The Story of Montessori in Barcelona

Montessori Elementary Training of Trainers Program Research paper Date of submission: 17/10/2018 Level of trainer in training: 3rd

Dani Cañigueral Viñals

THE STORY OF MONTESSORI IN BARCELONA The excepcional story of love and affinity between Barcelona and Dr Montessori

Dani Cañigueral Viñals

The Story of Montessori in Barcelona

Index Introduction ............................................................................................................ 3 Political and social context ..................................................................................... 4 The entry of Montessori ideas into Barcelona and the beginning of their application. ....................................................................................................................7 The arrival of Anna Maccheroni and the opening of the Mancomunitat School. 11 The arrival of Maria Montessori in Barcelona ...................................................... 15 Montessori’s international course in Barcelona, 1916. ......................................... 18 The projects of the Mancomunitat of Catalonia and Montessori ........................ 23 The return of Maria Montessori and her work at the school and the SeminariLaboratori de Pedagogia ............................................................................................ 26 Crisis in the relationship between the Mancomunitat and Maria Montessori.... 29 The return of Maria Montessori and the resumption of her activities in Barcelona .....................................................................................................................................37 The XVIII International Montessori Course in Barcelona, 1933 ......................... 40 1936, an unexpected end and the Spanish Civil War .......................................... 44 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 47 Bibliography and main sources ............................................................................ 49 Annex with images .................................................................................................55

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Introduction In the world of education, one of the world’s most popular, best loved and most studied figures has been Doctor Montessori. She was a woman who even at the beginning of the 20th century was active in contributing to the change in trends in modern education. In the years around the two world wars, so turbulent and yet so creative, she was not only able to revolutionize traditional ideas in education, but also to put into practice a very respectful way of permitting self-education in small children. She was a very cultured person with great personal charisma, which aroused all kinds of passions wherever she went. Her speeches always caused a great impression and were inspirational, generating around her admiration as well as at times jealousy and incomprehension. Her work was extensive and there is still a lot to be published and discovered about her. Maria Montessori worked intermittently in Barcelona between 1915 and 1936. Here she found an advanced and active society with people and institutions which inspired and supported her.

The truth is that, as she herself said, she felt like one more Catalan citizen and loved Catalonia as if it were her second homeland. She made her home in Barcelona during a long period of time and developed much of her work there. Unfortunately, little is known of her time in Barcelona and some accounts of this period contain many errors and lack of detail.

When I began to consider researching her stay in Catalonia, I did not know that I would find so many documents about her which had not until now been classified.

My aim has been to catalogue all the information I found and put it together to compile a narrative as close to the truth as possible. I have produced this work basing it above all on events and opinions which have been checked and backed up by documents and the opinions of people who lived through those days in her 3

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company. It has taken many hours, and I must thank many people for their support and assistance. This is only a summary, leaving out many details which enrich the story and which I hope to be able to publish at a future time. I also hope to find more collaborators and more information in order to continue throwing light on all Maria Montessori’s experiences in Barcelona during these years.

Political and social context Maria Montessori was born in Chiaravalle (Italy) in 1870. These were times of great change throughout the world. On a social level, the dominant religious classes and the aristocracy had just begun to give way, gradually, to the middle classes, who had obtained political power. The lower classes, the rural workers and the most humble families also began to claim their rights, achieving a society which was fairer for everyone and less class-based. The birthrate began to increase everywhere, hygienic and sanitary conditions improved and cities and industries began to grow, thanks to advances in science and technology.

This rupture with the old social system resulted in many changes, conflicts and reforms which came about intermittently over the course of many years, up to the present day. Everywhere there was a revival of and increase in importance given to knowledge, science, art and culture in general. Psychology, philosophy, literature and all the disciplines of perceptive thought underwent a change of perspective which led to a new description of the human condition and its roots in nature and its environment. The increase of intellectualism and modernity in the bourgeoisie often contrasted with the precarious conditions in which the poorest people lived in the cities and rural areas. People began to be aware of social inequality and to demand their rights, through revolts and revolutions. In Spain, as in the other European countries, there were outbreaks of political and social instability at the 4

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same time as the intellectual capacity of the middle classes progressed. In Catalonia, industrialization, the introduction of new schools of thought and the flourishing of culture were experienced with greater intensity, and in the mid-19th century the so-called Catalan Renaissance took place. This renaissance of thinking and culture, which mirrored European romanticism, given Barcelona’s restlessness and desire to improve and build its own culture and identity, contrasted with centralist ideas to reinforce the unification of the Spanish state. In short, it resulted in an increased growth of Catalanism in Catalonia, and at the beginning of the 20th century this romanticism changed direction towards more pragmatic ways of life, leading to what we call Catalan Noucentisme. People like Josep Puig i Cadafalch, Francesc Cambó, Eugeni d’Ors, and above all, Enric Prat de la Riba came on the scene in this environment, all of them with clear social vision, great energy and much education, able to lead and organize the country with the modern ideas which were emerging throughout Europe, the City Council of Barcelona and the Diputació Provincial (Provincial Government).

Thanks to the increase in the number of Catalan members in the Spanish Parliament, in 1914 the Madrid government allowed Catalonia to enjoy a degree of self-government, with the union of the four Catalan provincial governments in what was named the Mancomunitat of Catalonia, an institution dedicated to the development and debate of the new ideas of the intellectual minds of the time.

At this time there was considerable exploitation of the working classes and new communist and anarchist ideas came on the scene questioning the established regime. The Spanish government with its colonial and expansionist policies did nothing to help maintain the calm and protests led by workers kept taking place. In 1909, Barcelona suffered two serious revolts, called the Tragic Week, triggered by the Madrid government’s intention to enlist many Catalan citizens in the war, 5

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aiming to conquer territory in Morocco, but which swept up all those who protested against the abuses of the religious and capitalist classes.

This social instability gave more justification to the Catalan institutions such as the Mancomunitat for working to improve the social, sanitary and educational conditions of the population and to this end all types of organizations were created and associations were sought throughout the world. The institution of the Mancomunitat was dissolved in 1923 under the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, which came into being as a response to the social revolts and political instability of the time.

In 1931 the dictatorship fell, and the monarchy with it, giving way to a Republic throughout Spain, and Catalonia took advantage of this to proclaim a unilateral Catalan Republic, which ended up in a type of autonomy for Catalonia, associated with the Spanish state. In 1934, due to the swing of the Madrid government towards centralized, conservative ideas, Spain once again suffered many revolts, above all in Catalonia and Asturias. At this moment the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, LluĂ­s Companys, once more proclaimed the independent state of the Republic of Catalonia, an act which resulted in the proclamation of a state of war and the suspension of the autonomy of Catalonia. In February 1936, throughout Spain a coalition of left-wing parties won the elections and this was the trigger for the military uprising of General Francisco Franco. This was the beginning of a cruel civil war which lasted until 1939 and was followed by a dictatorship which lasted until 1975.

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The entry of Montessori ideas into Barcelona and the beginning of their application.

Around 1907, the entire generation of men and women led by Enric Prat de la Riba directed a great part of their energy towards the creation of a Catalan educational system which would be the key to changing that conflictive society in which they lived. At the beginning of the century, various self-taught professors such as Joan Palau i Vera, Joan Bardina, Pau Vila, Rosa Sensat and Eladi Homs visited foreign countries and a teacher training school was established, followed by a string of private schools such as the Valparadís school, and Mont D’Or1, where the new universal teaching principles were applied. Ideas imported from the United States, England and other European countries found in Barcelona an environment for experimentation and expansion.

Meanwhile, the educational system of Maria Montessori in Italy was spreading.

In 1909 the book which would make her well-known everywhere, Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all'educazione infantile, was published. This book came into the hands of Palau i Vera and he read it with great interest. In Catalonia we find the first reference to Maria Montessori in the issue of the magazine ‘Feminal’ dated 24th September 1911, in an article titled ‘Costures Modernes’, signed by the writer Josep Alemany y Borras. Later, in June 1912, the Barcelona magazine

1

Eladi Homs explains that in 1914 Palau i Vera had just suffered the disappointment of the failure of his Mont d?or

school, which had been the focus of so many dreams in his younger years. Homs, Eladi (1952). Maria Montessori “Barcelonina” .Destino Journal nº 771. Barcelona

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‘Revista de Educación’, directed by Eladi Homs, began to publish a whole series of articles about the Montessori system.

In 1909, Father Antoni Casulleras i Calvet, a Majorcan missionary returned from the Mission of St. Vincent de Paül, Guatemala, with the ambition to found Catholic schools for children from three years of age. He envisioned homes for children attached to churches, and when he heard about the children’s homes of Maria Montessori he realized that this was what he had been searching for. He proposed to Father Frederic Clascar, an influential religious figure in the Casa de la Maternitat (Maternity Home), the application of the Montessori method in the Provincial Children’s and Orphans’ Home in Barcelona. The Provincial Government, led by Prat de la Riba and other intellectuals of the time, such as Eugeni D’Ors and Puig i Cadafal, keen to improve the standard of education in society, decided to try this new methodology which originated in Italy. On 4th August 1913 they created the Consell de Pedagogia 2 (Council for Education) as the principal organism charged with the improvement of the educational system, and it was presided by Enric Prat de la Riba himself, with Josep Puig I Cadafal as vicepresident and Eladi Homs as secretary.

Eladi Homs was one of the first educationalists, along with Alexandre Galí, Manuel Ainaud, Joan Bardina and Palau i Vera, to begin trying out new educational tendencies in Catalan schools. He was appointed by the Council to put forward proposals and make arrangements for the beginning of the application of the Montessori system in the school attached to the Children’s Home. In the minutes of

2 This institution was born the 4th ofAugust of 1913 by Prat de la Riba. Later it would change its name to

Council of Pedagogy

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the meeting of the Casa de la Caritat (House of Charity) on 14th November 1914, Eladi Homs presented a report about the new Montessori-based plan for the children in the centre. In the report he detailed the intention of the Council to create a model school based on the Montessori method, entrusting the task to Palau i Vera. He would have to travel to Rome to visit schools and concern himself with how to try the method with children between three and six years old in the orphanage. At the same time, it would be necessary to reform the buildings, purchase materials and prepare an adequate playground.

