Officer de la Légion d’ Honneur on 29 November 1949

Enjoy a virtual tour of Maria Montessori's Study, narrated as if she were guiding us herself:

On the 18th of September 1950, the University of Amsterdam conferred an honorary doctorate on me, in pedagogy. I was delighted that my grandson Mario accompanied me on this occasion, and you can see him sitting in the front row.
When I thanked the board of governors for this great honour, I expressed the gratitude and pride that so many Montessori schools had been realised in Amsterdam. Obviously this was down to the efforts of my dear Dutch students, but what also helped greatly was the cooperation of the Amsterdam municipal authorities, who supported our work so generously. And yet, none of this would have come to fruition if, from the very beginning, the Dutch Minister of Education had not implemented changes to the law that greatly encouraged the free development of educational possibilities. For this, I am truly grateful!