Facts about Marie Curie
Posted by Lauren M. / in Science Facts
Marie Curie - image by TNS Sofres, Flickr
Early Life of Marie Curie
- Marie was born on November 7, 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. Her maiden last name was Skłodowska.
- Both Marie and sister dreamed of going abroad to earn an official degree, but financial resources that they lacked held them back. At the time women were not officially allowed to earn a degree in Poland.
- When Marie was 10 her mother died
- She graduated from her high school as a top student with gold medals.
- After years of working and saving her money, Marie was able to travel to Paris France and attend the University of France where she earned a college degree in Physics in 1893.
Scientific Discovery of Marie Curie
- After graduation Marie Curie worked on research. Marie did most of her experiments and research in a shack.
- In 1894 Marie was denied a position that she applied for at the Polish university of Karkoeli.
- In 1895, Marie married Pierre Curie in France.
- Pierre was also a scientist. Marie's research inspired Pierre to join her work.
- In 1898 Marie and Pierre discovered two new elements, both considered radioactive elements today. They included polonium, which Marie named after her home country Poland, and radium.
- For the next 5 years Marie worked on research, publishing 32 scientific research papers mainly in the area of radiation.
- In June 1903 Marie Curie earn a PhD from the University of Paris, becoming the first woman in France to earn a doctorate degree..
- In December 1903 Marie earn a Nobel prize for her research on radiation. She was the first woman to earn this prize.
- Marie shared the Nobel prize with Henri Becquterel (The original discover of radioactivity) and her husband Pierre Curie.
- In 1906, Marie's husband Pierre died in an accident.
- In 1911 Marie Curie was awarded a second Nobel prize, this time in Chemistry for the discovery of two new elements (radium and polonium). Marie became the first person to win the Nobel prize in two different fields, chemistry and physics.
- Marie provided medical attention to French soldiers during the first world war. She used her knowledge of radiation to help treat soldiers.
- Marie Curie died July 4, 1934 in France at the age of 66. It is suspected that her death was caused by exposure of radium and other radioactive materials.
- In 1935, Marie's daughter Irene won a Nobel prize for her research on artificial radioactivity.
Marie and Pierre Curie - Image Public Domain
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posted by Lauren M. - Lauren was interested in science from an early age. Her interest sparked her to become a teacher who now loves to share what she has learned about science. Lauren has been writing professionally for 5 years and loves to write kid-friendly articles for sciencewithkids.com.