Marie Curie

About

Marie Curie, born Maria Skłodowska on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland, was a pioneering physicist and chemist renowned for her groundbreaking work on radioactivity. She moved to Paris in 1891 to pursue higher education at the Sorbonne, where she met her future husband, Pierre Curie. Together, they conducted extensive research that led to the discovery of the elements polonium and radium. Their work, alongside Henri Becquerel, earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. Marie Curie's achievements extended beyond her early research. She became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, with her second award in Chemistry in 1911. During World War I, she developed mobile radiology units to aid in medical care. After Pierre's death in 1906, she continued her work, becoming a professor at the University of Paris and establishing the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw. Her legacy includes pioneering cancer treatments and her role as a trailblazer for women in science. Marie Curie passed away on July 4, 1934, leaving behind a profound impact on the scientific community.