in physical activities such as walking and the use of a spoon, training their senses by exposure to sights, smells, and tactile experiences, and introducing letters in tactile form.^[89] These activities developed into the Montessori “Sensorial” materials.^[90]

Scientific pedagogy[link]

Montessori considered her work in the Orthophrenic School and her subsequent psychological studies and research work in elementary schools as “scientific pedagogy,” a concept current in the study of education at the time. She called for not just observation and measurement of students, but for the development of new methods which would transform them. “Scientific education, therefore, was that which, while based on science, modified and improved the individual.”^[91] Further, education itself should be transformed by science: “The new methods if they were run on scientific lines, ought to change completely both the school and its methods, ought to give rise to a new form of education.”^[92]

[edit] Casa dei Bambini

Working with non-disabled children in the Casa dei Bambini in 1907, Montessori began to develop her own pedagogy. The essential elements of her educational theory emerged from this work, described in The Montessori Method in 1912 and in The Discovery of the Child in 1948. Her method was founded on the observation of children at liberty to act freely in an environment prepared to meet their needs.^[93] Montessori came to the conclusion that the children's spontaneous activity in this environment revealed an internal program of development, and that the appropriate role of the educator was to remove obstacles to this natural development and provide opportunities for it to proceed and flourish.^[94]

Accordingly, the schoolroom was equipped with child-sized furnishings, "practical life" activities such as sweeping and washing tables, and teaching material that Montessori had developed herself. Children were given freedom to choose and carry out their own activities, at their own paces and following their own inclinations. In these conditions, Montessori made a number of observations which became the foundation of her work. First, she observed great concentration in the children and spontaneous repetition of chosen activities. She also observed a strong tendency in the children to order their own environment, straightening tables and shelves and ordering materials. As children chose some activities over others, Montessori refined the materials she offered to them. Over time, the children began to exhibit what she called "spontaneous discipline".^[95]

Further development[link]

Montessori continued to develop her pedagogy and her model of human development as she expanded her work and extended it to older children. She saw human behavior as guided by universal, innate characteristics in human psychology which her son and collaborator Mario Montessori identified as "human tendencies" in 1957. In addition, she observed four distinct periods, or "planes", in human development, extending from birth to six years, from six to twelve, from twelve to eighteen, and from eighteen to twenty-four. She saw different characteristics, learning modes, and developmental imperatives active in each of these planes, and called for educational approaches specific to each period. Over the course of her lifetime, Montessori developed pedagogical methods and materials for the first two planes, from birth to age twelve, and wrote and lectured about the third and fourth planes.

Works[link]

Montessori published a number of books, articles, and pamphlets during her lifetime, often in Italian, but sometimes first in English. According to Kramer, “the major works published before 1920 (The Montessori Method, Pedagogical Anthropology, The Advanced Montessori Method—Spontaneous Activity in Education and The Montessori Elementary Material), were written in Italian by her and translated under her supervision.”^[96] However, many of her later works were transcribed from her lectures, often in translation, and only later published in book form.

Montessori's major works are given here in order of their first publication, with significant revisions and translations.

• (1909) Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all'educazione infantile nelle Case dei Bambini
  • revised in 1913, 1926, and 1935; revised and reissued in 1950 as La scoperta del bambino
  • (1912) English edition: The Montessori Method: Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in the Children's Houses
  • (1948) Revised and expanded English edition issued as The Discovery of the Child
  • (1950) Revised and reissued in Italian as La scoperta del bambino
• (1910) Antropologia Pedagogica
  • (1913) English edition: Pedagocial Anthropology
• (1914) Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook
  • (1921) Italian edition: Manuale di pedagogia scientifica
• (1916) L'autoeducazione nelle scuole elementari
  • (1917) English edition: The Advanced Montessori Method, Vol. I: Spontaneous Activity in Education; Vol. II: The Montessori Elementary Material.
• (1922) I bambini viventi nella Chiesa
• (1923) Das Kind in der Familie (German)
  • (1929) English edition: The Child in the Family
  • (1936) Italian edition: Il bambino in famiglia
• (1934) Psico Geométria (Spanish)
  • (2011) English edition: Psychogeometry
• (1934) Psico Aritmética
  • (1971) Italian edition: Psicoaritmetica
• (1936) L'Enfant(French)
  • (1936) English edition: The Secret of Childhood
  • (1938) Il segreto dell'infanzia
• (1948) De l'enfant à l'adolescent
  • (1948) English edition: From Childhood to Adolescence
  • (1949) Dall'infanzia all'adolescenza
• (1949) Educazione e pace
  • (1949) English edition: Peace and Education
• (1949) Formazione dell'uomo
  • (1949) English edition: The Formation of Man
• (1949) The Absorbent Mind
  • (1952) La mente del bambino. Mente assorbente
• (1947) Education for a New World
  • (1970) Italian edition: Educazione per un mondo nuovo
• (1947) To Educate the Human Potential
  • (1970) Italian edition: Come educare il potenziale umano

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Hainstock, Elizabeth (1978). The Essential Montessori. New York: The New American Library. ISBN 0-451-61695-2 978045161695. 
• Kramer, Rita (1976). Maria Montessori. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-201-09227-1. 
• Lillard, Angeline (2005), Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, New York, ISBN 0-19-516868-2 9780195168686 
• Lillard, Paula Polk (1972). Montessori: A Modern Approach. New York: Schocken Books. ISBN 0-8052-3423-3 9780805234237 0805209204 9780805209204 080520394X 9780805203943. 
• Lillard, Paula Polk (1996). Montessori Today. New York: Schocken Books. ISBN 0-8052-4099-3 9780805240993 080521061X 9780805210613. 
• Montessori, Maria (1948). The Discovery of the Child. Madras: Kalkshetra Publications Press. 
• Montessori, Maria (1949). The Absorbent Mind. Madras: Theosophical Publishing House. 
• Montessori, Maria (1914). Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. 
• Montessori, Maria (1912). The Montessori Method. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. 
• Montessori, Maria (1936). The Secret of Childhood. New York: Longmans, Green. 
• Standing, E.M. (1957). Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work. New York: Plume. ISBN 0-452-26090-6. 
• Trabalzini, Paola (Spring 2011). "Maria Montessori Through the Seasons of the Method". The NAMTA Journal 36 (2). 

External links[link]

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• Association Montessori Internationale
• The Centre for Montessori Studies, Roma Tre University
• The Montessori Digital Library of the Centre for Montessori Studies, Roma Tre University
• International Montessori Index
• e-text of The Montessori Method by Maria Montessori
• http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/montessori2.html
• American Montessori Consulting
• The Montessori Foundation
• Transcript of a lecture delivered by Dr. Maria Montessori at the International Montessori Training Course held in London in 1933
• Maria Montessori: Her Life and Legacy 4-minute clip from a documentary film used primarily in higher education.
• Works by or about Maria Montessori in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Biographical Play of Montessori's life
• Maria Montessori Web Site