When Palau i Vera returned in January 1914, he explained3 that he had been greatly impressed, and that all that he had read in Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all'educazione infantile was correct. Straight away he began to develop his Montessori class in Barcelona. He began by allowing total freedom of movement inside the classroom, and the initial results were deplorable. The children from the orphanage were not prepared for freedom. According to Palau i Vera himself, order, harmony and discipline emerged slowly from that chaos of unbridled and uncoordinated impulses, He also said that after some four or five months some infants managed to learn to read and write in the time of a month and that the discipline was admirable. Despite the sparse training of Palau i Vera and of the nuns in the application of the method, the scarcity of proper materials and the initial problems with the children, that first experiment demonstrated the great possibilities of this new educational system. Some years later, in November 1919,

3 Palau i Vera (1914) Article: Un assaig d’aplicació del mètode Montessori a la casa de la Maternitat de

Barcelona. May 20th, 1914 Barcelona: Quaderns d'Estudi.

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after the death of Palau i Vera, the magazine of the Council for Education, ‘Quaderns d’Estudi’, published the results of that first trial.

In 1914, in Rome, the second International Montessori course was held, and both Palau i Vera and the Council for Educational Investigation considered that, taking into account the great possibilities of this new method, it would be a good idea to send some teachers to be properly prepared and trained. The Barcelona City Council, which managed the municipal schools and was always in the forefront of educational innovation, decided to subsidize the participation of four teachers in the Montessori course in Rome. So therefore, after all the paperwork and the interviews had been completed, there were seven teachers in the party which was sent on a subsidized trip to Rome: Maria Villuendas and and Josefa Roig, with grants from the Provincial Council of Barcelona; Ramona Martí, state-employed teacher with a grant from the Council of Lleida, Celestina Vigneaux, a state-employed teacher (of the Spanish government), and Dolors Canals, Mercè Climent and Leonor Serrano (Barcelona schools inspector) all subsidized by the Barcelona City Council.

The grantees had to write reports about their stay and undertook to give talks and training when they returned, with the idea that the more schools in Catalonia in which the method could be applied, the better. While there, they met Maria Montessori personally as well as her principal associate Anna Maccheroni. When the course finished at the end of May, various reunions were arranged with the group, and the first ‘Escola d’Estiu’ (Summer School) was organized for teachers, giving precedence to the Montessori system.

Each of the seven participants played a different role when it came to publicizing, training and putting the Montessori method into practice. As a result of this publicity, more and more teachers introduced the method into their schools, 10

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especially in Barcelona, but also in Majorca, where Father Casulleras was. The booklet4 produced by the Barcelona Council in 1933 about the Montessori method and state-run schools reports that in the autumn of 1915 the method had been introduced in thirteen Catalan schools, although at that time there were also numerous trials of other educational methods taking place, such as those of Decroli, Froebel and others.

The arrival of Anna Maccheroni and the opening of the Mancomunitat School.

At the beginning of 1914, Maria Montessori was already in written contact5 with the Council of Educational Investigation and was aware of the interest of the Catalan government in her method. Leonor Serrano explains that on her return from Rome she received a letter from Maria Montessori, saying “I would like Spain to be one of the major centres of the movement in Europe; the lively intelligence, willing spirit and deep faith which you displayed here have been a revelation to me. No other people can have the virtues necessary to make this idea triumph with kindness and love. I hope that none of your efforts are ever in vain.”6 In January 1914, Prat de la Riba, seeing how good the results of this method were, proposed its introduction in all charitable schools, and it was thought that more trials could take place with older children up to the age of 10. This was a difficult task and they did not have adequate training, so they needed help. In

4 Ajuntament de Barcelona (1933). L'escola pública de Barcelona i el mètode Montessori. Barcelona: Barcelona City Council

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Letter from Maria Montessori to the council offering a substantial discount to the students who came from Barcelona 6 Serrano, Leonor (1915). La pedagogía Montessori. Estudio informativo y crítico presentado al Ministerio de Instrucción Pública y al Ayuntamiento de Barcelona. Madrid

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Milan, since 1911 they had experimented with children up to 10 years old, and other European schools were also trying out these new materials with more advanced children. The Council for Education therefore proposed to Maria Montessori that someone should go and begin the application of the method with older children.

The doctor’s reply was positive and she asked Anna Maccheroni to spend four months introducing it in the orphanage in a class at elementary level, with boys and girls who were already prepared for it.

In January 1915, Maccheroni sent a letter to the Council saying that she would arrive at the end of the month, and she asked that Leonor Serrano, who she already knew from the course in Rome, should go and meet her. She arrived by ship from Geneve, and was greeted with honours almost suited to an ambassador, both at private and official levels. During the first few days she made various visits, one of which was to Antoni Gaudí in his studio at the Sagrada Familia, where a Montessori school was established. She identified straight away with the city and its culture and by September of that year, 1915, she could already read and write perfect Catalan. At a later date Anna Maccheroni explained what a good impression Barcelona had made on her.

The first thing she did was go and visit the place which would later be her classroom at the children’s home. Maccheroni describes the visit in great detail, emphasizing the architectural beauty of the building and describing how moved she was by those children who had grown up without the warmth of their parents. She remembers ‘the corridors, the lovely building, the shiny floors and all the children with their white uniforms, but expressionless and quiet, almost lifeless.’ She was much affected on thinking that they all only had one mother figure and that the nun had to be permanently attentive so that chaos did not reign. She was angry and upset at the situation of those children and their mothers.

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In light of the situation, she said that a first trial of the method could not be carried out with this type of children, because they had to be children who had lived with their parents. As a result, the Council decided to organize the school themselves. On 14th February 1915, establishing a new school was not contemplated, but based on Anna Maccheroni’s proposal, Eladi Homs put it into practice. Eladi Homs had in fact been dedicating a large portion of his work to this project for some time, and he was assisted by Alexandre Galí, a renowned educationalist and member of the Council. For the new school they needed to choose middle-class, respectable children, and this would serve as the base for future, larger-scale educational studies.

The new school opened on 1st March 1915 in a rather improvised fashion, in small rented premises at 23 Principal, Carrer Universitat. The director was Anna Maccheroni, her deputies were Josefa Roig de Pujol and Maria Villuendas. They counted on the assistance of Frederic Clascar and Higini Anglès for religion, Pompeu Fabra for development of language, Francesc Galí for artistic education, Joan Gibert for music and Miquel Carbó for hygiene. The idea was that the school should benefit from the presence of specialists in different disciplines who would contribute to the success of the trial.

The first day began in the classroom which would in the future be the elementary class with only five children between five and seven years old, who had never had any contact with the Montessori method. Maccheroni describes the day as very boring: the children picked up cylinders and other material but had no concept of choice. After a few days more children arrived and the class for the youngest children was opened. In April 1915 there were two classes: one for the smallest children with Josefa Roig, and another for the older ones with Maria Villuendas. At this time they began to incorporate new furniture and materials. Much of the 13

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material was brought from Italy and various businesses in Barcelona were contracted to construct it. Anna Maccheroni wanted Homs to realize the importance of beauty and order, and the use of art, flowers and decorative objects gave the classroom a homely atmosphere.

From the outset, religion was a topic which they wanted to prioritize in the Montessori school. Father Higini Anglès7 was put in charge of religious education, trying to follow Maria Montessori’s way of working. He was quite convinced that this system was compatible with the traditional teaching of the Christian catechism.

The result of this work in religion which was carried out in the first Montessori schools was that the Abbot of the emblematic monastery of Montserrat invited members of the project to his liturgical congress from 3rd to 10th July 1915, where Anna Maccheroni gave a conference. From here on, many religious schools applied the Montessori method.

When the school year finished in July 1915, there were 34 children in the school.

This first experiment went very well and it was necessary to carry on with the adaptation of the boys and girls, extending Anna Maccheroni’s stay in Barcelona indefinitely.

In that July of 1915, it was already known that Maria Montessori would soon go to Barcelona to head an international course, and it would be necessary to have the school in an adequate state to serve as a showcase classroom for students. In September 1915 they found premises at Carrer Diputació 61, and although they were bigger and better, they would soon also prove to be too small, obliging them to move again after a year. In March 1916, the school had a long waiting list and continued

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Higini was a musicologist who later, in 1947, he would go to the Vatican in Rome, to direct the Pontifical Institute of sacred music

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in hope of the improvements in education which the Mancomunitat wanted to promote.

The arrival of Maria Montessori in Barcelona At that time, Maria Montessori had left her job at the University of Rome and was dedicating all her time to her own work. She had given courses at national level in Italy and two international courses in Rome in 1913 and 1914, and after having written two books in 1909 and 19108, in 1914 she published her third book, Manual práctico del método Montessori (Practical manual of the Montessori method), and she was starting to prepare the publication of a new book about the education of older children. One of her important projects was to find a place where she would have human, social and economic support to help the practice of her method and to train teachers. She had everything prepared to go to London and run a course, but with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 Spain, which did not take part in the war, was a better option. Montessori made a great commitment to Barcelona, sending her associate there and keeping in constant touch with her by letter. Anna Maccheroni kept Montessori informed about the warm welcome and institutional support which her project had received, and about the cooperative, innovative and lively character of the people. Undoubtedly these emotive letters made up Montessori’s mind; her father was ill and being cared by Anna Fedeli9 in Italy, and she repeatedly wrote to him from the United States insisting that he should go to Barcelona with Maccheroni, but he refused to do so.

8 Maria Montessori (1909). Il metodo della pedagogia scientifica applicato all’educazione infantile nelle case dei bambini. Rome: Città di Castello, In the following years, this book is translated into over 20 languages.

