Madame Curie

Madame Curie

Madame Curie shared with her husband, Pierre Curie, the honors for discovering two radioactive elements, radium and polonium. The discovery of these elements laid the foundation for future discoveries in nuclear physics and chemistry.

Marie Sklodowska was born on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland. Her early years were strongly influenced by her parents, who were both educators. She later joined with Faculty of Sciences at the Sorbonne. This made Marie the first woman to teach at the university level in France.

(1911)
Marie Curie was the first woman to win two Nobel prizes. For the work they did on radioactivity that led to the discovery of polonium and radium in 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie shared the 1903 Nobel Prize. Pierre was killed in a traffic accident in 1906. Despite this loss, Marie continued her work on radioactivity and won a second Nobel Prize in 1911 for her work on radium.

Marie devised advanced courses on radiology and taught doctors new techniques. The heavy casualties suffered by the French in World War I prompted Marie to participate in the war effort by making public pleas for funds to equip ambulances with radiology equipment. The funding effort was successful, and Marie was elected by the Red Cross to be the official head of its Radiological Service. With her daughter Irene, Marie devised advanced radiology courses and taught doctors new techniques for locating foreign objects in the human body.

Physician and Chemist
Marie and Pierre Curie worked together in an extended investigation of radioactivity.

Early Years in Poland
Poland was an occupied and divided country throughout much of Marie Curie’s life. Marie’s father lost his job for advocating independence from Russia.

Her Struggle for Higher Education
Under Russian control, Polish women could not attend college. Marie’s sister, Bronya went to Paris to study and later helped Marie with her education. Despite a limited knowledge of French, Marie succeeded with honors at the Sorbonne, where she graduated with degrees both in mathematics and chemistry. It was still very difficult, as a woman, for Marie to find work.

Pierre and Marie: Their Life Together
Pierre was a leader in science when he met Marie; he had discovered the principle of piezoelectricity which is used in the crystal pickup of a record player. Pierre and Marie were married on July 26, 1895. They later had two daughters, Irene and Eve.

Discovery of Polonium
(1898)
Marie’s legacy to science is that she correctly speculated that the radiation spontaneously released from the ore was nuclear rather than atomic.

Discovery of Radium
For four years they boiled, stirred, poured and distilled tons of pitchblends to produce a tiny amount of radium.

The First Nobel Prize
(1903)
The Curies and Henri Becquerel received the Nobel Prize for physics for their work on radioactivity, and Marie was granted her doctorate the same year.

Pierre’s Death
(1906)
On April 19, 1906, Pierre was killed in a street accident when he walked in front of a team of horses.

Trips to America
Marie founded the Radium Institute in Paris. Because the Curies had not patented the rights to Radium, or the process to produce it, Marie had to make several trips to America to raise funds.

Marie’s Philosophy
Marie was a “positivist,” rejecting theoretical speculation about human problems in favor of positive, observable facts.

Marie’s Death
(1934)
Marie later had to cut back on her official duties, due to poor health. She died peacefully on July 4, 1934 in a nursing home.