Where did Marie Curie study? marie curie

Marie Curie - the first woman scientist who was twice awarded the Nobel Prize for research in the field of physics of radioactive materials and chemistry, the creator of the first X-ray machines, the discoverer chemical element radium.

She is called the mother of radioactive physics, and the Marie Curie University in Paris is the best on the planet, there are still ongoing practical research, students from different countries peace. Marie was not only a great scientist, but just happy woman who gave birth and raised two adorable daughters.

This outstanding woman was a real genius, the Warsaw Museum of Maria Sklodowska-Curie was opened in memory of her, and the National Library in Paris carefully preserves her belongings and laboratory equipment. Marie Curie herself was buried in a special coffin with protection from radioactive radiation in the Paris Pantheon, and everyone who wants to inspect her personal belongings is warned about the possibility of getting radiation sickness.

Here are some Interesting Facts, with which the museum of Maria Sklodowska-Curie invites you to familiarize yourself:

The physicist always wore an amulet filled with real radium, while she did not know about the dangers of radiation.
The scientist called the discovered element polonium, thereby perpetuating the memory of her homeland.
Curie was a full member of 85 scientific communities, and it was just an incredible event for a woman of that time.
Curie gave birth to two completely healthy girls, despite the fact that she always worked without special protection and received several severe burns.
Her daughter Irene also received the title of Nobel Prize laureate.
Maria became the first female teacher in the history of the Sorbonne.

The childhood and youth of a scientist

Maria Sklodowska was born on November 7, 1867 in a family of Polish teachers and was the fifth child in a row. Her father worked as a physics teacher, and her mother served as director of the gymnasium, but was forced to give up work after she fell ill with tuberculosis.

The girl grew up extremely purposeful and diligent. Maria studied well, and the natural sciences were given to her with extraordinary ease. short biography, set out on Wikipedia, says that from the very young years Maria felt a craving for research, and her parents tried to help her in everything.

Soon one of Maria's sisters dies, and then her mother - these events make the still very young Marie Curie think about the frailty of life. The girl's father had extensive acquaintances in scientific circles, and Curie had the opportunity to communicate with some very famous personalities. For example, the great chemist Mendeleev, seeing how a girl conducts experiments in the laboratory, exclaimed: “Yes, she will become an excellent chemist!”

Maria brilliantly graduated from the gymnasium, but the road to the university was closed for her only because she was a woman. The sisters decided that they would help each other get an education by taking turns working for several years as governesses.

Soon Marie Curie went to enter one of the natural science departments of the Sorbonne. Becoming a student, the girl studied with full dedication and was among the best. Once, during class, Marie fainted from hunger: she lived in extreme need, she did not have enough money for food, clothes and shoes.

Personal life

Curie graduated from the faculties of physics and mathematics, and then engaged in research in the laboratory, which was directed by her future husband— Pierre Curie. By the age of 35, he managed to make several scientific discoveries, taught at a prestigious school, conducted research in the field of crystal physics, but was not married.

Pierre Curie was burdened by the company of fools, and a promising girl with brilliant inclinations fascinated him. Exactly one year later, Maria and Pierre decided to unite destinies and held a modest civil ceremony.

The museum has a photograph in which the Curies are captured with bicycles during a wedding walk. Soon their first daughter is born, but the young mother sends the child to her grandfather, and she herself completes a series of experiments on magnetism. Pierre and Marie Curie began to work together, conducting studies on the radiation of ores commissioned by large metallurgical concerns. Collaboration brings real pleasure to the spouses, and their union is strengthened by the birth of a second daughter.

However, happiness does not last long: soon her beloved husband dies under the wheels of a freight wagon, and Marie is left completely alone. This circumstance does not affect her work in any way, on the contrary, Curie plunges headlong into the study of radiation emitted by uranium ores. The scientist conducts many experiments, being exposed to the strongest radiation. Towards the end of her life, Maria suffered from many diseases that were the result of radiation sickness, and died of leukemia, which took on an acute form.

Scientific achievements

Marie Curie, whose biography is full of events, was able to achieve the impossible and become a leading scientist, ahead of many men. Curie-Sklodowska not only lectured on physics, but also continued to make greatest discoveries in the field radioactive properties elements, as well as the possibilities of their practical use. Thanks to hard work, she, together with her husband, discovers the existence of polonium, makes an assumption about the existence of other elements that have not yet been discovered by science.