The English edition is titled The Montessori Method. and the Spanish version was edited in 1910 by Araluce editions and named L’Antropologia pedagogica (Pedagogical Anthropology).

9 Friend and faithful Italian collaborator of Maria Montessori since1905, she followed her in her trips and projects until her death in 1920

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At this time Maria Montessori had recently taken charge of her son Mario10, who was 15 years old, who she presented as her nephew, since he was the fruit of an illicit relationship with doctor Giuseppe Montessano, and this was disapproved of in society. Even though she was more or less set on going to Barcelona for the course, Maria Montessori had commitments in the United States, where she had already been in 1913. That visit to the United States was very intense, and meanwhile her father’s health declined and he died in November at the age of 83. In Barcelona they were waiting for her with enthusiasm, but because of difficulties in communication, everything seemed uncertain.

In principle she should have arrived in the summer of 1915, but then it seemed that she would not arrive at all, until finally Maria Montessori set out for Spain by ship on 19th December, with Adelia Pyle11 and her son Mario. Anna Maccheroni was given the task of going to meet them at Algeciras and to bring them to Barcelona after spending a few days in Madrid. Various letters have survived from Fedeli, who was in Rome, to Homs, enquiring after the arrival of Montessori, and from Eladi Homs to Maccheroni keeping her informed about everything and encouraging her to make the most of their stay in Madrid to establish contacts and promote Montessori with the intellectuals of the moment. Homs was keen to promote Montessori and attract the maximum number of people from the rest of Spain to the course.

They travelled from Algeciras to Madrid and spent three nights in the students’ residence before heading to Barcelona. They planned to arrive on the 22nd

10

The son of Maria Montessori (that she presented as her nephew) who, despite being called Mario Montessori, had to put his father's last name first to follow the Spanish legislation. Therefore he was called officially Mario Montessano Montessori and he wrote Mario M. Montessori 11 Adelia Pyle was a Presbyterian teacher from the United States, from a well-off family. She met Montessori in a course in Rome and followed her projects until 1925. In 1916, she changed her name to Mary Pyle in Montserrat when she was baptized as a Catholic, which resulted in her rejection by her family. She continued to live fervently religious life in Italy until her death in 1968.

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December in the evening, but they finally arrived by train at 8.30 in the morning on 23rd. We know that Miss Terris, Mrs. Carner, Mr. Vantolrà of Rubí and Father Casulleras were all keen to go and meet her. In Barcelona the doctor met up with Anna Fedeli who had arrived from Rome on 19th December and who, despite being exhausted, had to begin preparation of the course.

The arrival of the doctor coincided with Christmas and this resulted in feelings of optimism and excitement, both for the doctor and for everyone who was waiting for her in Barcelona. Homs explains that throughout Barcelona she encountered recognition, respect and warm greetings and also explains the well-known anecdote about Maria Montessori’s tears. That Christmas Eve, she attended Midnight Mass at the church of Our Lady of Pompeia, and she received Communion in the company of her intimate friends, going afterwards to the Palau de la Música, (concert hall) where the Orfeo Català performed the traditional Christmas concert. She sat in the middle of the private box of the provincial council, and was the centre of attention of all those present. The clear voices and the music moved her deeply. Maria Montessori was especially moved by the music of the Cant dels Ocells. The sweet, melancholic solo voice of the singer Andrea Fornells made her release her pent-up emotions and dissolve into tears which at first she could not contain, and she had to withdraw from the front of the box. She wept along with others in the Palau, and this was an indication of the connection which had been created among them.

Masccheroni wanted to excuse her emotional weakness, which had attracted much attention, by explaining that her state of mind was affected by the recent death of her father, and that without her father she was greatly comforted by knowing that she was loved by a community which was sensitive to spiritual values and which understood the human importance of her work. They loved her and she loved them in return.

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Homs affirms12 that Maria Montessori and the Catalans who took her in were united by a Christian, scientific and artistic philosophy and for this reason they were able to connect. From the first moment, the connection between the doctor and Catalan culture was very intense and emotive.

Among the first things she did in Barcelona were to visit various schools, different personalities and Maccheroni’s school. She was so impressed with the school that she sent a couple of telegrams to the United States, asking her friend Margaret Wilson, daughter of President Wilson, to visit her13.

Montessori’s international course in Barcelona, 1916.

In Barcelona in 1915, various Montessori training activities had already been held. Homs had organized the second Summer School for teachers, where Anna Maccheroni had given eight classes and that July a travelling Montessori course took place. At that time there was a lot of interest in and demand for courses, and in November, as a run-up to the doctor’s course, a short Montessori course was held.

However, the main focus of attention was the international course which the doctor herself was to give. Its organization began in October, but due to difficulties in intercontinental communication it could not be completely organized until the doctor had arrived. Once Maria Montessori had arrived in Barcelona in December, they had to move quickly to complete the organization of the course, which, originally planned for January, had to be postponed until February. The course

12 13

Homs, Eladi (1952). Maria Montessori “Barcelonina” .Destino Journal nº 771. Barcelona

There is a handwritten note from Maria Montessori to Margaret Wilson (daughter of President Wilson in Whitehouse, Washington) in January 1916. The literal text for the telegram was: ‘Would you please and your coming Barcelona to observe wonderful elementary school experiment.’(sic)

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secretary and principal director was Eladi Homs and he had already been searching everywhere for participants in the Montessori method to guarantee the maximum attendance at the course. They had to rapidly decide the structure and details of the course, print all the advertisements and spread the word immediately. The publicity was ready just in time for the month of January in Catalan and Spanish, and the course was described with the title ‘Doctor Maria Montessori, doctor of medicine and education, The basis of scientific educationalism, infant teaching in Case dei Bambini, primary teaching to ten years, and teaching in the Catholic religion’.

The course was intended for anyone who had a connection with education, parents were also invited, and they encouraged town and provincial Councils, and the Ministry to allow their teachers to attend and to pay their fees. Infant and primary schools managed by councils in Catalonia had no problem in obtaining permission, but the Madrid government looked unfavourably on the proposal of the Mancomunitat of Catalonia for educational renewal and believed that the intention was to spread Catalan propaganda. The Minister passed a decree forbidding teachers of state schools to absent themselves from their work to attend this course.

This also affected sixteen teachers in Catalonia who had already received grants to attend the course, and Maria Montessori herself, Eladi Homs, the Rector of the University of Barcelona and the Mayor of Barcelona protested to different people in the Spanish government. Finally, after a strongly-worded letter of protest from fifteen Members of Parliament and Senators to the Minister, permission was granted, but only to the sixteen Catalan state-employed teachers. This meant that the course was attended by students from all over the world and from Catalonia, but none from the rest of Spain. In consequence, the use of the Spanish language was in the minority, and this roused much criticism in Madrid, seeing that the image of Spain was diminished in the eyes of the foreigners attending the course.

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Another objective of the course was to achieve the participation of all the private schools, mostly Catholic, and to bring about an educational revolution throughout the Catalan schools. Many approaches were made to the Bishop, to the order of Escoles Pies, (religious schools), the Capuchins, and influential people in the religious world, to underline the similarity between the Montessori method and Catholicism and its good deeds.

In London, Mr. Bang, the organizing secretary of the Montessori course which was to have taken place in London but was suspended due to the war, helped Homs to register students for Barcelona. Bang only received the publicity in Catalan and Spanish, and was doubtful about how the course would be translated, and also about the teaching of the Catholic religion, something not shared by many English people.

Homs answered that there would be full translation to English and that they were very tolerant with all religions. Finally Bang was able to organize the inscription of five English students in the course. Other contacts were made throughout Spain and in councils and other institutions to attract students to the course. As a result of these actions, the course had the participation of 187 students and more than 50 observers. Of these 187, 50 were students funded by Catalan institutions, 20 by the Mancomunitat, 25 by the Barcelona council and other towns and cities, one funded by the Council of Pamplona, a teacher from Santander paid for by the publishers ‘Araluce’, and five students from the Faculty of Science, funded by Adèlia Pyle14.

The inaugural talk took place at the premises of the ‘Centre excursionista’ (Excursionist Centre), Carrer Paradis 10, Barcelona, on 16th February at 6 p.m.

Every week, four sessions of theory were held from 6 to 7 in the evening on

14

Ms. Pyle pays the tuition fees for five students of the University of Barcelona: Enriqueta Ortega, Antonio Batlle and Mestre, Julio Monraset, José Mª Mestre-Rander (faculty of sciences) Juan Crexells i Vallhonrat (faculty philosophy and letters). From Eladi Homs’ personal archive.

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Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in the same assembly hall in Carrer Paradís. A total of 38 classes were held, finishing on 10th May. Every weekend the students were given a translation of doctor Montessori’s lessons, and finally a book was published which contained them all. The Council for Education also published an edited version of each lesson. Based on these publications, we can discover the content of these 38 lessons, which were divided into five lessons about the basics of science applied to human development and of scientific teaching methods which form the foundation of the educational proposal; two lessons about educating the senses and sensorial material; three lessons on the role of the teacher; four lessons about learning to read and write; three about the materials for grammatical study with new materials for older children dealing with morphology and syntax; one about music, one about movement and physical education; three lessons about mathematical materials which include materials for the older children for powers and other operations; two about geometry including areas, fractions, volumes and angles; two discussed the study of science tied in to the development of the imagination; seven treated the psychological and practical aspects of the free development of will, intelligence and concentration which lead to self-development; two about how to carry out anthropological and physical studies of the children’s progress and charts of the children’s work, and two about how to objectively assess the development of the children’s intelligence. One of the last talks was given by Father Antoni Casunellas, explaining how religious education was taught in the Mancomunitat’s school, and praising the method. There were also explanatory classes about the use of materials, practical use of materials, and observation in schools with children.

