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Marie Curie: Facts & Biography

Marie Curie was a pioneering physicist and chemist born in Poland in 1867. She discovered the elements polonium and radium, winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and received a second Nobel Prize, in Chemistry, in 1911. Her work with radioactive materials had health consequences, as she died in 1934 from a blood disease likely caused by exposure to radiation over her career.

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84 views2 pages

Marie Curie: Facts & Biography

Marie Curie was a pioneering physicist and chemist born in Poland in 1867. She discovered the elements polonium and radium, winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and received a second Nobel Prize, in Chemistry, in 1911. Her work with radioactive materials had health consequences, as she died in 1934 from a blood disease likely caused by exposure to radiation over her career.

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María Del A. Vargas
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Marie Curie: Facts & Biography

Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist and a pioneer in the study of radiation. She and
her husband, Pierre, discovered the elements polonium and radium. Together, they were
awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903, and she received another one, for Chemistry,
in 1911. Her work with radioactive materials doomed her, however. She died of a blood
disease in 1934.

Maria Salomea Sklodowski was born in Warsaw, Poland, on Nov. 7, 1867. She was
the youngest of five children, three older sisters and a brother. Both of her parents were
educators and insisted that their girls be educated as well as their son. Marie Curie’s
mother and father – Bronislawa and Wladyslaw – were both teachers and encouraged her
interest in science.

When Marie was aged 10, her mother died and she started attending a boarding school.
She then moved to a gymnasium – a selective school for children who were strong
academically. Aged 15, Marie graduated from her high school with a gold medal as top
student and a burning interest in science.

Maria graduated from high school first in her class at the age of 15.

Maria and her older sister, were both interested in scientific research; but to get the
education they desired they would have to leave the country.

When Maria registered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, she signed her name as “Marie” to seem
more French.

Two obstacles now stood in Marie’s way:

 her father had too little money to support her ambition to go to university
 higher education was not available for girls in Poland
Marie’s sister Bronya faced exactly the same problems.

She continued her studies and scientific research and even managed to obtain a PhD. SHe
won 2 Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry as I had mentioned at the beginning.

In 1906, Pierre was killed when he was hit by a horse-drawn carriage in the street.

Although distraught over her loss, Marie accepted the offer from the Sorbonne to replace
Pierre as the Chair of Physics.
Again, she was breaking the mold: she had been first woman to win a Nobel Prize, now
she was the first female professor at the University of Paris.

In her later years, Marie Curie’s dearest wish was to explore the use of radioactivity in
medical applications. To do this, she established the Radium Institute.

At $120,000 per gram, radium was horrendously expensive – millions of dollars in


today’s money. Marie Curie could only afford 1 gram of it for use in cancer therapies at
the Radium Institute.

Marie Curie died aged 66 on July 4, 1934, killed by aplastic anemia, a disease of the bone
marrow. It is likely that the radioactivity she had been exposed to during her career caused
the disease.

She inspires me to follow my goals without giving up. Despite having many difficulties,
she continued with her passion, which was scientific research.

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand


more so that we may fear less. "

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