Marie Skłodowska Curie

After finishing her education in Poland, in 1891, she went to Paris to continue her studies at the Sorbonne where she obtained Licenciateships in Physics and the Mathematical Sciences.

Maria made an agreement with her sister, Bronisława, that she would give her financial assistance during Bronisława’s medical studies in Paris, in exchange for similar assistance two years later.

Relationships
In 1894 Pierre Curie entered her life: it was their mutual interest in natural sciences that drew them together. Pierre Curie was an instructor at The City of Paris Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Educational Institution (ESPCI Paris). They were introduced by Polish physicist Józef Wierusz-Kowalski, who had learned that she was looking for a larger laboratory space, something that Wierusz-Kowalski thought Pierre could access.

Work
Her greatest achievements include:

• the theory of radioactivity
• the technology for radioactive isotope separation
• the discovery of two new chemical elements: radium and polonium
• under her personal leadership, the first research into the treatment of cancer with radioactivity was conducted

Prizes
She was awarded the Nobel Prize twice. For the first time in 1903 in physics with her husband Pierre Curie for research on radioactivity and its discoverer Henri Becquerel, and for the second time in 1911 in chemistry for the isolation of pure radio.

She received many honorary science, medicine and law degrees and honorary memberships of learned societies throughout the world.

She also received, jointly with her husband, the Davy Medal of the Royal Society in 1903 and, in 1921, President Harding of the United States, on behalf of the women of America, presented her with one gram of radium in recognition of her service to science.

The Institute led by her produced four more Nobel Prize winners, including her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie and her son-in-law, Frédéric Joliot-Curie.

Postwar activity
After the war, Curie-Skłodowska continued to head the Institute for Radium in Paris, while travelling the world, where her foundation helped establish medical institutes for the treatment of cancer. She also traveled to the United States, where she received many honorary degrees. In 1932, with the help of Polish President Mościcki, one such institute was established in Warsaw. Maria’s sister Bronisława became the first head.