Marie Curie

Physicist, Academic

1867 – 1934

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Who was Marie Curie?

Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a French-Polish physicist and chemist, famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. She was also the first female professor at the University of Paris, and in 1995 became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Panthéon in Paris.

She was born Maria Salomea Skłodowska in Warsaw, in what was then the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. She studied at Warsaw's clandestine Floating University and began her practical scientific training in Warsaw. In 1891, aged 24, she followed her older sister Bronisława to study in Paris, where she earned her higher degrees and conducted her subsequent scientific work. She shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with her husband Pierre Curie and with physicist Henri Becquerel. She won the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Her achievements included a theory of radioactivity, techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of two elements, polonium and radium. Under her direction, the world's first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms, using radioactive isotopes. She founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and in Warsaw, which remain major centres of medical research today. During World War I, she established the first military field radiological centres.

Famous Quotes:

  • "Have no fear of perfection; you'll never reach it.""Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood."

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Born
Nov 7, 1867
Warsaw
Also known as
  • Maria Sklodowska-Curie
  • Madame Curie
  • Marie Skłodowska Curie
  • Maria Skłodowska
  • Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie
Parents
Siblings
Spouses
Children
Religion
  • Agnosticism
Ethnicity
  • Poles
  • French people
Nationality
  • France
  • Poland
Profession
Education
  • Doctor of Science, University of Paris
    Physics
    ( - 1903)
  • Master of Science, University of Paris
    Mathematics
    ( - 1894)
  • Master of Science, University of Paris
    Physics
    (1891 - 1893)
Lived in
  • Poland
Died
Jul 4, 1934
Passy, Haute-Savoie
Resting place
Panthéon, Paris

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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