In the closing speech on 10th May a brief resumé of the method was presented, it was compared with Catholicism and it was stated that the best road to peace is 21

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through education. At the end of the course, written and oral examinations were held. A total of 130 people took the exams, but the diplomas were awarded after 8th June, because they still had not been printed. The weekend of 19th/20th May, the students organized a banquet at the Hotel Tibidabo in honour of doctor Montessori.

The students gave her thank-you gifts, one of them a Catalan-style chair, which she was already familiar with. The other was a large, artistic bust of the doctor, commissioned in April by students of the course. However, the bust would not be finished until the end of August 1916, and since Maria Montessori did not return to Barcelona until some months later, it is not known when the bust was given to her.

Eladi Homs judged the course to be a great success despite the rush to organize it and the state of war in Europe. The Catalan institutions had participated greatly – the whole city had committed itself to the change in education. Eladi Homs was also grateful for the support of the regional political party and forecast a great future for Montessori education. At that time the rest of Spain showed no interest in the method. At the end of the course, the ‘Friends of Maria Montessori’15 group was formed, as well as an Overseeing Committee to watch over the good running of the Montessori schools.

During the course, Montessori had received offers to give talks and visit different Catalan towns, but when it ended, she was overcome by the exhaustion resulting from those two intense years which had begun in California, and she needed to step back and call a halt to this frenzied activity. She cancelled all the plans she had in Catalonia and a more relaxed stay as a tourist was organized for her in Majorca. On 6th June, with Mary Pyle, she boarded the ship Jaume I and set out for Majorca, where her son Mario had already arrived. Anna Maccheroni for her part was in

15

That was suppressed with the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in September 1923

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delicate health and her doctors advised her to enjoy the pure air of the Garrotxa.

For this reason she spent the months of July and August at ‘Mas Esparenchs Hostalets’ in Sant Esteve d’en Bas, where she rested and received news from Homs.

Maria Montessori returned from Majorca earlier than planned, and decided that Mario should return to the United States to continue his studies, while she and Pyle would spend the summer in Paris. Later they also went to Rome, Italy, and the United States, and it was not till the end of 1917 that the doctor returned to Barcelona. In that summer of 1916, Anna Fedeli, who had returned to Rome before the end of the Barcelona course, was waiting for Montessori to arrive, but when she did not, receive any answer, one day she turned up in Barcelona, where she only found Homs. She stayed a few days in Barcelona, sleeping in the school itself in Maccheroni’s bed and eating at Homs’s house, before returning to Italy.

The projects of the Mancomunitat of Catalonia and Montessori The political situation in Madrid at the beginning of 1916 was of some hostility towards Catalonia’s pretensions to self-government, but thanks to a great victory of the Catalan regional league in the elections of 9th April, its prospects began to improve. It seemed that the major project of the Mancomunitat, to be able to intervene directly in many aspects of Catalan life, could become a reality. Even though at that time the Mancomunitat did not have complete power in the fields of culture and the universities, they were able to establish an important organization for primary and secondary education and studies for the teachers. In this context, 23

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they began to plan the continuation of the trials of the method, from primary level through secondary and arriving at advanced studies.

In that summer of 1916 Homs, in his letters, explained to Montessori and to others the project of the Institute of Secondary Education, which would have to be officially called the Seminari-Laboratori de Pedagogia to obtain the authorization of the Madrid government, since they did not have any powers in secondary education. In letters from 9th June 1916 onwards, Eladi Homs explained to Maria Montessori, who at that moment was in Majorca, the project for an Institute which he had been drafting with Prat de la Riba, Puig i Cadafal and Eugeni d’Ors. They were at that time drawing up the project to present it to the provincial government, and they were certain that it would be approved with generous funding. He explained to her that they wanted to appoint her as director and that they were already looking at buildings which could host Anna Maccheroni’s school, which would be the future Institute, called the Laboratori de Pedagogia Experimental (Laboratory of Experimental Education) to avoid official problems with its legality in Madrid. At the moment it would consist of the existing infants section, plus older children up to secondary level, although later they would also take on orphans and handicapped children. He was confident that they would obtain 50,000 pesetas to do this. Eugeni D’Ors, for his part, would have a laboratory of experimental psychology, smaller than his, with 1,600 pesetas. Thanks to the support of many members of parliament and senators that year in Madrid, they obtained the government’s permission to go ahead with the project.

Finally they found a big enough house adjoining the Carrer Diagonal, called Torre Grasses, so that they could transfer the school from Carrer Diputació 262 and transform it into an Institute. They moved on 5th October 1916 and had to begin all over again with the adaptation of the children, the building and the new teachers.

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Despite the initiation of the new project in Barcelona, Maria Montessori had to attend to other obligations and did not return to Barcelona until the winter of 191718. At the school in Barcelona she had her outstanding associate Anna Maccheroni who made sure that everything ran according to her instructions, and Eladi Homs and Alexandre Galí, as representatives of the Council of Education in all this project, collaborated with then to ensure the smooth running of the experiment and its future expansion into secondary education.

The first year at the school was a difficult one, due to the problems of adaptation, but armed with a lot of patience and hard educational work they once again began to see good results. Apart from running the school, Maccheroni also had the role of Montessori Guide, promoting the methodology, maintaining contact with the Mancomunitat, ex-pupils and the city Council and receiving visitors to the school.

She was also in contact with Prat de la Riba, the political sponsor of the project, who in 1917 died of malaria, and with Puig i Cadafal, who would later succeed Prat de la Riba as president of the Mancomunitat.

Another person who at that time became increasingly important in his collaboration with Maria Montessori was Jaume Bofill i Mates, a poet, reporter and politician who used the literary pseudonym of Guerau de Liost, and who was a member of the Mancomunitat and a member of the Council of Education. In one of the letters from her personal files dated 29th August 1917, Maccheroni wrote to him in Catalan accepting Bofill’s proposal to the Barcelona City Council to unify the management of the Montessori schools in the city, and praising his role in their promotion. The Council, which at that time had power over the organization of primary education, had various Montessori schools which it managed efficiently with regular inspections and specific rules.

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The return of Maria Montessori and her work at the school and the Seminari-Laboratori de Pedagogia After the course in 1916 Maria Montessori did not return to Barcelona despite having agreed to initiate the project with the Mancomunitat. She had been in Milan, Paris and Rome, before finally travelling to the United States. At the beginning of 1917 she was in New York, establishing contacts and resting, and in the spring she went to Los Angeles, where she held a course for teachers. Her son Mario, still introduced as her nephew, fell in love with Helen Christy and at the age of 18, in December 1917, they got married in San Francisco. After the wedding, Maria Montessori returned to Barcelona and the young couple went on a long honeymoon to South America, finally returning to Barcelona in 1918, where from that time onwards they would live with Maria Montessori.

Because of her long absence and her decision to go to the United States, some of her followers in Barcelona were afraid that Montessori would not return, and some, like Homs, felt let down. But Montessori had promised to return, and therefore in January 1917 the Council for Education awarded her the position of professor of education and they began to draw up the statutes of the Seminari-Laboratori de Pedagogia (research centre and workshop for education) in anticipation of her return.

When Maria Montessori returned in 1918 she established her residence in Barcelona in the Torre de l’Angel at the foot of Vallvidrera, and as soon as she arrived she began to help manage the school with Maccheroni, Homs and Galí.

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Maccheroni, however, was ill again and in March she asked the Council for six months’ absence to rest16.

The Council for Education wanted to commit Montessori to this educational renovation, and they spent almost a year drawing up statutes governing the educational workshop. In October they named her director of the Mancomunitat’s school and co-opted member of the Council of Education, and now she would have a fixed salary for all her positions and would be able to attend all meetings where decisions were made about the management of education. Finally statutes were approved for the Seminari-Laboratori de Pedagogia, including a rule which obliged the doctor to conduct trials in Barcelona, conferences and frequent reports about her work. The official headquarters of the seminary were established in the school on the Diagonal, to make trials, work and observation easier.

As a member of the Council, in June 1919 Montessori succeeded in organizing a training course for young nursery nurses in the children’s home, to reform the training that they were given. At this time Montessori directed the school which now taught 120 boys and girls, and she was happy and thankful. Despite being a Montessori school, they also experimented with other methods, for example with that of Dalcroze. Maccheroni said17 that the children adapted very well to participation in group activities because they had a large degree of self-control.

Maccheroni explained that any misbehaviour was corrected only by words or looks, without resorting to punishment, and that the atmosphere was of harmony and perfect order.

16

In the minutes of the pedagogy council of March 8, 1918, a letter from Anna Maccheroni is mentioned asking for absolute rest for health problems. She rested for six months.

17 (1919) Article: with Dr Montessori in Barcelona. Times Educational Suplement (1stbof May of 1919, p 208) interview of 20th April of 1919

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In November 1918 the World War ended and in London they were making preparations for the course which Montessori could not hold because of the war.

Montessori needed Anna Maccheroni for the course and informed the Council of Education that she had a commitment in London. Since the school would be without her and without Maccheroni in charge, the doctor took the trouble to leave written instructions as to what had to be done, she left a substitute director and personnel in charge of everything so that the change would be noted as little as possible.

On 10th July 1919 Maccheroni was the first to leave the school, with an emotional farewell from the parents and children of the school She was going to prepare everything for the course waiting for the doctor, who arrived on 30th August.

Maccheroni would never return to Barcelona,. The Montessori’s arrival was spectacular, as if she were a queen, she was awaited at the port and a welcome ceremony had been arranged. Her son and Anna Fedeli attended the course with her and it was a great success. Out of 2,000 people who subscribed, 250 were accepted . The course began on 1st September and ended hurriedly in December before the last lesson was given, due to the sudden serious illness of Anna Fedeli, who had to return to Rome immediately. Montessori dropped everything and went to Rome to be with her. After a few days, in January 1920, she returned to England for a tour of ten days visiting schools. Meanwhile Anna Maccheroni decided to stay longer in the United Kingdom to give talks, courses, supervise schools and in other words continue the work of the doctor there. On 4th February the Council of Education would receive Maccheroni’s letter of resignation from the school in Barcelona.

