Marie Curie

Marie Curie: The Pioneer

By Efraín Alfaro. 

Marie Curie (1867-1934) was a famous Polish scientist. She was born Marya Skoldowska in Warsaw on 7 November 1867. Her father and mother were both teachers. They had 4 other children, all of them older than Marya. She had a brother named Jozef and 3 sisters, Zofia, Bronia and Helena.

However Zofia died of typhus in 1874 and her mother died of tuberculosis in 1878. (Both were common diseases in the 19th century).

Marya herself proved to be a very bright child and did very well at school. Unfortunately at that time women were not allowed to go to University. That meant Marya would have to study abroad. So in 1885 she made an arrangement with her sister Bronia. Marya would work as a governess (teaching a wealthy family's children in their own home) and she would support Bronia while she studied at University. In turn when Bronia left and got a job she would support Marya while she went to University.

So Marya worked as a governess until 1891 when she began studying at Sorbonne University in Paris. Since she was living in France Marya started calling herself by the French version of her name, Marie.

Marie did very well at University and in 1893 she gained a degree in Physics. In 1894 she gained a degree in Maths.

In 1894 she met Pierre Curie and she married him in 1895. In 1897 Marie Curie had a daughter called Irene.

Meanwhile in 1895 a German named Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X-rays. Then in 1896 Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium gives off mysterious, invisible rays.

In 1897 Marie Curie started investigating uranium. (In 1898 she coined the term radioactive to describe any substance that gave off the mysterious rays). Marie also examined a substance called pitchblende, which she realized is much more radioactive than pure uranium. Marie Curie realized that pitchblende must contain some elements that are much more radioactive than pure uranium.

In 1898 Marie and her husband Pierre isolated an element they called polonium (after Poland). However they realized there was another element in pitchblende. Finally in 1902 they isolated radium. In 1903 Marie and Pierre Curie were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics along with Henri Becquerel. Winning the prize brought them fame.

Unfortunately the Curies did not realize that exposure to radiation was harming their health. Nevertheless in 1904 Marie Curie had a daughter called Eve.

Unfortunately in 1905 Pierre was killed by a horse-drawn vehicle. However after his death Marie was offered his post as Professor of Physics at Sorbonne University. In 1911 Marie Curie was given the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Marie continued to research radium and in 1921 she visited the USA and met President Harding. Marie visited the USA again in 1929. However her health was failing. Eventually she was diagnosed with leukemia. Marie Curie died on 4 July 1934. She was 66.