Marie Curie - Scientist | Mini Bio | BIO

Marie Curie was a pioneer in the field of radiation research and the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in two different categories. Marie Curie was a towering scientific intellect in a Victorian era when opportunities for women and opportunities for women academically especially were extremely few and far between. Marie Curie was born Maria Sklodowska in Warsaw, Poland on She had to study underground because she wasn't able to be accepted into the men-only University of Warsaw. She then had to leave the country to get her PhD. She was the first woman to receive a PhD degree from a French university. She came to Paris for her education and met Pierre Curie. Marie shared lab space with fellow scientist Pierre Curie. They were married in 1895 and had two daughters, Irene and Eve. Marie trained Irene to be her assistant and in 1935 Irene won a Nobel Prize as well. Marie Curie and her husband began studying the radiation and the properties of uranium. Marie and Pierre's main discoveries were the ability to isolate the radioactive elements which came from the uranium-based ore called pitchblende. They discovered two new radioactive elements radium and polonium which is named for Marie's country of birth, Poland. In 1903 Marie and Pierre were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics along with Professor Henri Becquerel. Marie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Curie and her husband were absolutely single-minded in the pursuit of their research. In fact when they were awarded the Nobel Prize they refused to go and accept the prize personally because it would interfere with their research. Pierre Curie died from a horse carriage accident in 1906. Despite this loss Marie continued their work and was offered her husband's teaching position becoming the first female professor at the Sorbonne. Curie's research was key in understanding the effects of radioactivity and in quantifying those effects on living cells. She really established the field of radiation therapy for cancer. Marie Curie made history again when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1911. She was the first woman to win two Nobel Prizes. It was through Curie's research that medical use of x-rays became really a possibility. During the first world war Marie Curie herself carried many portable x-ray pieces of equipment to the front lines to help the wounded. Curie founded the Radium Institute to continue her research. Due to her prolonged exposure to radiation she contracted leukemia and died in 1934. Marie Curie is such a role model especially for a woman in science. The impact of her work, the scientific integrity and the drive that she had is truly an inspiration to all of us today.