Emilie Louise Michaelis (1834–1904) was a German-born pioneer of the

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

system in England, and a translator, editor, and promoter of Froebel's writings. In 1875, she started one of the first English kindergartens in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and later a training college for teachers, which became

Froebel College Froebel College is one of the four constituent colleges of the University of Roehampton. History The college was founded as a women's teacher training college in 1892 by followers of Friedrich Fröbel. The Froebel Society had been formed in 1874 ...

. She was described as the 'chief exponent of Froebelianism in England' and coined the phrase 'nursery school' in translation from Froebel.

Life

Emilie Michaelis was born in

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, and was a pupil of Bertha von Marenholtz-Bülow, who had herself been a student of

Friedrich Fröbel Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel or Froebel (; 21 April 1782 – 21 June 1852) was a German pedagogue, a student of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique nee ...

. Michaelis travelled to England in the 1870s, intending to promote the principles of kindergarten education. In 1875, she was a founding member of the Froebel Society of London, on a committee which included

Emily Shirreff Emily Anne Eliza Shirreff (3 November 1814 – 20 March 1897) was a pioneer in the movement for the higher education of women and the development of the Friedrich Fröbel, Froebelian principles in England. Biography Family She was born on 3 No ...

, Maria Georgina Grey, Frances Buss,

Beata Doreck Beata Doreck (1833 – 1875) was a German educator and first president of the Froebel Society who worked to bring kindergartens to Britain. Career She was born on 5 February 1833 in Mannheim, Grand Duchy of Baden. Despite her father's opposition ...

, and

Adelaide Manning Elizabeth Adelaide Manning (1828 – 10 August 1905) was a British writer and editor. She championed kindergartens. She was one of the first students to attend Girton College. Manning was active for the National Indian Association which champ ...

. She was president of the Society 1897–1900. In 1891, Michaelis started a kindergarten and training college for kindergarten teachers in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

, which became the Froebel Educational Institute in

West Kensington West Kensington, formerly North End, is an area in the ancient parish of Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) west of Charing Cross. It covers most of the London postal area of W14, includ ...

. The Froebel Educational Institute, on Talgarth Road,

, officially opened on 20 September 1894. Emilie Michaelis was its first principal, retiring in 1901. She was replaced as Principal by

Esther Lawrence Esther Ella Lawrence (1862 – July 23, 1944) was a New York born educationist and school principal. She took over from the founder and moved what would become the Froebel College to be a residential college in Roehampton to train kindergarten te ...

. Following Michaelis's retirement, she continued to actively promote the values of Froebelian education, lecturing and examining widely. Emilie Michaelis died on 30 December 1904.

References

External links

* '' Froebel's Letters on the Kindergarten, edited and annotated by Emilie Michaelis'' (1891) at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

* '' Autobiography of Friedrich Froebel'', translated by Emilie Michaelis at the Internet Archive
Works by Emilie Michaelis
at

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaelis, Emilie 1834 births 1904 deaths Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Founders of English schools and colleges Kindergarten People from Thuringia 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century German educators 19th-century German women educators 19th-century women philanthropists