She completed her twelve-year study of the properties of radium, having received this element in the form of a metal, she was able to isolate the compound of radium chloride, which became the standard and is stored at the Institute of Weights and Measures. Her work gained particular importance in connection with the discovery of the possibilities of radioactive radiation in the fight against cancers that were previously considered incurable.

Curie discovered the disinfecting effect of radioactive gases in the treatment of purulent inflammation, created a special container that contained drugs. During the war, she helped assemble mobile X-ray machines, dubbed "little Curies," which were used to determine the position of shrapnel in a wound.

Thanks to her perseverance, she was able to found the world's first Radium Institute, where she not only taught, but also research activities. During her life, she wrote more than 30 articles, brought up a whole galaxy of young scientists who continued her work. Maria Sklodowska-Curie investigated the detrimental effect of the radiation of the elements she discovered on the human body - unfortunately, these discoveries were made at the cost of her own life. Author: Natalia Ivanova

Maria Skłodowska-Curie is one of the most unique women in the history of world science. She became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, the first scientist to win the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person, who received the Nobel Prize in two different sciences - physics and chemistry.

Childhood

The life of Maria Sklodowska was not easy. Polish by nationality, she was born in Warsaw, the capital of the Kingdom of Poland, which was part of Russian Empire. In addition to her, the family had three more daughters and a son. Father, teacher Vladislav Sklodovsky, was exhausted in order to feed the children and earn money for the treatment of his wife, who was slowly dying of consumption. Maria lost one of her sisters as a child, and then her mother.

Years of study

Maria Sklodowska is already in school years distinguished by exceptional diligence, perseverance and diligence. She studied, forgetting about sleep and food, brilliantly graduated from the gymnasium, but intensive studies caused such damage to her health that after graduation she had to take a break for a while to improve her health.

Strived to get higher education, but the opportunities for women in this regard in the then Russia were significantly limited. However, there is evidence that Maria still managed to graduate from the underground women's higher courses, informally called the "Flying University".

The desire for education was characteristic not only of Maria, but also of her sister Bronislava, however, due to cramped financial circumstances, this was hardly realistic. Then they agreed to study in turn, and before that to earn money as governesses. The first was Bronislava, who entered the medical institute in Paris and received a medical degree. Only after that, 24-year-old Maria was able to enter the Sorbonne and study physics and chemistry, and Bronislava worked and paid for her education.

Maria established herself as one of the best students of the Sorbonne, upon graduation she received two diplomas at once - in physics and mathematics and became the first woman teacher in the history of the Sorbonne. Thanks to her diligence and abilities, she also received the opportunity to conduct independent research.

Marriage and scientific work

The fateful meeting of Maria Sklodowska with her future husband, Pierre Curie, took place in 1894. At that time, he was in charge of the laboratory at the Municipal School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry, and, undoubtedly, the community of scientific interests played an important role in their mutual interest. They got married a year later, and honeymoon trip went on bikes.

Having become Sklodowska-Curie, Marie continued active scientific work. She devoted her doctoral dissertation to the problem of new radiations. After a year of intensive work, she made a presentation at a meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences on materials that, like uranium, have radiation (thorium). The report noted that uranium-containing minerals have much more intense radiation than uranium itself.

In 1898, the Curies discovered a new element, which received the name polonium (the Latinized name for Poland) as a sign of respect for Mary's homeland. At the same time, they managed to theoretically substantiate the existence of radium - it was obtained experimentally only after 5 years, which required the processing of more than a ton of ore. Maria conducted experiments with radioactivity in a barn adjacent to her husband's laboratory.

Nobel Prizes

The defense of Maria Sklodowska-Curie's doctoral dissertation took place in 1903, and in the same year she, together with her husband and A.A. Becquerel received the Nobel Prize in Physics. In addition, the Royal Society of London awarded the couple a medal.

It is worth noting that the Curies did not apply for a patent for the radium they discovered, so as not to impede the development of a new field in industry and technology.

Set implementations creative plans spouses Curies prevented tragic death Pierre in 1906, he fell under the wheels of a freight wagon. Maria was left alone with her little daughter Irene in her arms.

In 1910, a number of French scientists nominated Marie Curie for election to the French Academy of Sciences. The case is unprecedented, since until then there had not been a single female academician in France. This caused a long and bitter controversy in the ranks of academicians, and the opponents of the woman scientist managed to vote her out in the elections with a margin of only two votes.

However, the scientific merits of Maria Sklodowska-Curie found international recognition- in 1911 she received a second Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry for outstanding services in its development, the discovery of radium and polonium and their study. By the way, it was the Curies who introduced the term "radioactive" into scientific circulation.

