AMI was constituted in 1929, by Maria Montessori, to maintain and develop her pedagogy with the purpose of making it available to as many children as possible worldwide.
It was founded in August 1929 by Maria and her son Mario in Helsingør, Denmark during a period in which they were enduring increasing hostility with the rise of fascism in Germany, Italy and Spain.
In 1936 Montessori relocated her family from Barcelona, where they had lived since 1917, to Laren, The Netherlands and the AMI office to premises in Michelangelostraat, Amsterdam.
During the post-war period Maria Montessori was particularly active in helping in the establishment of UNESCO and immediately following her return to Europe she addressed the newly constituted organisation on the subject of 'Education and Peace'.
AMI maintains a membership of over 5,000 individuals and it has now grown to encompass a global network of 48 legal affiliates in 42 countries including its USA Affiliated Office Association Montessori International of the United States which was established as a US 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organisation in 1972 by Mario Montessori, Richard Salzmann and Albert L. Ledgard Jr.
In addition, AMI affiliated Montessori societies are found in Argentina, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom.
AMI has 64 teacher training centres in 32 countries around the world and it incorporates a global outreach division Educateurs sans Frontières, [9][10] Educateurs sans Frontières, also known as EsF, was inspired by Montessori's 1917 initiative during World War I to create a 'White Cross' (an educational equivalent of the Red Cross).