Marie Curie is a woman who absolutely shattered public misconceptions regarding female intelligence and all its associated potentials. She turned the scientific world on its head by being the first woman to receive a Nobel prize. Her discoveries greatly contributed to the fields of physics and chemistry, and helped form the basis of modern radiology.
Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland, in November of 1867 as Maria Salomea Skłodowska. She had an older sister named Bronisława, and the two were raised by parents who were both teachers. Both girls soon developed an aptitude for learning. At 24, Maria moved to Paris and changed her name to Marie. She then enrolled at the University of Sorbonne.
Between 1893 and 1894, Marie earned masters’ degrees in physics and mathematics. She met her future husband, Pierre Curie, and began studying the element uranium, which had been discovered by Henri Becquerel. She coined the term “radioactivity” when she noticed that it emitted radiation. She discovered two new elements: one which she named polonium (after Poland), and the other which she named radium.
In 1903, she became the first woman in France to obtain a doctorate in science. That same year, she shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel. After Pierre’s death in 1906, she took over his teaching position at the University of Sorbonne, becoming the first woman to teach there. In 1911, Marie became the sole winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She is the first (and only) woman to have won two. Unfortunately, her constant exposure to radioactivity destroyed her body’s ability to produce red blood cells, and she died of aplastic anemia in 1934 at the age of 67.
What Did You Learn?
1. How many of Marie Curie’s firsts are outlined in the passage?
2. What is most tragic about Marie Curie’s life?
