Famous Italian Educators

Maria Montessori was an Italian educator and physician best known for developing the Montessori method of education, a student-friendly method, which is being used in several public and private schools around the world. In 2020, she was nominated by Time magazine as one of their Top 100 Women of the year.

Venerated for recovering numerous lost or neglected Classical Latin manuscripts from different European monasteries, Poggio Bracciolini was an early Renaissance humanist, scholar and calligrapher. Among his most notable recoveries are On the Nature of Things, a didactic poem by Titus Lucretius Carus, Ten Books on Architecture by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, and Pro Sexto Roscio, a speech by Marcus Tullius Cicero.

The founder of the Focolare Movement (The Work of Mary), Chiara Lubich is regarded as one of the most influential spiritual leaders of the 20th century. During World War II, she and her followers attended to the wounded. She also taught elementary school and penned bestsellers such as Meditations.

Remembered as the second anti-pope, Novatian was also the first Roman theologian who wrote in Latin. Apart from developing Novatian Schism and studying apostasy, he also built his own church, despite immense opposition. He is believed to have been martyred after fleeing Rome during the persecution of Christians.

Regarded as the father of international law, Italian jurist Alberico Gentili was perhaps the first in western Europe to distinguish between secular law and canon law. He had also tutored Queen Elizabeth I, had served as a professor of law at Oxford, and specialized in Roman law.

Considered as the most important translator among the Toledo School of Translators, Italian translator Gerard of Cremona translated many major scientific books from Arabic and Greek to Latin. Notable works of Cremona includes translating Aristotle's On the Heavens, Archimedes' On the Measurement of the Circle, al-Khwarizmi's On Algebra and Almucabala, Euclid's Elements of Geometry and most famously Ptolemy's Almagest.

The founder of the Salesian Order, John Bosco, also known as Don Bosco, started his life as a priest in Turin. He began teaching young boys who came to Turin for jobs and later branched out to form a similar institution for girls too, with St. Mary Mazzarello.

Bettisia Gozzadini was an Italian jurist who served as a lecturer at the University of Bologna. She is widely believed to be the first woman to have served as a lecturer at a university. A renowned orator, Gozzadini gave a eulogy at the funeral of Enrico della Fratta on 31 May 1242. Bettisia Gozzadini was also renowned for her beauty. 

Best known for discovering the Muratorian Fragment, Lodovico Antonio Muratori was a pioneer of Italian historiography. He began his career as a priest and joined the Ambrosian library of Milan. He is remembered for his works such as Anecdota and Annali d’Italia. He was also against orthodox religious beliefs.