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Crisis in the relationship between the Mancomunitat and Maria Montessori Thanks to a long, confidential letter18 sent by Maria Montessori to Mr. Bofill during that stay in London at the end of 1919, the problems which the Mancomunitat school were facing during that time are revealed. Homs and Maccheroni could not work together because of differences of opinion and temperament. Galí and Eladi Homs were competing for the control of the school and Galí decided to go over the head of the director appointed by the doctor and change some of the teaching staff who had been suggested by the doctor in favour of teachers more akin to his way of thinking.

Montessori returned to Barcelona on 5th February 1920, somewhat worried by what had been happening in the school during her absence, but also excited and keen to restore the situation both in the school and in the laboratory. She resumed her activities, trying to recover her authority and confidence in her, and gave very well-received and celebrated talks. When possible, she attended the meetings of the Council of Education and met often with her circle of friends.

That April, she left again for a short tour visiting the Sorbonne in Paris, Milan and Rome, and when she returned in May, she went to Majorca with her family, since her granddaughter19 was in delicate health.

At the school, Maria Montessori still had opposition in the background from Homs and Galí, and although she was quite clear about how the elementary class

18 Long and confidential letter from Maria Montessori from London to Bofill on the state of the Montessori school in Barcelona. Handwritten letter in Italian and with the logo of the London Training Center. Fons Bofill i Mates of the Biblioteca Nacional de Catalunya 19 June 16th, 1919, Marilena, the first daughter of Mario M. Montessori was born in Barcelona.

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should be run, she often said that she needed to find teachers with enough training for the job. She needed someone to take on the leadership of the school like Anna Maccheroni had done, since the doctor, due to her many commitments all over the world, could not assume the day-to-day running of the school personally.

Meanwhile Galí and Homs went to the Council and used the difficulties in the elementary class as an excuse to claim the directorship of the school which had been the object of so many dreams, and in which they also wanted to offer other ideas and educational systems.

This crisis of confidence in the school coincided with an important crisis between the Mancomunitat and the influential politician Eugeni D’Ors. Ors, who was becoming very powerful, was acting selfishly, making controversial decisions and was even suspected of mis-use of funds. Since he was in charge of the Seminari de Psicologia, alongside doctor Montessori, the Institute of Catalan Studies20 wanted to study its operation in depth, carrying out a sort of detailed inspection. The repercussion of this was that they also inspected other centres, including that of doctor Montessori. In that year, Mr. Pompeu Fabra was asked to begin the task of revising the work carried out at the Seminari-Laboratori de Pedagogia to determine whether it was complying with its regulations.

Meanwhile at the Council of Education, Maria Montessori could not convince them to return the control of the Mancomunitat school to her. The alleged problems of organization and in the class of the older children, and the continued complaints of Homs and Galí resulted in the Council deciding to restructure the school and transfer the trials of the Montessori method from the Seminari-

20

Higher body responsible for laboratories-seminars, which is similar to what would be the ministry of culture and education of the Mancomunitat of Catalonia.

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Laboratori to the school attached to the children’s home. In a Council meeting, the doctor insisted that her intention was to create something worthy and useful in Catalonia, but to do so it was necessary to ensure that the conditions were favourable, and at this moment they were not. Finally in June 1920 the Council decided on the reorganization of the school and the Seminari-Laboratori. The Seminari would move from the school to the children’s home, directed by Maria Montessori, they would still keep their income and would liaise with the Casa de la Caritat, which would provide premises and resources. Conversely, the Mancomunitat Montessori school would now be run directly by the Council itself, and would be reorganized so that it could move forward rapidly to include secondary education.

Since Maria Montessori participated personally in all these decisions, she convinced the Council to add a clause guaranteeing her control of the school since it bore her name. She accepted that another person would direct the school but she would have the last word in all matters affecting the educational side. That meant choosing the director and the teaching staff, and that she could provide guidelines so that her teaching system was preserved in the school. Her proposals were accepted and the first thing she did was look for a director who she could trust. She asked Antoni Battle Mestre, who she had left in charge while she was in London, but he declined the offer, saying that since he was religious, it would not be appropriate.

Then Eladi Homs wrote to the doctor asking for the directorship since he was the one who had started the project, and he promised to comply with her orders.

Finally, Maria Montessori entrusted the position to Homs and accepted the reshuffle of the school.

The solution did not work out as the doctor had hoped, because Homs was not willing to renounce his personal opinions on education, especially regarding the 31

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class of the older children. As a result of this, on 4th August 1920 the Council minutes recorded a letter of complaint and resignation from the management of the school, from Maria Montessori. In it she explained her motives, which arose from the disagreements with Homs and the bad application of her method. She said that Eladi Homs had obtained the directorship of the school after requesting it, but her experiences during the subsequent days showed that Homs and she had different visions of education, he was more traditional, and she had no say in choosing teaching staff or in deciding discipline within the school. Since Homs did not share her principles and would not allow her to have a decision in important matters, she proposed leaving the school definitively with all her team, including Mrs. Roig i Villuendas. She also asked them to remove the name Montessori from the school and she would only continue at the children’s home with the Seminari-Laboratori with sufficient funding. All the other staff of the Seminari-Laboratori did the same as her, resigning from the school and from the Council of Education. The official notification of the doctor’s resignation from the Council, however, would be effective from 1st October of that year.

Meanwhile, Montessori had to be occupied outside of Barcelona since he did not attend the seminar-laboratory. Those days, the Institute of Catalan Studies, was continuing to investigate the running of the Mancomunitat’s seminars. In the minutes of their meeting of 29th January 1921 they expressed doubts about the compliance with their regulations and decided to carry out an in-depth inspection.

In the minutes of the meeting of 14th April 1921 the results of the first investigations at the Seminari-Laboratori de Pedagogia began to be understood. The centre had not been functioning for some time since it had moved to the children’s home and there were not enough children there to carry out the trials. Furthermore, the doctor was away, and it was considered to be courtesy to await her return before 32

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officially beginning the inspection. Even so, they began collecting information and a preliminary visit to the laboratory was made, where thanks to Mr. Battle and doctor Alzina all the details were obtained which were necessary to form a clear picture of how everything had progressed and what work had been done. They then proceeded to describe the work done up till that point: some written descriptions of past conferences, materials, especially relating to geography, which had been made for the school, and some unfinished reports which they intended to put in order and publish one day. The person in charge of the inspection stated that when they went to begin to investigate whether all the regulations had been complied with, suddenly and unexpectedly all the staff of the laboratory together presented their resignation handing over a document. At that moment the doctor was not in Barcelona and she did not experience the events, but she was in agreement with the resignations. The Institute of Catalan Studies accepted the resignation, which officially took effect from 1st October even though the doctor was absent. They expressed deep sadness at having lost the trust of the person who at that time was such a positive influence in Catalan culture, and also expressed their great admiration and esteem for her and her associates.

Regarding other centres, those of Philosophy and Education eventually disappeared due to a lack of efficiency, but conversely they decided to give another chance to that of Psychology, appointing as director Georges Dwelshauvers, a Belgian psychologist who had been working with the Mancomunitat for some time.

After a few years this would also be dissolved because of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera.

The main cause of the growing distance between the doctor and some of her first associates can be found in opinions voiced at later dates. In an article in 1952, Homs attributed it to vanity and jealousy, lack of understanding, the fact that the 33

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trials with older children appeared to be a fabrication which had no resemblance to the original project, and that Montessori then decided to go to Holland. Whereas Homs said that he had always been enthusiastic and had trusted in the goodness of the method for teaching in Catalonia, Galí had been very critical about tying teaching to one official method and making it evolve for older children; he searched for pluralism of method and said that the teachers themselves had ended up taking over the Mancomunitat school to do as they wanted. Galí also had a negative opinion of the workings of the Seminari-Laboratori de Pedagogia.

So in that year, the close collaboration between the Mancomunitat of Catalonia and Maria Montessori came to an end, although the Catalan institutions and Town Councils did not abandon the application of the method in their schools and training was still carried out. In the same year the proposal of doctor Montessori to hold a training course for the teaching staff of charity schools was put into motion, without the direct participation of the doctor. The Barcelona City Council also carried on with its support of the Montessori schools. The matter of the misunderstandings between the doctor and the Mancomunitat was kept out of public knowledge.

In 1922, Montessori received an invitation from the Ministry in Italy, where Mussolini had just taken control, to hold a course in Naples, where her method had the support of the government. There she continued to develop her method over a long period with government support. Montessori then thought that he would never again work in Barcelona and in 1928 she left Barcelona with the rest of his family21.

They went to live in Naples (1923-1924), in Milan (1924-1926) and in London until their return to 1927.

21

Mario's second son, Mario Jr was born in 1921

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Following the resignation of Maria Montessori from the Mancomunitat school, the trials of the method in children up to ten years of age were definitively abandoned and Mr. Alexandre Galí eventually took over the directorship and leadership of the school, whose name was changed from Montessori to the Escola Graduada de la Mancomunitat.

In September of 1923 Primo de Rivera seized power, on the pretext of restoring order and putting an end to the multiple protests of workers, communists and anarchists throughout the country and also to the Catalan separatist politicians. In Catalonia this meant a return to centralized politics, the suppression of the Catalan language and of its institutions. Any type of popular Catalan symbolism was suspended, including its flag, its anthem, Catalan symbols and the use of Catalan in official proceedings, street signs and announcements. During the first few months, the management of the Mancomunitat’s institutions was progressively changed, and it was now run with a new perspective, promoting traditional, catholic and spanish education in its schools. Finally in 1925 the Mancomunitat and its school were dissolved, alleging that it was not because of its Montessorian character, but because of its Catalanism, closely tied to its status as a school with scientific educational methods.

Meanwhile, Mr. Alexandre Galí seized the opportunity to take all the pupils and teachers from the graduate school and found a new school, supported by a society constituted by members of the old school. The ‘Blanquerna’ school followed the Montessori method only with small children, and clearly stated that the method was not used with older children. The school opened in October, 1924 with much publicity and advertising, and kept growing until it was closed down by the next dictatorship, of General Franco.

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Montessori far from Barcelona was living mostly in Italy where his method gained government support and she often traveled to other places in Europe, giving talks and courses. She gave talks and meetings in Vienna, London, and in Amsterdam, where the Dutch government wanted to change its educational system in line with the doctor’s ideas. In London she already had set up a fixed international training course which was held every two years, and she also visited France, Germany, Brussels, Argentina and Ireland. She had a lot of work in Italy, holding courses in Naples, Milan and Rome, but Mussolini was beginning to demand more and more control over the training of teachers.

Meanwhile in 1927, the Montessori family rented a house in Barcelona, at Calle Ganduxer 27, where in particular the wife and three children22 of Mario Montessori resided, since he, like his mother, kept on with his projects and travelling which distanced them from Barcelona. This situation must have had an influence on Mario’s relationship with his wife Helen Christy, because in 1936 they finally divorced.

During those years, Mario Montessori worked with his mother to establish an International Montessori organization which would defend her ideas over and above different national and individual adaptations, avoid erroneous interpretations and organize schools, courses and publications worldwide. In 1929, as part of the International Montessori Congress held in Denmark, the Association Montessori International (AMI) was founded. Maria Montessori, whose ideas were based on philosophy, religion and science, had been convinced of the benefits of the support of the Mussolini government with the aim of generalizing her method in Italy, being

22

In 1925 Mario had his third son Roland in Italy. In 1929 the fourth child, Renilde (a daughter), would be born.

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especially grateful for its support in overcoming obstacles, and its energy and power in helping to put her method into practice. With the course of time, though, the ideological differences between the two became unsustainable. She advocated peace, individual liberty and following a child in his own development, and Mussolini was becoming more and more militarized, he was authoritarian and wanted to control the population through indoctrination and fascism. Even though another course was held in Rome in 1931 and 1934, Montessori ended up returning to Barcelona and in 1936 Mussolini closed all her schools in Italy.

The return of Maria Montessori and the resumption of her activities in Barcelona From 1927, Maria Montessori again had a home in Barcelona and she had kept in contact with many of her old friends and associates in the Catalan capital. In September 1929, the doctor gave a lecture23 in Barcelona about the education of mentally disabled children and she had already thought about resuming her activities in Barcelona. In an interview24 which she gave in April 1929, Maria Montessori said that she missed Barcelona and that she was returning to live there.

She explained that although Mussolini had created real Montessorian schooling in Italy, she felt understood and loved in Barcelona and therefore had decided to return to live there. Even though she had a permanent residence in Barcelona, Maria Montessori continued with her projects and courses in London, Rome and other many places i Europe.

23 Apart from The Namta Journal (US Montessori Magazine), Mario M Montessori published a summary of that conference in the journal of AMI Communications.

24 1929 interview with Maria Montessori Magazin La Esfera (Madrid, 1914) 4th of May 1929, No. 800, page 37-38

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In Spain in 1929 the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, which had closed down the Mancomunitat and the majority of its projects, was still in force. Everything changed after Primo de Rivera’s resignation in 1930 and thanks to the results of the 1931 elections and the abdication of King Alfonso XIII, the second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. Despite the dictatorship, many Montessori schools had continued to operate and the satisfaction obtained in following the task begun by the doctor years before was still evident. With the new change in politics, there would be a rebirth of understanding and support of Montessori. The main promoters of the recovery of the movement in favour of educational reform following Montessori’s principles, were the City council with Manuel Ainaud at its head, and later the newly recovered Generalitat of Catalonia (Catalan government). With this favourable scenario and the presence of the doctor and her family in Barcelona, it was time to resume activity and indeed it was the most active period of the doctor’s time in Catalonia. One of the first things they did was recover the ‘Associació d’Amics de la Pedagogia Montessori ‘ (Association of Friends of Montessori Education) which had been created in 1916, and change its name to Societat Montessori (the Montessori Society), in line with its name in other countries. Their ideas were very clear: create a normal, fixed school for teachers, where they would hold training courses for teachers, talks aimed at parents and society in general; promote the establishment everywhere of medical and educational facilities prepared to help with the correct growth of children; promote children’s clubs which they could attend freely to do craftwork or play educational or scientific games; to help to eradicate in schools all teaching practices based on pressurizing children, substituting them with more human and effective methods; and they wanted to collaborate with all institutions to do anything which was for the good of a general

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improvement in education and in defence of children, following Montessori principles.

The main tasks which were carried out during these years up to 1936 were the organization of the XVIII International Montessori course in Barcelona, a technical Montessori course attended by 100 students, an official national course25 for teachers in the first three months of 1936, many conferences, the publication of a monthly newsletter, a monthly Montessori magazine (during 1935), the organization of a museum of materials and work of Montessori pupils (in Carrer Còrsega), the organization of a permanent Montessori advice centre for schools and teachers, the creation of a placement office for Montessori teachers and the support for the International Crusade for the development of children’s rights. Starting from 1933, and also thanks above all to the publication of the Montessori magazine in 1935, this society became well-.known and its number of members increased greatly throughout Spanish society.

At that time the Barcelona Council gave special support to the Montessori schools in the city which were best run, and on 19th April 1932 it was announced that the Montessori school in Carrer Aribau, which was run by Dolors Canals, was moving to a chalet in Carrer Còrsega, where in addition there would be an exhibition dedicated to the work and photographs of schools in Barcelona which had adopted the method. The centre was intended to become a model school for infants and primary level children for the training of Montessori teachers, and its name was changed to Casa dels Nens – Institució Municipal Montessori. (The house of children – Municipal Montessori Institution). The festival for the opening of the

25 A diploma exists from a student (Carmelina Rubí Moncada) from a parallel course to the one in London, which says that she is competent to apply the method having completed the classes, practical observations and written and oral examinations. It is signed by Maria Montessori. It is specified that after two years it would not be valid if it is not verified that the holder of the diploma is well applying the method. From AMI archives.

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school was held on 14th November 1932, and enjoyed the presence of many notable figures, including the mayor of Barcelona, and Maria Montessori herself. Dolors Canals, in her speech, spoke of Maria Montessori as someone who loved the Catalan land which she had made her home, and she asked her to regard this new school and institution which was being opened today as her own, so that she could help with advice and with the training of new teachers. Continuing the Council’s campaign in favour of public Montessori schools, on 11th March 1933, coinciding with the XVIII International Montessori Course in Barcelona, a booklet titled ‘L’escola pública de Barcelona i el mètode Montessori’ (Public education in Barcelona and the Montessori method) was published, including speeches which had been made at the inauguration of the Carrer Còrsega school and a look back at the beginnings of the methodology in Barcelona and at the first schools which practiced it.

While in 1932 Maria Montessori carried on with her activities outside Barcelona, the new President of the Generalitat, Francesc Macià, opened the way towards its own management of the education system, and reached agreement with the mayor of Barcelona and with the Spanish minister for Public Instruction, to give complete support to the new International Course which was to be held in Barcelona.

The XVIII International Montessori Course in Barcelona, 1933 The organizer of the course at the time was the Montessori Society, but counting on the full support of the city Council, the Spanish Ministry and the Generalitat of Catalonia. A total of 320 people took part. Conferences on theory were held by the doctor, there were conferences dedicated to the explanation of materials, practical lessons with materials, and observation classes. The structure announced for the 40

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course was the same as that of previous courses, where there were some sixty theoretical classes. But finally the doctor gave 34 talks, seven were given by an unknown speaker and there were around 21 conferences using materials. Some 60 hours of practical work were also announced, of which 34 were carried out, and observation from nine to 34 hours. The inauguration finally took place at the City Council’s Sala de Cent, on 11th March 1933, and the closing ceremony was on 30th June in the “Sala de Sesions del Palau de la Generalitat’ with the presence of the President of the Generalitat and the mayor Aguadé. Written and oral exams were held and when the course was over, various procedures were followed up with students and with the participating bodies.

In that year, 1933, after the XVIII International Course in Barcelona, Montessori travelled all over Europe giving talks and holding courses. At the International Congress in Rome in 1934, the final breakdown of relations with the Mussolini government was consolidated and, since then, the doctor never lived in Italy again.

In Barcelona there was an increase in the publication of Maria Montessori’s works. Editions in Spanish of her first books had been published years ago, as well as a Montessori booklet in cartoon form, but at that time the doctor had many ideas and proposals for publications with the publishers Araluce, who were giving her so much support. In 1933 a booklet was published titled ‘El método de enseñanza Montessori’ (The Montessori teaching method), a summary of the application of the method in different parts of the world. In 1934 the book ‘Psichogeometria’ and the book ‘Psicoaritmètica’ were published in Spanish for the first time, in Barcelona.

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The following year, the book ‘La Santa Misa vivida por los niños’26 (the Holy Mass as experienced by children) was published as part of the religious work carried out in the Montessori schools. We know that other books, for example one on psychogrammar were being prepared, but were never published by her27.

In 1935, the Montessori Society, under the direction of the doctor, edited a monthly magazine which ran for 12 months. In the first number, Maria Montessori presented the magazine as a campaign to extend the defence and protection of children throughout Spanish-speaking countries, since it was necessary to defend children if society was to be reconstructed. The results of the publication of this magazine surprised even the publishers, since after the first number, the Montessori Society received requests to send the magazine all over Spain and Latin America.

In Madrid at the time there was also much interest in the methodology and a Montessori Society like that of Barcelona was founded.

In the month of May 1933 a Montessori Week was held in Madrid, as a continuation of the course in Barcelona, but the doctor could not attend, although in the following year, on 19th, 21st and 23rd June 1934, she gave three talks there and was preparing a Latin American course, which never took place.

