Magda Gerber has died. There is such sadness in that statement, but such peace in the knowledge that she died at home, after ninety-something years on the planet. (Don’t you love that she remained evasive about the details?) Madga grew up in Budapest, studied linguistics at the Sorbonne in Paris, and raised her three children herself, in opposition to the expectations of a wife of her social standing at that time.
It was an experience with her own child that led her to the work of the wonderful Emmi Pikler, a pediatrician in Budapest. When Gerber took her child to Dr. Pikler, the doctor asked what was wrong. As Gerber began to respond, Pikler cut her off. She was more interested in what the child had to say. Daughter Erika, who was about 4 or 5 at the time, explained articulately her symptoms.
“That was my ‘aahha,’ ” Gerber said. Madga Gerber studied intensively under Dr. Pikler at the Loczy institute thereafter.
After she moved to the USA, Magda founded Resources for Infant Educarers, known as RIE (pronounced ‘wry’) in Southern California in 1978, where infant/parent classes continue to edify and illuminate in their gentle, peaceful, powerful way. She also taught at Pacific Oaks college in Pasadena for twenty years.
To honour the gifts that Magda Gerber shared with the early childhood community, we must begin with respect for infants. Gerber always prioritised time for uninterrupted play. Magda would remind us to see the opportunities for learning and relationship-strengthening that exist in caregiving routines: we would remember to always participate in these routines in a calm, unhurried manner. Magda taught to think of routines as being done with – not to – children. Central to Magda Gerber’s philosophy: observing children as the foundation to all of this, recognizing individual messages and following baby’s cues.
These practices, when combined with explanatory language, are mighty. They empower children, they liberate carers. They teach children how to respect, because children can understand what it is to be respected.
To fully understand the gifts that Magda Gerber shared, we would have to see the thousands and thousands of lives she touched. Imagine her teachings – at RIE, in professional development settings, in College classrooms, and in her wonderful books (Your Self Confident Baby and Dear Parent among them) – spreading all over the world like ripples in a pond, impacting and beautifying relationships with children.
Thank you, Magda Gerber.
Gerber is survived by a son, Bence; daughters Erika Mayo Nagy and Daisy Gerber of Los Angeles; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be sent to the California Community Foundation/Magda Gerber Fund, California Community Foundation, 445 S. Figueroa St. Suite 3400, Los Angeles CA 90071-1638