Chem. 292, Chem Outreach Spring 2001

1
Maria Sklodowska- Curie 1867- 1934
By. April Herrera Department of Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering South Dakota School of Mines
and Technology Rapid City SD 57701
History

• Many Firsts
• Maria was the first woman in Europe to receive
  her doctorate of science.
• Marie discovered Polonium on July 18, 1898
  naming it after her Birth place Poland.
• Marie discovered Radium on December 26, 1898
  and is named after the Latin word radius meaning
  ray.
• In 1903, Maria was the first woman to win a
  Nobel Prize for Physics. She was awarded the
  Nobel along with her husband Pierre, and Henri
  Becquerel for discovering radioactivity.
• Maria was the first to use the term
  radioactivity for this phenomenon.
• Maria was the first female lecturer at
  Sorbonne University.
• Maria was the first female to be a professor
  and head of Laboratory at Sorbonne University.
• She was the first person to win two Noble
  Prizes.
• In 1911 Maria was awarded her second Noble
  Prize this time in Chemistry for the discovery
  of pure radium and the isolation of radium.
• Maria received over the years 15 gold medals.
• She earned 19 different degrees.
• Maria was the first mother-Nobel Prize
  Laureate of daughter-Nobel Prize Laureate.
• She is the first woman that has had her ashes
  placed under the famous dome of the Pantheon in
  Paris for her own merits.

Maria was Born in Warsaw Poland on November 7,
1867. Maria was the fifth and youngest child
in her family. Nickname was Manya Her
Father was a professor of mathematics and
physics In 1875 Manya lost her oldest sister
to typhus. In May of 1878 her mother dies from
a five year battle with tuberculosis. At the
age of 15 she was awarded a gold medal at her
high school graduation. Manya joined the
Floating University because woman were not
welcome at the University of Warsaw In the
fall of 1891 Manya became Maria and she enrolled
at the Sorbonne. The summer of 1890 would pay
of for Maria, she finished first in her masters
degrees physics and second in her math In the
spring of 1894 Maria meet Pierre Curie which
would change not only their lives but the course
of science. On July 25, 1895 with a simple
civil ceremony they become husband and wife.
In 1897 Maria gave birth to their first daughter
Irene. In 1904 the birth of their second
daughter Eve. In 1900 she was appointed
lecturer in physics at the Ecole Normale
Superieure for girls. In December of 1904 she
was appointed chief assistant in the laboratory
directed by Pierre. On April 19, 1906 Pierre
Curie died suddenly. On May 13, 1906 she was
appointed to the Professorship in Sorbonne. On
July 4, 1934 Maria Died of leukemia. In 1995
her ashes were enshrined in the Pantheon in
Paris.

Sources http//www.aip.org/history/curie/contents.
htm http//www.france.diplomatie.fr/label_france/E
NGLISH/SCIENCES/CURIE/marie.html http//hum.amu.ed
u.pl?zbzw?ph?sci?msc.htm
Above Radium
Above Polonium
Chem. 292, Chem Outreach Spring 2001 Dr. David A.
Boyles and Dr. M. Steven McDowell