MONTESSORI, Maria (Chiaravalle, 1870 - Noordwijk, 1952)Lettera autografa a Olga Ossani [1898]

Letter written on both sides of a 21×13 cm sheet of paper, headed ‘Orthopaedic and Phonetic Teacher Training School of the National League for the Protection of Children with Disabilities'

Maria Montessori (Chiaravalle, 1870 - Noordwijk, 1952) was an Italian educator, teacher, and physician, known for the educational method that bears her name. Montessori was the first woman to attend the Faculty of Medicine at La Sapienza University in Rome. In 1898, her son Mario was born from a relationship with a colleague whom she did not marry. In 1914, she went to New York with her son to promote her educational method. In the same year, she moved to Spain, where she remained until after the end of the world war. In 1924, the Society of Friends of the Montessori Method, which she founded, was transformed into a non-profit organization, taking the name Opera Nazionale Montessori, with offices in Naples and Rome, and Benito Mussolini himself as its honorary president.
In the 1930s, she lived in Barcelona, then in Amsterdam, and from 1939 in India until the end of World War II. In 1946, she returned to Amsterdam, where she was awarded the Legion of Honor. 
Her social activism in the areas of women's emancipation and rights was also noteworthy. Together with Olga Ossani, she represented Italy at the International Women's Congress in London in 1889. In February 1906, La Vita, a Roman daily newspaper edited by Olga Ossani, published Il proclama (The Proclamation), written by Maria Montessori, calling for women's suffrage. In March of the same year, a petition by women was presented to Parliament to obtain the right to vote, signed by Montessori and Ossani, among others.
Among her numerous writings in scientific journals, speeches at international conferences, and books, the following are particularly noteworthy: L'antropologia Pedagogica (Pedagogical Anthropology), 1903; Sexual Morality in Education, 1908 The Method of Scientific Pedagogy Applied to Child Education in Children's Houses, 1909; Self-Education in Elementary Schools, 1916; Manual of Scientific Pedagogy, 1921; The Discovery of the Child, 1950.

Olga Ossani (Rome, 1857 - Rome 1933) was an important journalist and writer. She was an active promoter of the Italian feminist movement, strongly supporting, through her journalistic writings, women's right to vote, to study, to equal working conditions and to divorce. She began her journalistic career in Naples in 1883 with her first contributions to the fortnightly magazine Cronaca bizantina. The following year, the journalist Edoardo Scarfoglio introduced her to Capitan Fracassa. In 1884, she moved to Rome, where she met Gabriele D'Annunzio, with whom she had a romantic relationship, and journalist Luigi Lodi, who became her husband in 1885.

In the following years, she intensified her journalistic activity, collaborating with numerous newspapers, often signing with the pseudonym Febea. During those same years, she and her husband purchased the villa in Santa Marinella, where they hosted the intellectuals of the moment during the summer months, including Trilussa, Pietro Mascagni, Luigi Pirandello, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Maria Montessori, Matilde Serao, Eleonora Duse and Grazia Deledda. In the years that followed, Olga Ossani combined her intense journalistic activity with an active commitment to women's rights. Together with Maria Montessori, she was the Italian delegate to the International Women's Congress held in London in 1899.