By Beata Bruggeman-Sekowska
Maria (Marie) Skłodowska-Curie was a pioneer, achieving countless “firsts” in science and for women worldwide. Born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1867, Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remains the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields—Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911. Her groundbreaking discoveries of the elements polonium and radium not only advanced the study of radioactivity (a term she herself coined) but also opened new doors for medical treatments. She was also the first woman to receive a doctorate in France based on original research. In 1906, she became the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne, stepping into her late husband Pierre Curie’s professorship. And in 1995, she became the first woman to be laid to rest in the Panthéon in Paris solely for her own achievements.
Maria’s passion for science was apparent from an early age. After completing her secondary education with high honors, she worked as a governess to fund her sister’s medical studies in Paris, with the understanding that her sister would later help Maria do the same. By 1891, she made her way to Paris to study at the Sorbonne, where she worked tirelessly, living on minimal resources, often bread and tea, while studying physics and mathematics. In 1893, she earned first place in physics in her class and began working in the research laboratory of physicist Gabriel Lippmann. The following year, she earned a second degree in mathematics, placing second in her class.
In 1894, Maria met Pierre Curie, a fellow scientist whose dedication to research matched her own. The two married in 1895, forming a partnership that would lead to remarkable discoveries. After physicist Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity in 1896, Maria took up research to explore if other elements exhibited the same properties. She found that thorium also emitted radiation, and through extensive work with the mineral pitchblende, discovered two new elements: polonium, which she named after her homeland, and radium. This work led to her 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with her husband Pierre and Henri Becquerel.
Following Pierre’s tragic death in 1906, Maria continued their work alone, ultimately isolating pure radium, which led to her second Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. This accomplishment made her the first and only person to date to win Nobel Prizes in two scientific disciplines.
Maria’s contributions went beyond her laboratory work. During World War I, she pioneered mobile radiography units, known as “Little Curies,” to help battlefield doctors perform X-rays on injured soldiers. With her daughter Irène, she trained personnel and equipped vehicles with X-ray machines, greatly advancing medical care on the front lines. Her tireless dedication to science continued post-war, and in 1921, she traveled to the United States, where President Warren G. Harding presented her with a gram of radium funded by American women—a gesture of profound respect and support for her research, as radium was extremely costly at the time.
Her influence was not only in the discoveries she made but in the legacy of research that continued through her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie, who would later win a Nobel Prize herself for discovering artificial radioactivity alongside her husband, Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Curie’s legacy lives on in museums worldwide, including a special museum in her birthplace, Warsaw. The Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum, located in her childhood home, chronicles her life and work, housing personal artifacts, letters, scientific equipment, and displays that celebrate her monumental impact on science. This museum is a unique window into the life of a scientist who, against all odds, became one of the most influential figures in modern science.
Through her discoveries and her commitment to using science for humanity’s benefit, Marie Curie continues to inspire countless scientists, especially women, across generations. Her work laid the foundation for advancements in nuclear physics and medical treatments, and her life remains a testament to the power of perseverance and dedication to discovery.
Image : The Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum in Warsaw © communications-unlimited
Author: Beata Bruggeman-Sękowska is an award-winning international journalist, TV correspondent, author, chief editor of international journalism centre, Central and Eastern Europe Centre (est. 2004) , president of the European Institute on Communist Oppression and a sworn translator. She was born in Warsaw, Poland and has also Armenian blood and roots in Lvov, which is part of Ukraine. She has been living in Heerlen, the Netherlands since 2005.