It is amazing how Maria, who has worked with radioactive materials all her life, had two healthy daughters. The family traditions of outstanding scientists were continued by their daughter Irene, who became the wife of the chemist Frederic Joliot and in 1935 also received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Respect for the family of scientists was so great that Irene's husband, like Irene, began to bear the double surname of Joliot-Curie.

First World War

Realizing the promise of research in the field of radioactivity, the University of Paris, together with the Pasteur Institute, just before the outbreak of the First World War, in August 1914, established the Radium Institute, in which Curie received the position of director of the department of fundamental research and medical applications of radioactivity.

During the war, she trained military doctors. practical application radiology, including the detection of shrapnel in the body of the wounded using X-rays. She helped create radiological installations in the frontline zone and provide first aid stations with portable X-ray machines. She described the experience gained during this period in the monograph "Radiology and War" (1920).

Last years life

The last years of the life of Marie Sklodowska-Curie were devoted to teaching at the Radium Institute and leadership scientific work students, as well as the active promotion of radiological methods in medicine. A tribute to the memory of Pierre Curie was the biography of her husband written by her, published in 1923.

Maria Sklodowska-Curie did not forget her homeland - Poland, which gained independence after the First World War. She repeatedly traveled there and advised Polish researchers.

She also visited the USA: in 1921, the Americans presented her with 1 g of radium so that she could continue her research, and in 1929, a second visit to the USA brought her donations that were enough to purchase another gram of radium, which she donated to treat patients in one of the Warsaw hospitals.

Meanwhile, her condition own health steadily worsened. It is simply amazing that she managed to live to be 67 years old, because all the experiments with radioactive elements carried out without any protection.

Pierre and Marie Curie understood the broad prospects for their use in medicine, but apparently they did not know about their detrimental effect on health, what is today called radiation sickness. Moreover, Maria wore a small vial of radium on her chest on a chain, and all her notes, personal belongings, clothes and even furniture are still preserved today. high level radioactivity, life-threatening.

Today, to gain access to her notes and personal belongings, which are the national treasure of France and located in the National Library in Paris, it is required to wear a protective suit, since the period of decay of radium 226 is more than one and a half thousand years.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie died of aplastic radiation anemia on July 4, 1934. She was buried with her husband, but in 1995 the ashes of the Curie spouses were solemnly transferred to the Paris Pantheon.

The memory of the Curie spouses is immortalized in the name of the chemical element curium and the unit of measurement of curie (Ci), and Marie Sklodowska-Curie is called the "mother of modern physics." Several monuments have been erected to her in Poland.

November 7 is the birthday of Marie Skłodowska-Curie, named according to a New Scientist (2009) poll"the most inspiring woman in science" .

In 1906, Sklodowska-Curie (1867 - 1934) received the Nobel Prize in Physics for research in the field of radiation (together with Becquerel and Curie), and in 1911 - in Chemistry "for outstanding achievements in the development of chemistry: the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this wonderful element "and became the first and to date the only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice.

The daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie - Irene Joliot-Curie in 1935 became Nobel laureate in chemistry, receiving an award "for the synthesis of new radioactive elements."

Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw. She was the youngest of five children in the family of Władysław Skłodowski and Bronislaw Bogushka. His father taught physics at the gymnasium, his mother was the director of the gymnasium. She died of tuberculosis when Mary was 11 years old.
Vladislav Sklodovsky with his daughters: Maria, Bronislava and Khilena. 1890
Mary studied brilliantly at school. At a young age, she already worked as a laboratory assistant in a laboratory. cousin. Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev was acquainted with Vladislav Skladovsky, and when he saw Maria at work in the laboratory, he predicted a great future for her.
Maria Skłodowska grew up under Russian rule (Poland at that time was divided between Russia, Germany and Austria). She took an active part in the national movement. Having spent most of her life in France, Maria nevertheless retained her devotion to the cause of the struggle for Polish independence.
Poverty and the ban on the admission of women to Warsaw University stood in the way of her higher education. Maria Sklodowska worked as a governess for five years so that her sister received medical education in Paris, and then the sister took over the costs of her higher education.
Leaving Poland in 1891, Skłodowska entered the faculty of natural sciences University of Paris (Sorbonne). In 1893, having finished the course first, she received a licentiate degree in physics from the Sorbonne (master's degree). A year later she became a licentiate in mathematics.

