To welcome in the New Year we thought it would be fun to highlight a number of famous people who were/are Montessorians. Did you know that Ann Frank was Montessori educated? How about Jacqueline Kennedy, or Prince William, or Steve Wozniak? Here is a list of just a few people you may recognize who received a Montessori education:
Sergey Brin – is an American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur who, together with Larry Page, co-founded Google, one of the most profitable Internet companies. Brin immigrated to the United States with his family from the Soviet Union at the age of six. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland, following in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps by studying mathematics, as well as computer science.
Anne Frank was a diarist and writer. She was one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Her wartime diary The Diary of a Young Girl has been the basis for several plays and films. Born in the city of Frankfurt in Weimar Germany, she lived most of her life in or near Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. Born a German national, Frank lost her citizenship in 1941. She gained international fame posthumously after her diary was published. It documents her experiences hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.
Larry Page is an American business magnate and computer scientist who is the co-founder of Google, alongside Sergey Brin. On April 4, 2011, Page succeeded Eric Schmidt as the chief executive officer of Google. Page was born in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. His father, Carl Vincent Page, Sr., earned a Ph.D. in computer science in 1965—when the field was being established—and is considered a “pioneer in computer science and artificial intelligence”.
Jeff Bezos is an American business magnate and investor. He is a technology entrepreneur who has played a key role in the growth of e-commerce as the founder and CEO of Amazon.com, an online merchant of books and later of a wide variety of products. Under his guidance, Amazon.com became the largest retailer on the World Wide Web and a top model for Internet sales.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. In 1951, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French literature at George Washington University and went on to work for the Washington Times-Herald as an Inquiring Photographer.
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, filmmaker and activist. He has received three Golden Globe Awards for his work as an actor and two Academy Awards, one for acting and the other for producing.Clooney made his acting debut on television in 1978, and later gained wide recognition in his role as Dr. Doug Ross on the long-running medical drama ER.
A few more names you may recognize include:
- Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia
- Will Wright, computer game designer
- Jeff Bezos – founder of Amazon.com
- Prince William and Prince Harry
- T. Berry Brazelton – pediatrician and author
- Julia Child – author, chef, TV cooking shows
- Elizabeth Berridge – actress
- Kami Cotler – actress
- Melissa and Sarah Gilbert – actors
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Nobel Prize winner for Literature
- Katherine Graham – ex-owner of the Washington Post
- David Blaine, magician
- Peter Drucker, management guru
- Cami Cotler, actress
- John Cusack, actor
- Joan Cusack, actress
- Dakota Fanning, actress
- Friedensreich Hundertwasser, artist
- Helen Hunt, actress
- Yo Yo Ma, cellist
- Taylor Swift, singer/songwriter
Just a little factoid for the New Year that we hope you enjoy!
Another video where Sergey Brin discusses his experience in Montessori:
Here is a great video of Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, discussing his views on education:
Here is a video of Will Wright, creator of SimCity, discussing how Montessori inspired him to be a creative thinker: