Maria Montessori was born in the city of Chiaravalle, Italy, on August 31, 1870. Her father was Alessandro Montessori. His mother was a woman named Renilde Stoppani. Maria was considered confident, optimistic and very interested in change. As a child, Maria had a daily knitting quota that she had to meet. Maria learned very easily and did exceptionally well in her exams. Maria graduated from technical school in 1886. She managed to obtain high grades in all her subjects with a final score of 137 out of 150. She subsequently attended the Royal Instituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci. from 1886 to 1890. There he studied modern languages ​​and natural sciences. By the time she was ready to graduate, she had decided she wanted to pursue the biological sciences. His family, especially his father, were shocked and disapproved. It was considered impossible for a woman to be accepted into a medical school. Her father even stopped short of forbidding her from studying medicine. He first consulted with the University of Rome. Not surprisingly, however, they did not allow women into the medical program. Instead he decided to enroll at the University of Rome to study physics, mathematics and natural sciences. In 1892 she passed the exams with eight out of ten and obtained the Licentiate Diploma which made her eligible to study medicine. The problem of course was that she was a woman. During her time in school, she lived at home and had very little experience in campus life, however, gradually other students began to accept her. She and her father didn't talk much because he was still angry that she was studying medicine. Her mother continued to support her and sometimes helped her study. In 1896 he had to present his thesis before a commission of ten men. They were very impressed with her work and granted her the title of Doctor of Medicine. This made her the first woman to graduate in medicine in Italy. Shortly thereafter she was chosen as Italy's representative in two different women's conferences. The first was in Berlin in 1896 and the second in 1900 in London. In November 1896 she was asked to replace a surgical assistant at the place where she had worked the previous year, Santo Spirito. While there he cared for the patients more than anyone expected.