Marie Curie – Polish French Physicist

Marie Curie - Polish French Physicist

There are some people that are just simply extraordinary and who change the course of history. Marie Curie is one of these people. Marie Curie was a Polish French Physicist who changed the course of medicine and is one of France's honoured scientists. Marie Curie was born Marie Sklodowska but is mostly known as Marie Curie. 

Life Story of Marie Curie

Marie Curie was born on 7 November 1867 and died on 4 July 1934. Marie was the daughter of a secondary-school teacher and gained a general education in local schools. Her father also taught her scientific procedures. After becoming involved in a students’ revolutionary organisation she thought it best to leave Warsaw (which was dominated by Russia at the time). She moved to Cracow which was under Austrian rule at the time to study physics and chemistry and then later moved to France. 

She then met Pierre Curie, the Professor of the School of Physics in 1894 and in the following year they were married. Marie and Pierre worked together and pioneered research in radioactivity. Radium and polonium was discovered, which was named after Marie's homeland Poland. 

First Female Nobel Prize Winner

Marie went on to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. She is notably the first women to be awarded the Prize in Physics and also the first women to be awarded Nobel Prizes in both Physics and Chemistry. These awards are just a few of the "firsts" in her life. She was also the first female to have received a Ph.D from a French university and the first female professor at the Sorbonne University, Paris. 

During World War 1 Marie is recorded as having organised mobile teams to conduct x-rays to assist those fighting.  

Marie Curie succeeded her husband as Head of the Physics Laboratory at the Sorbonne and gained her Doctor of Science degree in 1903. It was not long after that her husband tragically died in 1906. On his death she took his place as Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences. This was the first time a woman had held this position. She was went on to be appointed as the Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris. 

Marie Curie Interred at the Pantheon, Paris

Marie Curie was interred at the Pantheon, Paris in 1995. She is the first woman interred on merit. Notable men interred at the Pantheon include Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Alexandre Dumas and Jean-Jacques. Other women interred at the Pantheon include Germaine Tillion, Simone Veil, Geneviève de Gaulle-Anthonioz and Josephine Baker.  Official website of the Pantheon https://www.paris-pantheon.fr/en/

Marie Curie Museum, Paris

A museum was established in 1934 after Curie's death on the ground floor of the Curie Pavilion of the Institut du Radium. It was formerly Marie Curie's laboratory (built 1911–1914), and where she performed research from 1914 to 1934. In this laboratory her daughter and son-in-law Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie discovered artificial radioactivity. Following in their parent's footsteps, they also received a Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Their Prize was awarded in 1935. Marie Curie's son-in-law, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, died in 1958. 

The museum contains a permanent historical exhibition on radioactivity and its applications, notably in medicine. The museum also focuses primarily on the Curies and displays some of the most important research apparatus used before 1940. It also contains a centre for historical resource which holds archives, photographs, and documentation on the Curies. In 2012 the museum was renovated thanks to a donation from Ève Curie

Musée Curie Information

Address: 1 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005, Paris, France

Admission: Free 

Check opening days and times: https://musee.curie.fr/

Marie Curie Cheat Sheet

• Born Maria Sklodowska in Warsaw on 7 November 1867.
• Married Pierre Curie in 1895 and together they spent their lives researching and making discoveries together. 
• Discovered radium and polonium (named after Poland).
• Pioneered research in radioactivity.
• Was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903.
• First woman to win two Nobel Prizes, in both Physics and Chemistry. 
• First women to receive a Ph.D. from a French university.
• First female professor at the Sorbonne.
• Organised mobile x-ray teams during World War I.
• In 1914 she was the Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris. 
• Because of prolonged exposure to radium, she developed leukaemia.
• Died on 4 July 1934 in Sallanches, France from leukaemia.
• Buried alongside other notables at the Pantheon, Paris.
• After her death the Musée Curie was opened on the ground floor in her laboratory. 
• The Museum contains an exhibition on radioactivity, has displays of historical research equipment and holds historical documents. 

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