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Here I am in academic robes. This
photograph was taken at the

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University of Durham, Northern England, to
mark my honorary doctorate.

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The year was 1923 and I received this
doctorate for Literature,

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not for Pedagogy as one might have
expected. Let me share a special memory of

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this occasion. After lunch in the ancient
building of this institution

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with its large halls dating back to 1200,
I was taken into an antechamber.

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There they dressed me in a red cape with
gold-coloured satin trimmings and with a

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nice four-pointed hat. After a while I was
taken by the hand and presented

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to the rector. He raised the sceptre and
spoke the words,

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in the name of and as a representative of
the University,

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I declare you Signora Maria Montessori,
Doctor Honoris Causa.