
Marie Curie
pioneering scientist
Two-time Nobel Laureate Marie Sklodowska Curie is known as the trailblazing First Lady of Science. Growing up in occupied Poland, educational opportunities were limited due to her nationality and sex. That didn't stop Marie from working and studying on her own. It took her years to pass the entrance exam at Paris's Sorbonne. With the help of her husband and collaborator Pierre, Marie became the university's shining star...its 1st female science PhD, professor and lab head whose hard-won insights earned international acclaim.
Marie + Pierre initially bonded in the lab over magnetism. Their renowned contributions to the study of radioactivity gave us everything from x-rays to cancer treatments to carbon dating!
radioactivity | coining it, theorizing it + dying from it
polonium + radium | expanding our periodic table
science for science's sake | against profiting from or retaining exclusive rights to scientific discoveries
an astounding array of firsts | 1st woman in France to receive her doctorate in science, 1st female professor at Sorbonne University in Paris, 1st woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize, 1st person to win 2 Nobel Prizes, 1st Nobel Laureate whose daughter also won a Nobel Prize and the 1st woman to be honored for her work with a burial in the Pantheon
three big moments {plus one}
1898 | uncovered 2 new elements {she named the first "polonium" in honor of her home country...still split 3 ways and struggling under Russian rule}
1903 | granted her PhD and received the Nobel Prize in Physics for her contributions to the science of radioactivity, becoming the 1st woman to receive the prestigious award {she and her husband chose not attend the ceremony because they were too busy with work}
1911 | given a 2nd Nobel Prize ~ this time around, it was in Chemistry and she was on hand to receive it + deliver her required lecture
1921 | took a 2-week tour of the US during which she was recognized with several honorary degrees and presented by President Harding with a gram of radium whose $100,000 price tag was bankrolled by national women's organizations
her position then | her position now
daughter of persecuted Polish Nationalists who worked for nearly 5 years as a governess to earn college tuition money | one of the most famous and influential scientists of all time
born on
November 7, 1867
born in
Warsaw, Poland {occupied by the Russian Empire}
birth name
Maria Salomea Sklodowska
citizen of
Poland
France
daughter of
Bronislawa + Wladyslaw Slodowski
~ renowned teachers + Polish Nationalists ~
~ Wladyslaw was a science and gym instructor who whet Marie's appetite for science with home experiments ~
sister of
4 older siblings | Zofia, Jozef, Bronislawa + Helena
educated at
University of Paris
loved studying
chemistry + physics
married to
Pierre Curie
~ a fellow scientist, who asked Marie to share his "dream of an existence consecrated wholly to scientific research" ~
~ married 1895 - 1906...Pierre was tragically killed in crash with a horse-drawn carriage ~
mother of
Irene + Eve Curie
advocate for
public funding for scientific research
women in science
in her spare time
liked to travel + take bicycle rides
died on
July 4, 1934
~ in Passy, France from leukemia caused by her experiments with radioactivity ~
image credits
Smithsonian Institution Research Information System | public domain
Wikimedia Commons | public domain
collapse bio bits"Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained."
in Eve Curie's biography, Madame Curie | january 1894
"In science, we must be interested in things, not in persons."
Eve Curie's Madame Curie | january 1904
"Stability can only be attained by inactive matter."
Nobel Lecture: Radium and the New Concepts in Chemistry | december 1911
"We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals. The work was one of pure science."
On the Discovery of Radium | may 1921
"Scientific work must not be considered from the point of view of the direct usefulness of it. It must be done for itself, for the beauty of science, and then there is always the chance that a scientific discovery may become, like the radium, a benefit for humanity."
On the Discovery of Radium | may 1921
"Our society, in which reigns an eager desire for riches and luxury, does not understand the value of science. It does not realize that science is a most precious part of its moral patrimony."
Pierre Curie | 1923
"Science is at the base of all the progress that lightens the burden of life and lessens its suffering."
Pierre Curie | 1923
"It is easy to overlook those who have not the active support of influential persons."
Pierre Curie | 1923
"All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child."
Autobiographical Notes: Marie Curie | january 1923
"I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy."
Autobiographical Notes: Marie Curie | january 1923
"We took no copyright, and published without reserve all the results of our research."
Pierre Curie | 1923
"One of our joys was to go into our workroom at night...The glowing tubes looked like faint, fairy lights."
Pierre Curie | 1923
"I shall never be able to express the joy of the quietness of this atmosphere of research and the excitement of actual progress with the confident hope of still better results."
Pierre Curie | 1923
"The School of Physics could give us no suitable premises, but the Director permitted us to use an abandoned shed which had been in service as a dissecting room. It was in this miserable old shed that we passed the best and happiest years of our life, devoting our entire days to our work."
Pierre Curie | january 1923
"Humanity needs practical men, who get the most out of their work, and, without forgetting the general good, safeguard their own interests. But humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them to devote their care to their own material profit."
Eve Curie's Madame Curie | 1937
curated with care by Alicia Williamson {october 2014}
Wladyslaw Sklodowski with his daughters {from left} Maria, Bronislawa, Helena, 1890
Marie {on the left} and her sisters pose with their father. He sparked her interest in science + math and continued to teach her these subjects at home even after they were effectively banned from Polish schools under Russian occupation.
from Helena Skodowska-Szalay
Marie Curie | Nobel portrait
This official portrait commemorated Marie's first Nobel Prize win in 1903.
Nobel Foundation
Pierre and Marie Curie in the laboratory
The unrivaled husband and wife team is pictured hard at work in the Sorbonne lab where they made key discoveries in the fields of chemistry, physics and medicine.
unknown
1911 Solvay conference
Attendees at the 1st Solvay Conference on contemporary problems in physics and chemistry politely pose for the camera while Marie sits conferring with fellow scientist Henri Poincare. That's Albert Einstein looking over her shoulder.
Benjamin Couprie
Mme Curie and her daughter Irene, 1925
This is a portrait of Marie mentoring her eldest child ~ who would go on to be a preeminent scientist and Nobel Laureate like her. It was featured in the 1937 biography written by her youngest daughter, Eve.
unknown
Manya: The Living History of Marie Curie {preview}
This one-woman show is an acclaimed STEAM project {STEM + Art} created to bring Marie's story to life. Manya is the Polish translation for the name Marie.
Susan Marie Frontczak + Jen Myronuk | Marie Curie Living History
EU Marie Curie 'Chemical Party'
This quirky video promoting the EU's sweeping science initiative is inspired by one of its most acclaimed chemists, Marie Curie.
Roderick Fenske