Marie Curie

1867-1934

Maria Skłodowska studied physics in Russian-occupied Warsaw at the clandestine Flying University where Poles could be taught free of restrictions.

After graduating, she moved to Paris to continue her studies. She researched radioactivity with the French physicist Perre Curie, whom she later married. They were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903, making her the first woman to win one. After Pierre died in a traffic accident a few years later, she continued her research solo and discovered the elements polonium and radium, which earned her a second award (in Chemistry), the first person to win twice.

During the First World War, she pioneered mobile X-ray devices to assist surgery.

She probably died from the cumulative effects of long-term exposure to all that radiation.

Husband: Pierre Curie (m. 1895–1906)

SITE INDEX

Chronological
< Nellie Bly 1864-1922
< Frances Cleveland 1864-1947
< Beatrix Potter 1866-1943
Marie Curie 1867-1934
Anne Sutherland 1867-1942 >
Charlotte Cooper 1870-1966 >

Alphabetical
< Marie Antoinette
Marie Curie
Marie Paradis >