Marie Curie

The discoverer of radium

1867 - 1934

Most people who ever heard about Marie Curie knows that she received the Nobel Prize of physics and chemistry. A lot of them also knows that she was married to her colleague in research. However not many know what her origin was and what a struggle the life of this strong personality was. Her contribution for mankind are almost unbeleivable and I admire her very much, hoping to be able to share to others what I have read about her origin, life, personality and works, with this paper.

• She was the first person to say radioactivity about the radiation phenomenon.
• She became the first woman in Europe to receive the doctorate in science.
• She was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize of physics in 1903, together with her husband Pierre Curie and the scientist Henri Becquerel, for the discovery of radioactivity.
• She became the first female teacher, professor and head of the Laboratory at the Sorbonne University in Paris 1906.
• She was the first person who ever received the Nobel Prize twice, since she also received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1911, for discovering and isolating pure radium.
• She was the first mother of a Nobel Prize Laureate who herself also had  recieved the Nobel Prize, since her oldest daughter Irène Joliot-Curie received the Nobel Prize of chemistry in 1935.
• She became the first woman which has been laid to rest in the famous dome of the Pantheon in Paris for her own merits.

Here is a thoughtful statement of this fantastic woman:  " You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful."

Author: Katrin Nilsson