In 1935, Montessori initiated an important campaign titled ‘La croada pro drets dels infants’ (The crusade for children’s rights). From then onwards, the majority of the doctor’s public appearances and interviews and the activities of the Montessori Society would be directed towards the promotion of this crusade. Montessori

26

Montessori, Maria (1936). La santa misa vivida por los niños. Barcelona: Araluce editorial. It was sold at

a price of 3,5 ptas. It was first published in English in 1932.

27

It was published after his death in 2017, in Italian by Franco Angelgel.

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explained that in many countries where the Montessori Association was represented, this compaign, which should last for many years, had been started and it would serve to organize adults to result in the awakening of the consciousness of children. She believed that the crusade would be well-received by everybody in the same way that the importance of hygiene in society had been accepted. She demonstrated her determination to follow the crusade in favour of the question of children’s place in society, all over the world. The Montessori Society created committees to publicize the campaign for children’s freedom throughout Catalonia, holding conferences and forming committees of associates and radio programmes to discuss the matter. On 2nd May, as a part of the crusade, the doctor also began a series of conferences on the Radiò Associació de Catalunya (Station EAJ3), every Thursday at 8.15 p.m. during 22 days. These conferences would resume on Thursday from June 3, 1936 until July 15, when they were suddenly interrupted due to the civil war. Transcripts of nine of them can be found in the Montessori magazine28.

Taking advantage of the doctor’s great activity in Barcelona, the schools, City Council and the Generalitat organized a big party to offer their thanks and homage to her. The multitudinous party was held on Monday 24th June 1935 in the Palau de Projeccions at Montjuic, with the participation of students from all the principal Montessori schools of the city, and the doctor made a call for the defence of children’s rights.

The doctor had another important project to put into practice, which was that she herself should control trials of the methodology with older children. After the failure of the Mancomunitat school, she decided to open an experimental school

From the 1st to the 9th conference they are transcribed in the Montessori magazines in 1935 from May to December.

28

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with her new Italian associate, Maria Antonietta Paolini. The school, which was situated in the family home at Carrer Ganduxa 33, was inaugurated in October 1935.

1936, an unexpected end and the Spanish Civil War Those last years in Barcelona, Montessori teaching was achieving great importance and recognition, but in 1936 it all ended with the sudden break-out of the Spanish Civil War. Due to important differences between the Catholic, conservative classes and the more progressive and anarchists, after the elections of 1936, won by a left-wing coalition, there was a military uprising throughout Spain.

At first, the military revolt in Barcelona failed thanks to the city’s anarchistunionist militias which took over the city. Then they began to suppress all those elements accused of being ‘fascists’ or contrary to the republican revolution.

Anarchist gangs began to murder many religious figures and to burn down churches and convents, since the Church gave its support to the military revolt, calling it the ‘national crusade’. The Montessori school at the Sagrada Famila was burned down and some churchmen and acquaintances of Maria Montessori were killed during this period. Maria Montessori was in Barcelona at the time and she had reason to be afraid. Even though she was not really in danger due to the fact that her work renewing the education of children was valued, some could criticize her for her narrow ties with the Catholic church, and even for her past relationship with the fascist regime of Mussolini.

The fact that on 28th July Maria Montessori had to go to Oxford to hold some conferences allowed the British government, through the Royal Navy, to rescue her with an official embassy car. At that time she was living with Helen and her 44

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grandchildren29 Mario junior, Roland and Renilde, and although she wanted to take Roland and Mario junior with her when she escaped, when they went to fetch her at her home she was informed that there was only room for her, since the ship was a small torpedo carrier. Finally, in August, the two grandchildren together with Maria Antonietta Paolini would also go by boat to meet up with their father Mario and Maria Montessori in England.

At this time her son Mario was in London, unaware of the plans of the British Navy, and he wanted to go to Barcelona to be with his mother. Mario was afraid that since he was Italian and Catholic he would be arrested and imprisoned when he entered Spain, so he decided to travel incognito with his friend Albert Joosten who was German and in no danger. Later Mario explained that just as they were arriving at the Spanish border they heard on the radio that his mother had been rescued by the Royal Navy.

Maria Montessori went first to England and then to Amsterdam where she was warmly welcomed by the Pierson family. From that moment, the Netherlands became her home. She founded a teaching centre and a model school there in Laren, near Amsterdam, where for the first time new materials for Cosmic Education were used with elementary pupils. The AMI also moved its headquarters there. At that time in the Netherlands there was great institutional support and more than 200 Montessori schools.

Meanwhile in Barcelona, despite the prolongation of the Civil War until 1939, the Republic did not surrender and republican reforms continued to take place at all

29 Marilena was in England, not in Barcelona

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levels. This ended in 1939 after numerous air attacks on Barcelona and the victory of General Franco. The post-war period was terrible, with especially hard repressive measures against those who had been against the military rising and who had supported the Catalan institutions and its culture. Many were imprisoned and executed, one of whom being the President of the Generalitat, Lluís Companys. But in Catalonia there was also a total suppression of Catalan language and culture. The statutes of autonomy and the Generalitat were abolished, symbols and expressions of Catalanism were banned along with all public acts in Catalan and the Catalan press. People favourable to the regime were placed at the head of all the institutions and they began to reverse the republic’s initiatives to improve the educational system and all support for interactive schools and the new methods they applied was discontinued. Many of Maria Montessori’s friends and associates in Barcelona were linked to the republican and Catalan period and they lost support, were banned from working, went into exile or were imprisoned by the new fascist regime which came into being.

For her part, Maria Montessori carried on her work in Holland and around Europe. International courses and congresses were still held every year and after World War II broke out in 19136 Montessori went to India where he was waiting for a three-month course. The war made her decide not to return to Europe and for seven years she continued she carried on with her trials, accompanied by her son Mario, in India, where they continued to develop her plan of cosmic education for older children. When she returned, she was very active publishing many books and trying to reverse the damage which the war had caused to children’s education. She received many honorary distinctions from many countries in the world and she was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Maria Montessori spent her last

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very active days in her house in Amsterdam (now the headquarters of the AMI) and died in 1952 at the age of 81 during a brief break in Noordwijk (Netherlands).

Maria Montessori spent her very active days in her house in Amsterdam (now the headquarters of the AMI) and died in 1952 at the age of 81 during a brief break in Noordwijk (Netherlands).

In 1936 Mario and his wife Helen divorced, and Helen decided to continue living in Barcelona. In 1947 Mario married Ada Pierson in Holland. His children were widely travelled, and they gave eleven great-grandchildren to Maria Montessori.

Some of the members of this large family carried on participating to a greater or lesser extent in the development of the Montessori method around the world, especially Mario’s children Mario junior and the youngest daughter Renilde. She was the one who stayed longest living in Barcelona with her mother. We also know that Marilena Montessori, called Elena in Barcelona, spent time in Barcelona because Eladi Homs had the address of the house where she lived with her mother in Barcelona, Carrer Herzegovina 33. Currently only one son of Renilde Montessori, Saulo Matute Montessori, still lives in Spain, in Mansilla, Logroño.

Conclusion Maria Montessori was always highly industrious, starting off projects everywhere and searching for the best people and institutions to support her cause in defence of children, to build a better society. In Barcelona she found everything that she was looking for, and if not for the Civil War we don’t know if she would have continued her work there. Her relationship with the Catalans and with Barcelona went further than mere institutional support, she felt loved and understood by these people and dedicated many of her ideas and her energies to them, and these have survived until 47

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the present day in Catalan schools in the form of active education. Our pending obligation is tocall attention to her legacy to Barcelona and to convey our knowledge of it throughout the international Montessori community.

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Bibliography and main sources (2018) Pedagogia, política i transformació social (1900-1917): l'educació en el context de la Fundació de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans Ajuntament de Barcelona (1933). L'escola pública de Barcelona i el mètode Montessori. Barcelona: Barcelona City Council Alatri, Giovanna (2015) Il mondo al femminile di Maria Montessori, regine, dame e altre donne. Roma: Fefè Editore.

AMI (1966). Anna Maria Maccheroni 1876-1965. Communications Special Issue 1966-3. Amsterdam: AMI. Canyigueral Vila, Mireia (2015) Un segle del mètode Montessori a Catalunya:1914-2014 “Upublished”Tesina del Màster en Pedagogia Montessori Universitat de Vic Comissió de Cultura de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona (1933). L’Escola pública de Barcelona i el mètode Montessori. Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona.

Corominas, Agustí (2014), Els Mestres públics a Catalunya: converses, autogestió i gformació (1903-1936). Barcelona: Ed Rosa Sensat.

Cots i Moner, Jordi (2007) Article: Alexandre Galí (1886-1969): L’aposta per l’educació. Curs d’Alts Estudis sobre cultura, política i societat (1907-2007), Secció de Filosofia i Ciències Socials. Barcelona Retrieved from http://www.iec.cat/butlleti/pdf/108_butlleti_cots.pdf Galí, Alexandre (1978). Història de les institucions i del moviment cultural a Catalunya (1900-1936).Barcelona: Fundació Alexandre Galí 49

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González-Agàpito, Josep (1986) Article: Eladi Homs I la Mancomunitat de Catalunya. Retieved from http://www.raco.cat/index.php/quadernsVilaniu/article/viewFile/107727/135374 Kelpin, Fred. The Montessori family, a family tree. Retrieved from http://www.kelpin.nl/fred/download/montessori/english/montessorisengels.pdf Kramer, Rita (1976). Maria Montessori, A Biography. Cambridge Massachusetts: Perseus Publishing.

Maccheroni, Anna Maria (1956) Comme Conobbi Montessori. Roma: Edizioni Vita Dell’infanzia.

Maccheroni,Anna Maria (1947). A true Romance, Dr Maria Montessori as I knew her. Edinburgh: Montessori Trust.

Marazzi, Giuliana () Montessori e Mussolini: la collaborazione e la rottura.

Retrieved from http://dprs.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/292.html Monés, Jordi (2011). La pedagogía al segle XX, Els seus referents. Barcelona: Pagès Editors.