In 1894, Maria Sklodowska met Pierre Curie, who was then the head of the laboratory at the Municipal School of Physics and Chemistry.
Wedding photo of Pierre and Marie Curie 1895
In 1897, the future Nobel laureates had a daughter, Irene.
In October 1904, Pierre was appointed professor of physics at the Sorbonne, and a month later, Marie became head of his laboratory. In December, their second daughter, Eva, was born, who later became a concert pianist and mother's biographer.
Maria Sklodowska all these years drew strength from the support of Pierre. She confessed:“I have found in marriage everything that I could dream of at the time of the conclusion of our union, and even more”.
In 1906, Pierre died in a street accident. On the day of his death, Mary wrote:"I will die just like you. I will radiate radiance, but I am not a Saint and everyone knows where this luminescence comes from. I love you, my dear, dead Pierre. I love you as much as the day I first saw you and put my fate in your hand".
Having lost her closest friend and workmate, she withdrew into herself, but found the strength to continue working. In May, after Skłodowska refused a pension granted by the Ministry public education, the faculty council of the Sorbonne appointed her to the department of physics, which was previously headed by her husband. After 6 months, Sklodowska-Curie, after giving her first lecture, became the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne.
After the death of her husband in 1906, Maria Sklodowska focused her efforts on isolating pure radium. In 1910, together with André Louis Debierne (1874-1949), she managed to obtain this substance and thus complete the cycle of research begun 12 years ago. She proved that radium is a chemical element, developed a method for measuring radioactive emanation, and prepared for the International Bureau of Weights and Measures the first international standard of radium - a pure sample of radium chloride, with which all other sources were to be compared.
At the end of 1910, at the insistence of many scientists, the candidacy of Sklodowska-Curie was nominated in the elections for one of the most prestigious learned societies- Paris Academy of Sciences. Pierre Curie was elected to it only a year before his death. In the entire history of the Academy of Sciences, not a single womanwas a member, so the nomination led to a fierce battle between supporters and opponents. After several months of insulting controversy in January 1911, the candidacy of Maria Sklodowska was rejected in the elections by a majority of one vote.
One of the last photographs of Poincaré (1854 - 1912) and Maria Sklodowska at the Solvay Congress (1911)
Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, the University of Paris and the Pasteur Institute established the Radium Institute for research on radioactivity, and Sklodowska-Curie was appointed director of the department of fundamental research and medical applications of radioactivity. During the war, she taught military doctors the use of radiology, for example, X-ray detection of shrapnel in the body of the wounded, helped to create radiological facilities in the frontline zone, supply first aid pointsportable x-ray machines. The accumulated experience was summarized in the monograph Radiology and War in 1920.
Museum of Marie Skłodowska-Curie in her home. Warsaw, Freta street, 16
After the war, she returned to the Radium Institute. In the last years of her life, she supervised the work of students and actively promoted the use of radiology in medicine. She wrote a biography of Pierre Curie, published in 1923. Periodically, Curie made trips to Poland, which gained independence at the end of the war. There she advised Polish researchers. In 1921, together with her daughters, Curie visited the United States to accept a gift of one gram of radium to continue the experiments. During her second visit to the USA (1929) she received a donation for which she purchased another gram of radium for therapeutic use in one of the Warsaw hospitals.

Perennial work with radium undermined the health of Marie Sklodowska-Curie. On July 4, 1934, she died of leukemia in a small hospital in Sansellemouse, in the French Alps.
Skłodowska-Curie's greatest merit as a scientist was her unbending perseverance in overcoming difficulties: once she set herself a problem, she would not rest until she could find a solution. A quiet, unassuming woman who was vexed by her fame, she remained unwaveringly loyal to the ideals she believed in and the people she cared about. She was a tender and devoted mother to her two daughters. She loved nature, and when Pierre was alive, the couple often took country bike rides.
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14 Rules for Success by Marie Skłodowska-Curie

1. Love for learning, craving for knowledge and curiosity.

FROM early years the girl had a favorite pastime - to acquire knowledge. At school, she was such a diligent student that after graduation, it took her several months to regain her strength and health.

"Be less curious about people, but more curious about ideas"

All my life the new wonders of nature made me rejoice like a child.

2. Diligence.

In Paris, while studying at the Sorbonne, she became the best student, receiving two diplomas at once - a diploma in physics and mathematics.

"Let everyone spin their own cocoon, without asking why or why."

