Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw at a time when Poland was occupied by Russia. Her parents were teachers who were punished for supporting Polish independence. She was a brilliant student and read voraciously, but she was not allowed to go to university in Poland. She took a job as a governess in order to save some money. She became involved in a students’ revolutionary organisation and found it necessary to leave the country. In 1891, she moved to Paris to study Science at the Sorbonne. There she met Pierre Curie, a professor of Physics. They were married in 1895 and she adopted the French form of her name – Marie.
The Curies worked together to investigate the recently observed phenomenon of radioactivity. In 1898, they announced the discovery of a new chemical element, Polonium, which Marie named after her home country. Later that year, they discovered another new element, Radium. They were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903.
Pierre was killed in a traffic accident in 1906. Marie continued the work they had started. She became the first woman professor to teach at the Sorbonne. She received a second Nobel Prize, this time for Chemistry, in 1911, for her work in researching radioactivity.
Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win twice and the only person to win twice in different sciences.
Curie developed the theory of radioactivity – a term that she invented. Her research led to techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes and for the use of X-rays in surgery. During the First World War, she helped to equip ambulances with X-ray equipment and, at times, she drove these to the front lines. She trained doctors in the use of X-rays and she became head of the radiological service at the International Red Cross.
Little was known at the time about the dangers of radiation and Curie suffered painful burns from handling radium. She died in 1934 from leukaemia, caused by exposure to high-energy radiation from her research.
Face down the difficulties. Few scientists can have worked under more difficult circumstances than the Curies. They spent most of their money on apparatus and materials. Often, they did not have enough to eat. Their laboratory was a cold and draughty shed. In addition, Marie continued to face great opposition from male scientists around the world who were sceptical that a woman could do such work.
Have a higher purpose – the innovation is the reward. Although she was poor, Marie Curie disdained financial awards and gave money away to those less fortunate. When the First World War started, she tried to donate her gold Nobel medals to the French war effort, but the offer was refused. She was admired for her honesty and modest lifestyle – even when she became famous. She refused to patent her discoveries with radium, preferring the benefits to go to medical science. In 1929, she was granted $50,000 by US well-wishers and she promptly donated it all to the Warsaw Radium Institute. For Marie Curie, her contribution to the advancement of science was reward enough.
DID YOU KNOW?… Marie Curie’s papers, dating back to the 1890s, and even her cookbook, are considered too dangerous to handle because they are still highly radioactive. Her papers are kept in lead-lined boxes and researchers who want to examine them must wear protective clothing.