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Marie Curie grew up in Warsaw, Poland, youngest of 5, Born November 7, 1867. Her birth name was Maria Sklodowska -
After graduating High school, Maria decided to help her sister Bronisława pay through medical school. Maria was interested in a university in France. Bronisława promised she would help Marie after she graduated. -
In 1891 Marie moved to Paris. She then changed her name to "Marie" to fit in. This is when she attended Sorbonne University of Paris. -
She came first in the licence of physical sciences in 1893. She began to work in Lippmann’s research laboratory. which was a honor for her since, Lippmann was French physicist who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1908 for producing the first colour photographic plate. He was known for the innovations that resulted from his search for a direct colour-sensitive medium in photography. -
1894 Marie was placed second in the licence of mathematical sciences. It was in the spring of that year that she met Pierre Curie. -
After a year of meeting, Pierre and Marie got married. This intellectual couple was soon to achieve results of world significant research -
Roentgen discovered X-rays, while Becquerel had found rays given off by an element called uranium. Marie was fascinated by Uranium that she began her own research -
Marie and Pierre researched pitchblende a form of the mineral uraninite, They had discovered two new elements for the periodic table! Marie named one of the elements polonium to honor her native land of Poland. Few months later another element was found which they called Radium for giving off such strong rays. The Curies came up with the term "radioactivity" to describe elements that emitted strong rays. -
Marie & Pierre in 1903 shared with Becquerel the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of radioactivity. -
By 1904, Marie and Pierre had two daughters, Ève (right) and Irène (left). -
Pierre passed away in April 1906, On May 13, 1906, she was appointed to be the professor to take Pierre's place. she was the first woman to teach in the Sorbonne university. In 1910 her fundamental treatise on radioactivity was published. -
By 1910 she successfully produced radium as a pure metal, which proved the new element's existence beyond a doubt. She also documented the properties of the radioactive elements and their compounds. Radioactive compounds became important as sources of radiation in both scientific experiments and in the field of medicine. -
In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, for the isolation of pure radium. she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first and the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two scientific fields. -
Curie and her daughter Irene came up with portable X-ray machines to help wounded soliders in world war I -
In 1920, she created the institut Curie in Paris France with Dr. Regaud which became a place to research the treatment of cancer by radiation. -
Marie Curie had an enormous devotion to science and was a successful woman. She dedicated all her time to her research until she died in 1934 at age 66 of aplastic anemia. Her anemia came from not being protected from radiation exposure, as well as the radon gas tubes she carried in her pockets during her research.