The Scientist

Marie Curie
“Nothing in this world is to be feared,
it is only to be understood"

by Miguel Angel Torrez

 Personal Information

Complete name

Maria Salomea Skłodowska.

Date and place of birth

She was born on November 7, 1867 in Warsaw.

Date, place and cause of death

She died on July 4, 1934 in France due to

aplastic anemia, a disease contracted as a
result of her constant exposure to radiation.
Occupation

She was a renowned scientist, with a degree in

physics and mathematics with doctoral studies
in chemistry.
Contributions

As a scientist, she and her husband are

credited with discovering the element
polonium. And alone, the discovery of the
radium element. Pioneer in radioactivity
studies. First woman to win a Nobel Prize, and
first woman to be a university professor.
 Childhood

Her father was a mathematics and physics

teacher, and her mother, the headmistress of a
girls' boarding school. Maria grew up
surrounded by her 4 older siblings and her
parents.
However, one of her sisters died of typhus,
when she was 9 years old. And two years later,
she lost his mother to tuberculosis.
It was at this point in her life that Maria
turned her back on religion. And she
established herself as an agnostic. A belief
that he would hold for the rest of his life.
 Sisters’ covenant

Maria was fluent in French, German and Russian

and dreamed of studying at the Sorbonne in
Paris. However, moving to Paris would be very
expensive and Maria's father could not afford
it, especially since Bronislawa also wanted to
move to the French capital to study medicine.

It was then that the

two sisters made a
pact: Maria would take
a job as a governess
and save money to pay
for her sister's
education in France. In
return, once Bronislawa
had become a doctor,
she would pay for her
younger sister's
college tuition.

In 1891, she changed her name to the French

Marie and enrolled at the University of Paris
where she studied physics, chemistry and
mathematics. In 1893 he graduated in physics
and chemistry and in 1894, in mathematics.
 Pierre and Marie
Marie began her scientific career in 1894
with the investigation of the magnetic
properties of various steels. It was that
same year that Marie met Pierre Curie, a
French physicist, a pioneer in the study of
radioactivity.

They developed a deep friendship, to the

point that Pierre proposed to her. At first,
Marie did not accept, as she intended to
return to Poland and become a teacher. When
she returned to Poland in the summer of
1894, Pierre wrote to persuade her to come
back to live and work with him.

“It would be a beautiful thing if we could spend our life near

each other, hypnotized by our dreams: your patriotic dream, our
humanitarian dream and our scientific dream.”
Letter from Pierre to Marie, 10 August 1894.
 In 1896, and encouraged by Pierre Curie,
Marie decided to do her doctoral thesis
entitled: "Recherches sur les substances
radioactives" for which she would obtain
an outstanding cum laude and her
doctorate in physical sciences.

Starting in 1897, the couple began their

studies, in which they included some
minerals with uranium. The couple did
not have their own laboratory and most
of their research was carried out in a
shed without being aware of the harmful
effects of their exposure to radioactive
substances.

In July 1898, the

couple published
an article
announcing the
existence of an
element they
named "polonium”
in honor of
Marie's country
of origin.

And on December 26, 1898, the Curies

announced the existence of a second element,
which they named "radio", derived from a
Latin word meaning lightning. In the
investigation the word “radioactivity” was
coined.
 The Nobel Prize
In 1903, in recognition of their research on
radiation phenomena, the couple was awarded,
along with Henri Becquerel, the Nobel Prize in
Physics, becoming the first woman to receive
the award.

The Tragedy
On April 19, 1906, tragedy struck Marie in the
most devastating way: Pierre died as a result
of an accident in Paris.

The marriage had two daughters. The first,

Irene, was born on September 12, 1897. And the
second, Eve, was born on December 6, 1904
 The first female professor
On May 13, 1906, the Department of Physics at
the University of Paris decided to offer her,
the position of her husband. Marie agreed,
hoping to create a world-class lab as a
tribute to her husband. Marie was the first
woman to hold a position as a professor at
said university and the first director of a
laboratory at that institution.

Second Nobel
In 1910, Marie demonstrated that one gram
of pure radium could be obtained and the
following year, in 1911, she received the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry alone.