In the 1930s and at the beginning of her career as a family paediatrician, Emmi Pikler (1902 – 1984), defied traditions and created a new epoch in the field of early childhood: she recognised that for the development of the capacities of infants and young children, it is advantageous if they can freely exercise their motor and recreational activity without the direct intervention of adults - if they can develop according to their individual rhythm. She also recognized that in the formation of the intimate relationship between parent and child, a mode of care rich in interactions and taking into account the activity of the baby has an important role.
The documentation of those years, with many photos of the children of the families she accompanied, is Emmi Pikler's first book, "What can your baby do?", ten editions of which have been published in Hungary and abroad. It was after the war that she wrote the "Book of Mothers" which served as a manual for parents of small children in Hungary for decades.
In 1946 she founded the infants’ home on Lóczy Lajos Street (see Pikler Institute) where she was able to realize her ground-breaking principles of care and pedagogy in early childhood, even in institutional circumstances. With the help of her principles she succeeded, for the first time in the world, in preserving newborn children placed in the institution from the emotional deprivation that can cause life-long harm.
In addition, it was Emmi Pikler who was the first in Hungary to point out the risk of harm from hospitalism syndrome, and she and her colleagues made efforts to raise the standards throughout the country's nurseries.
In 1968 she became a Candidate in Medical Sciences, and she published her dissertation on motor skills. (In French: Se mouvoir en liberté dès le premier âge, Paris PUF, 1979.)
Emmi Pikler and the institute she led have also played an important role in the work of Hungarian nurseries. Generations of childcare assistants were trained by textbooks written or edited by Emmi Pikler and her colleagues, or attended her trainings at the childcare school and the various other training establishments.
In 2007, in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, a square was named after Emmi Pikler. On the occasion of the inauguration, the municipality dedicated a full day to her memory with the presentation of books and films.