Quick answerMarie Curie (1867–1934) was a Polish-French scientist. Marie Curie is best known for Discovering polonium and radium, Radioactivity, Nobel Prize in Physics 1903, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911 and First woman to win a Nobel Prize. Born in Warsaw, Congress Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire. Her work opened the way to X-rays, cancer treatment and nuclear physics.
Marie Curie (1867–1934) was a Polish-born French physicist who pioneered the study of radioactivity and remains the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences. With her husband Pierre she discovered polonium and radium, and her work opened the way to X-rays, cancer treatment and nuclear physics.
Key facts
| Born | 1867 in Warsaw, Congress Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire |
|---|---|
| Died | 1934 |
| Nationality | Polish-French |
| Field | Science |
| Known for | Discovering polonium and radium, Radioactivity, Nobel Prize in Physics 1903, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911, First woman to win a Nobel Prize |
Overview
Curie was born Maria Skłodowska in Warsaw, then part of the Russian Empire, the youngest of five children of two teachers. Barred from university in Poland as a woman, she studied secretly and moved to Paris in 1891, where she took degrees in physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne. She coined the word radioactivity for the rays the Curies were studying. In 1895 she married the physicist Pierre Curie, and together they worked in a leaking shed, handling tonnes of pitchblende to isolate tiny amounts of new elements.
In 1898 they announced polonium, named for her homeland, and radium, and in 1903 they shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Henri Becquerel, making Marie the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. After Pierre's death in a street accident in 1906, she took his Sorbonne chair, the first woman to do so, and in 1911 won a second Nobel, in Chemistry, for isolating pure radium. During the First World War she drove mobile X-ray units to the front, bringing diagnosis to wounded soldiers. She died in 1934 of aplastic anaemia, almost certainly caused by years of radiation exposure.
Frequently asked questions
When was Marie Curie born?
Curie was born Maria Salomea Skłodowska on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw, then in Congress Poland under Russian rule. She was the fifth and youngest child of two teachers, and she left Poland for Paris in 1891 to study physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne.
What did Marie Curie discover?
With her husband Pierre, Curie discovered two new elements, polonium in 1898, named for her native Poland, and radium, and she coined the word radioactivity. Her work showed that atoms themselves could break apart, and it laid the foundations of nuclear physics and of radiation treatment for cancer.
How did Marie Curie die?
Curie died on 4 July 1934, aged 66, near Sallanches in France, of aplastic anaemia, a failure of the bone marrow almost certainly caused by years of working with radioactive materials. In her time the dangers of radiation were barely understood, and she handled radium with little protection.
Where was Marie Curie born?
Curie was born in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, on 7 November 1867, when the city was under Russian rule as part of Congress Poland. Her birthplace at 16 Freta Street is now the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum, dedicated to her life and work.
What is Marie Curie famous for?
Curie is famous as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences, Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911. She discovered polonium and radium, coined the word radioactivity, and founded the study of the field that became nuclear physics.
Related people
- Pierre Curie — Husband and collaborator; shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics
Quotes by Marie Curie
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- Ernest Rutherford — another science figure (1871–1937)
- France — Marie Curie's country
- Polonium (Po) — the element discovered by Marie Curie
- Radium (Ra) — the element discovered by Marie Curie
Sources & last updated
Last updated: . Figures are shown with their year; where sources disagree, the value is left out rather than estimated.