3. Passion for risk and adventure.

“I do not believe that in our world the passion for risk and adventure can disappear. If I see anything viable around me, it is just the spirit of adventure, which seems ineradicable and manifests itself in curiosity.

4. Perseverance and self-confidence.

“Life is not easy for any of us. Well, well, then, you need to have perseverance, and most importantly - self-confidence. (1923, W. Kellogg, "Pierre Curie")

5. The desire to share knowledge.

Maria Sklodowska became the first female teacher in the history of the Sorbonne. In the last years of her life, she supervised the work of students at the Radium Institute. From France, she traveled to Poland, where she advised Polish researchers.

6. Self-sacrifice and the ability to work in any conditions.

From 1898 to 1902 Marie and Pierre Curie processed 8 tons of uranium ore, not the name of the laboratory, and working in the institute's storeroom, and later in a shed on Lomont Street in Paris.
7. The ability to admire a man.

In 1894, Maria met Pierre Curie, who was the head of the laboratory at the Municipal School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry. She saw the secret of female happiness in the unity of purpose, views and mutual understanding.

“Everything turned out so and even better than I dreamed at the time of our union. All the time, admiration for his exceptional virtues grew in me, so rare, so sublime, that he seemed to me a being one of a kind, alien to any vanity, any pettiness that you find both in yourself and in others ... "
8. The ability to share scientific ideas and inspire.

Marie Curie prompted her husband to compare uranium compounds from different deposits in terms of radiation intensity.

9. Passion for scientific research.

For the first time, she was given the opportunity to conduct independent research while still at the university. In the early 1890s, Maria studied the magnetization of steel.

"I am one of those who are convinced of the great beauty of science."
10. The ability to combine personal life and career.

Maria married Pierre in 1895, and after the birth of her first daughter, she began work on a dissertation on the study of radioactivity.

11. Selflessness.

In 1898, the couple discovered a new radioactive chemical element - polonium, which was named after Poland, Mary's homeland. But the discovery of the wife did not patent, providing their discovery free of charge for the benefit of mankind.

12. Charity.

During a visit to the United States in 1929, she received a donation, which she spent on a gram of radium for therapeutic use in a hospital in Warsaw. Maria invested in war loans during the First World War almost all of her personal funds from two Nobel Prizes.

13. Enlightenment.

Maria was a member of 85 scientific societies around the world, took part in physics congresses and was a collaborator for 12 years International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations.
14. Fearlessness.

Maria said: “There is nothing in life to be afraid of, there is only what needs to be understood”

Maria Skłodowska-Curie is one of the most unique women in the history of world science. She became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, the first scientist to receive the Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win the Nobel Prize in two different sciences - physics and chemistry.

Childhood

The life of Maria Sklodowska was not easy. Polish by nationality, she was born in Warsaw, the capital of the Kingdom of Poland, which was part of the Russian Empire. In addition to her, the family had three more daughters and a son. Father, teacher Vladislav Sklodovsky, was exhausted in order to feed the children and earn money for the treatment of his wife, who was slowly dying of consumption. Maria lost one of her sisters as a child, and then her mother.

Years of study

Maria Sklodowska already in her school years was distinguished by exceptional diligence, perseverance and diligence. She studied, forgetting about sleep and food, brilliantly graduated from the gymnasium, but intensive studies caused such damage to her health that after graduation she had to take a break for a while to improve her health.

The girl aspired to receive a higher education, but the opportunities for women in this regard in Russia at that time were significantly limited. However, there is evidence that Maria still managed to graduate from the underground women's higher courses, informally called the "Flying University".

Marriage and scientific work

The fateful meeting of Maria Sklodowska with her future husband, Pierre Curie, took place in 1894. At that time, he was in charge of the laboratory at the Municipal School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry, and, undoubtedly, the community of scientific interests played an important role in their mutual interest. A year later, they got married, and went on a honeymoon trip on bicycles.

Nobel Prizes

It is worth noting that the Curies did not apply for a patent for the radium they discovered, so as not to impede the development of a new field in industry and technology.

The realization of many creative plans of the Curie spouses was prevented by the tragic death of Pierre in 1906, he fell under the wheels of a freight wagon. Maria was left alone with her little daughter Irene in her arms.

However, the scientific merits of Marie Sklodowska-Curie found international recognition - in 1911 she received the second Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry for outstanding achievements in its development, the discovery of radium and polonium and their study. By the way, it was the Curies who introduced the term "radioactive" into scientific circulation.

