-
Period: to
Childhood
She was the fifth daughter of Władysław Skłodowski, teacher of education media in physics and mathematics (disciplines in which she was interested). When he was ten years old, Maria Skłodowska attended boarding school, from which he graduated in 1883 with a gold medal. After a collapse, possibly due to depression, he could not enroll in a regular institution of higher education because she was a woman, so, she and her sister became involved with the clandestine Flying University -
Birth
Marie Skłodowska Curie was born in Warsaw, in what was then the Kingdom of Poland, part of the Russian Empire. She was the fifth and youngest child of well-known teachers Bronisława. -
Period: to
Early studies
Her sister soon left for Paris to study. To be able to accompany her in the future, Curie worked as a governess (while continuing her training) to aford tuition at the university. While she was working, he fell in love with one of his students, Kazimierz Żorawski; but his parents rejected the idea of marrying a poor woman. In 1891, with 24 years, Marie Curie finally moved to study in France. -
Marriage
Due to her effort and sacrifice, in 1893, Marie Curie graduated in Physics in the University of Paris, being number one of her promotion. Just a year later, she met the one who became her husband in 1895 and father of her two daughters: the also scientist Pierre Curie. -
Period: to
Contribution to science
Marie Curie's next step was to get a doctorate. Investigations into the radiation of the uranium of the physicist Becquerel and the discovery of the X-rays by Röntgen helped Curie to choose the subject of her thesis: research on radioactive substances. Fascinated by the progress of his wife's research, Pierre decided to park his studies in order to help her. In 1898 they announced the discovery of new elements: the radio and the Polonius, both more radioactive than the uranium. -
Nobel Prize
1903 was the year of the recognition of her work. Not only she received her doctorate, also she and her husband received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research on radioactivity. Despite her importance in these findings, she did not have the same recognition as her husband. -
Death of her husband
Unfortunately, in 1906, a chariot of horses ended with the life of Pierre Curie. This caused Marie to occupy her husband's Physics chair at the Sorbonne University, becoming the first female professor of the university. -
Second Nobel Prize
Marie found out that radiation therapy could be a cancer treatment. This made her experiments popular. Thanks to that research, she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. -
Period: to
First World War
Marie played a very important role during the First World War. The scientist acquired several automobiles and portable X-ray machines and she created "radiological ambulances". Thanks to this gesture, many soldiers were saved and Curie became the director of the French Red Cross Radiology Service. -
Death
Curie visited Poland for the last time in early 1934. A few months later, she died at the Sancellemoz sanatorium in Passy, Haute-Savoie, from aplastic anemia believed to have been contracted from her long-term exposure to radiation.