Monés, Jordi i Pujol-Busquets (2012). Article: The post-war pedagogical renewal in Catalonia (1950-1980). Sarmiento, Anuario galego de historia da educación, 2012, 16: 57-71. ISSN: 1138-5863 Monés, Jordi i Pujol-Busquets. Article: La renovació pedagógica a Catalunya.

Quaderns d’història. Barcelona. Retieved from http://www.raco.cat/index.php/quadernsVilaniu/article/viewFile/107725/135372 Montessori, Maria (1915). The California Lectures of Maria Montessori. The Montessori series volume 15. Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company. Amsterdam Montessori, Maria (1916). Unamed official translation of 1916 Maria Montessori Barcelona lectures to Catalan given to students for personal use. Barcelona: Diputació de Barcelona 50

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Montessori, Maria (1930). La auto-educación en la escuela elemental.

Barcelona: Editorial Araluce.

Montessori, Maria (1934). Psico-aritmética. Barcelona: Editorial Araluce.

Montessori, Maria (1934). Psico-geometria. Barcelona: Editorial Araluce.

Montessori, Maria (1965). The Advanced Montessori Method vol II. Madras India : Kalakshetra Publications.

Montessori, Maria (1989). The child, society and the world, The ClioMontessori series . Oxford: Clio Press.

Montessori, Maria (2012). The 1946 London Lectures, The Montessori series volume 17. Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company. Amsterdam Montessori, Maria (2013). The 1913 Rome Lectures, The Montessori series volume 18. Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company. Amsterdam Montessori, Maria (2015) Maria Montessori Writes to Her Father. Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company.

Montessori, Maria (2017). Psicogrammatica. Barcelona: Editorial Araluce.

NAMTA Journal (2017) The NAMTA Centenary Exhibit (2017) A Montessori Journey: 1907-2007. Burton OH: North American Montessori Teachers’ Association.

Portell, Raimon i Marqués, Salomó (2006) Els Mestres de la república. Sta Perpètua de Mogoda: Ara llibres S.L. Radice, Sheila (1920) The new children. Talks with Dr Maria Montessori. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company.

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Ramachandran, Rukmini (1994). Creative development in the child, The Montessori approach, Volume Two. Chennai, India: Kalakshetra Press.

Rosa y Alberty, Ricardo (1918) Relatório del Curso Internacional de Pedagogia scientífica de Dr Maria Montessóri de Barcelona 1916. Anuário da Casa Pia de Lisboa.

Sáiz, Milagros y Sáiz Article, Dolors (2005) .Article: La estancia de María Montessori en Barcelona. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Revista de la Historia de la Psicología. Retieved from https://ddd.uab.cat/pub/artpub/2005/132998/revhis_a2005v26n2p200.pdf Sanchidrián, Carmen i Ruiz Berrio, Julio (2001) Historia y perspectiva actual de la educación infantil. Biblioteca de infantil nº 28. Barcelona: Ed Graó.

Serrano, Leonor (1915). La pedagogía Montessori. Estudio informativo y crítico presentado al Ministerio de Instrucción Pública y al Ayuntamiento de Barcelona. Madrid Serrano, Leonor (1928). La nueva educación: El Método Montessori. Barcelona: Publicaciones de la Revista de Pedagogía.

Smaridge, Noah (1965). The light within. The story of Maria Montessori. New York : Hawthorn Books.

Soldevilla, Fernando (1917). 1916 El año político, año XXII. Madrid: Imprenta y encuadernación de Julio Cosano. Retieved from http://www.bibliotecavirtualmadrid.org/bvmadrid_publicacion/i18n/catalogo_ima genes/imagen.cmd?path=1026506 Soler Mata, Joan (2009) Tesi doctoral: La renovació pedagògica Durant el segle XX. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. Retieved from http://diposit.ub.edu/dspace/bitstream/2445/43097/1/JSM_TESI.pdf Standing, E. M. (1962). Maria Montessori, her life and work. New York: Plume.

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The 1933 Montessori Lectures from the Montessori International Barcelona training in Italian and in Catalan. From AMI and from Barcelona archives.

Toran, R i Cañellas, C. (1977). Article La Pedagogia, motiu d’enfrontament polític. El primer Curs Internacional Montessori de Barcelona. Del llibre Pedagogia, política i transformació social (1900-1917): l'educació en el context de la Fundació de l'Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2008). Barcelona: Institut d’Estudis Catalans Magazines, journals and newspapers Montessori, Maria and several authors of Sociedad Montessori (1935). Revista Montessori. 12 magazines from January to December 1935. Barcelona: Editorial Araluce.

(1911-1917)Feminal . Barcelona: La ilustració catalana Communications. Amsterdam: Association Montessori Internationale (1915-1924) Quaderns d’Estudi. Barcelona: Consell de Pedagogia

Brochures of the Barcelona International Montessori trainings, Barcelona 1916, 1933.

(1916-1939) Catalan and Spanish National press.

International press Public Library: Biblioteca Nacional de Catalunya. Catalan Government.

Dolors Canals (1913-1936). Personal handwritten notes.

Personal archives of Eladi Homs family Historical Museum: 53

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Museu d’història de Barcelona. Col·lecció Miró. Barcelona City Council Archives: Arxiu de la Diputació de Barcelona. Barcelona Arxiu Municipal de Barcelona. Barcelona City Council.

Arxiu Contemporani de Barcelona. Barcelona City Council AMI Archives Interviews and collaborations from: Antònia Canals (Dolors Canals niece) Carolina Montessori (Maria Montessori’s great-granddaughter) Elvira Homs (Eladi Homs’ daughter)

54

A group of students of the 2nd International course in Rome, 1914, attended by the seven grant-supported students from Cataluña. Taken from the book SERRANO, Leonor (1915). “La pedagogía Montessori. Estudio informativo y crítico presentado al Ministerio de Instrucción Pública y al Ayuntamiento de Barcelona” Madrid.

Maria Montessori giving an International Course in Rome (1914) . Serrano, Leonor (1915). La pedagogía Montessori. Estudio informativo y crítico presentado al Ministerio de Instrucción Pública y al Ayuntamiento de Barcelona. Madrid

The classroom of the ‘Casa de la Maternitat’ before and after the first trials of the system in 1914 by Palau i Vera. Images taken from the magazine 'Quaderns de'Estudi', April 1920, from the article 'Un assaig d'aplicació del métode Montessori a la Casa de la Maternitat en Barcelona'.

The Montessori classroom of the school of the ‘Casa de la Maternitat’ in Barcelona. From the archives of the AMI, Amsterdam.

The buildings of the ‘Casa de la Maternitat’ at les Corts, Sarrià in Barcelona. Photograph from http:// barcelodona.blogspot.com/2017/09/ casa-de-la-maternitat-les-cortsde.html

Music at the Mancomunitat school.

AMI Archives.

Maria Montessori with a pupil at the ‘Casa dels Nens’, 1916. Photo Ballell Maymí, Frederic

Anna Maccheroni, training in Barcelona in 1916 Biblioteca Nacional de Catalunya

Municipal School (1930-1934), Source, Fotográfic, Barcelona. Dominguez Martí, Josep Fons. AFB1-001

Elementary classroom of the Casa dels Nens, carrer Aribau 155 (192232). Ajuntament de Barcelona (1933). L'escola pública de Barcelona i el mètode Montessori. Barcelona: Bar-

Elementary classroom of the Casa dels Nens, carrer Aribau 155. The lesson in silence. Ajuntament de Barcelona (1933). L'escola pública de Barcelona i el mètode Montessori. Barcelona: Barcelona City Council

Municipal school, carrer Ataülf 12, (1920-1932) Dances. Ajuntament de Barcelona (1933). L'escola pública de Barcelona i el mètode Montessori. Barcelona: Barcelona City Council

Municipal school Carrer Ataülf 12 (19201932) Birds. Ajuntament de Barcelona (1933) L'escola pública de Barcelona i el mètode Montessori. Barcelona: Barcelona City Council

Children's home, carrer Córcega 268 (1932). In the background is the teacher Francisca Canals. Source - Antonia Canals.

Catalan-style chair, used in the 1916 course, which was afterwards presented to doctor Montessori as a gift from the students. Image archives from the central headquarters of the AMI, Amsterdam.

Card from Maria Montessori, with a note to Bofill regarding a meeting on 20th January 1919. Biblioteca Nacional de Catalunya.

BBust of Maria Montessori, gift from the students of the International Course of 1916 to the doctor. Its last known location before the museum was the Casa dels Nens, carrer Aribau. Museu d'història de Barcelona.

Images of Mario Montessori and his wife Helen in Barcelona.

Taken from the book SCHOCCHERA, Augusto “Introduzione a Mario M Montessori” Roma, Edizioni Opera Nazionale 1998

Maria Montessori at the Radio Associació de Barcelona in 1933. Image from the magazine of Catalunya Radio 'Activitats de la Radio Associació.

Maria Montessori and her son Mario Montessori at Tibidabo, Barcelona. Image archives from the central headquarters of the AMI, Amsterdam.

Students from the XVIII International Montessori Course in Barcelona, 1933 in the gardens of the Montessori school at C/Cรณrsega. Photo taken from the book 'Maria Montessori, a centenary anthology' published by the AMI, 1970

Maria Montessori supervising examinations at the 1933 International Course in Barcelona. AMI archives, Amsterdam.

Celebration banquet for the end of the 1916 International course. Photo taken from the newspaper 'Ilustració Artística', 2-51916, page 15.

Montessori classroom in Lleida, a gift to Maria Montessori on 14th March 1934 from one of her pupils, Ramón Jaen. AMI archives, Amsterdam.

Diploma awarded by the National Montessori course, held in Barcelona in April 1936. AMI archives, Amsterdam.

Some materials from the Montessori schools in Barcelona from the years 1914 - 1936, from the Museu d'Història de Barcelona