Marie Curie

                                Marie Curie

Marie Curie was a Polish scientist who won a Nobel prize in both Chemistry and 

Physics. She enabled radioactive isotypes to be isolated for the first time. During the 

First World War, Curie developed the practical use of X-Rays and she also 

discovered two new elements. Her work was made more remarkable because of the 

discrimination which existed against women in science at the time. She was the first 

female professor at the University of Paris and broke down many barriers for 

women in science. She was born on 7 November 1867, Warsaw Poland. She was the youngest of five children and was brought up in a poor but well-educated family. At an early age she became committed to the ideal of Polish independence from Russia She yearned to be able to teach fellow Polish woman who were mostly condemned to zero education.

Unusually for women at that time, Marya took an interest in Chemistry and Biology. Marya went to Paris, where after working as a governess she was able to study at the Sorbonne, Paris. Struggling to learn in French, Marya threw herself into her studies, leading an ascetic life dedicated to education and improving her scientific knowledge. She went on to get a degree in Physics 

It was in Paris that she met Pierre Curie,He was a renowned Chemist. Pierre asked her to marry him, Marya initially refused but, after persistence from Pierre, she relented.

Marie pursued studies in radioactivity, this led to the discovery of two new elements like polonium or radium .

Radium was discovered to have remarkable impacts. It was from this discovery of radium and its properties that the science of radiation was able to develop. It was found that radium had the power to burn away diseased cells in the body

The Curries agreed to give away their secret freely;

For their discovery, they were awarded the Davy Medal (Britain) and the Nobel Prize in Physicsin 1903. Marie Curie was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize.

In 1906, Pierre was killed in a road accident, leaving Marie to look after the laboratory and her two children. Irene won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935, jointly with her husband.

In 1911, she was awarded a second Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of actinium and further studies on radium and polonium.

The success of Marie Curie also brought considerable hostility, criticism and suspicion from a male-dominated science world. 

The onset of World War I in 1914, led to Marie Curie dedicating her time to the installation of X-ray machines in hospitals. By, the end of the First World War, over a million soldiers had been examined by her X-ray units.

Curie was also proud to participate in the newly formed League of Nations, through joining the  International Commission for Intellectual Cooperation in August 1922.

Marie Curie was known for her modest and frugal lifestyle. She asked any financial prizes to be given to research bodies rather than herself.

Marie Curie died in 1934 from Cancer. 

Marie Curie pushed back many frontiers in science, and at the same time set a new bar for female academic and scientific achievement.