Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in Italy and was a medical doctor and educator specializing in early childhood education. She is also known as Italy's first female physician. After graduating from the University of Rome, she faced various forms of discrimination in the male-dominated Italian medical society. She began her career at a psychiatric hospital, where she worked on educational therapy for disabled children. Her research expanded into experimental psychology and education, influenced by the theories of French physician Seguin, and achieved significant results. From 1904 to 1908, she taught educational anthropology at the University of Rome's Faculty of Education.

One day, while observing an intellectually disabled child enthusiastically playing with breadcrumbs on the floor, she noticed the child's craving for sensory stimulation. She began providing the child with toys that involved the use of fingers, which dramatically improved the child's intelligence, surpassing that of healthy children at the time. This became the foundation of the sensory education method in what is now known as "Montessori education."

From the beginning of her work with intellectually disabled children, Maria felt that the methods she used were not limited solely to the education of children with disabilities. Eventually, she had the opportunity to adapt her educational methods for normally developing children when the Rome Real Estate Association established childcare facilities for low-income families and entrusted Maria with their supervision and guidance.