Date of Birth: November 7, 1867
Place of Birth: Warsaw, Poland
Died: July 4, 1934
Place of Death: near Sallanches, France
Classification: Scientists & Thinkers
Winner of an unprecedented two Nobel Prizes, one shared with her husband and colleagues, Marie Curie became famous for her work with radium, polonium, and radioactivity. Her first Nobel Prize was for her contributions to physics, while her second was to honor her for her work in chemistry.
Marie graduated high school, called a Russian Lycée, receiving a gold medal at the young age of sixteen. Soon after graduation, she became a teacher to help support her family who had lost money in a series of unfortunate marketing errors. During her time as a teacher, she helped Polish factory workers in what was called the ‘free university’. She was also able to help her sister complete her medical studies in Paris. In return, her sister would later support Marie as she continued her studies in science.
After her sister’s graduation, Marie headed to Paris. While there, she met several prominent physicists who noticed the young lady’s intelligence and uncanny memory. Within only two years of study, she began working in mathematical sciences. She met Pierre Curie and the two were married almost immediately. They began working together on experiments in uranium; the phenomenon they came to call radioactivity. With this discovery, she was awarded a doctorate in science. In 1903, she won her first Nobel Prize – the first Nobel Prize awarded to a woman.
A short time later, she had two daughters. Pierre Curie died suddenly, leaving Marie and the children without their main supporter. Upon her husband’s death, however, Marie was given her husband’s vacant post at the Sorbonne – also the first woman to be given this position. In 1908, she became a professor, and by 1911, she won another Nobel Prize for her isolation of pure radium.
