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Montessori education started ove 100 years ago. Maria Montessori, an independent thinker ahead of her time, continues to be an inspiration.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the founders of Google attribute their innovative business style to their Montessori education. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales are also ex-Montessorians.
The Sims designer Will Wright was educated at a Montessori school where he enjoyed its emphasis on creativity, problem solving, and self-motivation.
"Montessori taught me the joy of discovery...It showed you can become interested in pretty complex theories, like Pythagorean theory, say, by playing with blocks. It's all about learning on your terms, rather than a teacher explaining stuff to you. SimCity comes right out of Montessori-if you give people this model for building cities, they will abstract from it principles of urban design."
Amongst other notable people with a Montessori history as pupils or teachers are:
Anne Frank (Dutch diarist), Helen Keller, Friedensteich Hundertwasser (Austrian painter/architect), Sean Coombs/Puff Daddy/P Diddy (rapper), actors Helen Hunt and George Clooney, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (author), Lea Salonga (singer/actress), Princes William and Harry, Nigel Kennedy (violinist), Tana Ramsay (chef/writer) and Sybil Elgar (National Autistic Society founder).
Famous people who were associated with Maria Montessori, supported Montessori's education and peace work or have sent their children to Montessori schools include:
Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Mahatma Gandhi, Richard Buckminster Fuller, Cher, Bill + Hillary Clinton, Anna + Sigmund Freud, Leo Tolstoy, Bertrand Russell, the Dalai Lama, Jean Piaget, Jackie Kennedy, Henry Ford and Bob Geldof.
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"We celebrate the centenary of the Montessori Schools which have contributed so much to the education of young children."
David Cameron, Conservative Party Leader, June 2006
"Montessori really understand child development, they understand children's needs."
David Willetts, Shadow Spokesman for Education, October 2006.