World War I

During the war, she trained military doctors in the practical application of radiology, including the detection of shrapnel in the body of the wounded using X-rays. She helped create radiological installations in the frontline zone and provide first aid stations with portable X-ray machines. She described the experience gained during this period in the monograph "Radiology and War" (1920).

last years of life

The last years of Maria Skłodowska-Curie's life were devoted to teaching at the Radium Institute and supervising the scientific work of students, as well as actively promoting radiological methods in medicine. A tribute to the memory of Pierre Curie was the biography of her husband written by her, published in 1923.

Maria Sklodowska-Curie did not forget her homeland - Poland, which gained independence after the First World War. She repeatedly traveled there and advised Polish researchers.

Meanwhile, her own health was steadily deteriorating. It is simply amazing that she managed to live up to 67 years, because all the experiments with radioactive elements were carried out without any protection.

Pierre and Marie Curie understood the broad prospects for their use in medicine, but apparently they did not know about their detrimental effect on health, what is today called radiation sickness. Moreover, Maria wore a small vial of radium on her chest on a chain, and all her records, personal belongings, clothes and even furniture still retain a high level of radioactivity that is life-threatening.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie died of aplastic radiation anemia on July 4, 1934. She was buried with her husband, but in 1995 the ashes of the Curie spouses were solemnly transferred to the Paris Pantheon.

Maria Sklodowska-Curie received two Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry, thus entering history as the only woman who has twice received the highest award in the scientific world.

Maria was born on November 7, 1867 in Warsaw in a large, friendly and intelligent family. Her father was a teacher of physics and mathematics, and her mother kept a prestigious boarding house for girls from the best families. But soon the happy times for the Sklodovsky family ended: the father lost all his savings, Maria's sister Zosia died, and then the mother died of consumption. Despite these tragedies, Maria continued to study well and was the best student of the gymnasium. At that time, women could not go to university, so Maria continued her education in the underground « Free University”, in which professors from real universities secretly read lectures in the apartments of students or teachers.

Loved sports and swimming, loved to ride a bike

Maria's older sister also aspired to knowledge, they both dreamed of studying at the Sorbonne. The sisters agreed to help each other. First, Bronya went to Paris, and Maria got a job as a governess, worked for 5 years and sent money to her sister. Then Maria herself came to Paris, entering the faculty of natural science at the Sorbonne in 1891. Maria studied from night to morning, read thousands of books. In 1893 she completed the course first and received degrees in physics and mathematics.

In 1894 Mary met Pierre Curie, who led the laboratory at the School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry. Common scientific interests brought the couple closer, a year later they got married. In this happy but short-lived marriage, two daughters were born.

In 1896, Henri Becquerel discovered rays that emitted uranium compounds. The Curies decided to study these rays in more detail and discovered that uranium ore has even more radiation than uranium, thorium or their compounds. In 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie announced the discovery of two new radioactive elements - radium and polonium. But they failed to isolate any of these elements to provide decisive evidence.

Marie Curie is the founder of the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw.

The couple began hard work: it was necessary to extract new elements from uranium ore. It took them 4 years to do this. At that time, the detrimental effect of radiation on the body was not yet known, and tons of radioactive ore had to be processed. In 1902 they succeeded isolate a tenth gram of radium chloride from several tons of ore, and in 1903, Marie presented her doctoral thesis at the Sorbonne on the topic "Research radioactive substances". In December 1903, Becquerel and the Curies received the Nobel Prize.

Mary's family happiness did not last long, in 1906 Pierre died under the wheels of the carriage. Despite the fact that Maria was incredibly saddened by the death of her beloved husband, she found the strength to continue their common research.

In 1906 she became the first female lecturer at the Sorbonne, in 1911 received a second Nobel Prize and became the head of the radioactivity research department at the newly established Radium Institute. In subsequent years, Maria Sklodowska-Curie received more than 20 honorary degrees, was a member of 85 scientific societies from around the world.

During World War I, Marie Curie, along with eldest daughter, who was still a teenager then, went to hospitals with the first x-ray machine and trained doctors to take X-rays in order to more successfully operate on the wounded.

Marie Curie wore her permanent talisman on her chest - an ampoule with radium.

The most talented and ingenious scientist, the selfless Marie Sklodowska-Curie undermined her health over the years of working with radioactive elements, as she did not take any security measures.

In 1934 she died of chronic radiation sickness

Maria Curie-Sklodowska was one of the first women who was engaged in rock climbing in the Tatras and went to the mountains in trousers.