Marie Curie:
Her Life
Used with permission from Z. Zwolski
Wladyslaw and Bronislawa Sklodowska of Warsaw, Poland were
blessed November 7, 1867 with a baby girl whom they named Maria
Sklodowska. Little did they know at that time that their new baby
girl was going to risk her life to uncover a new world of
science.
Born into a family of teachers and being brought up in an
environment with a sense of duty, learning was a big part of this
family. Her father taught high school physics,
but wasn't allowed to teach it in the Polish language. She was
always fascinated by her father's glass case of physics
apparatus, with may have sparked her interest in it.
At the age of one, Maria's mother came down with the deadly
disease of Tuberculosis (TB). After a long battle with it, she
finally died when Maria was ten. That same year her sister died
prematurely. From this, she drew curiosity that later would boost
her faith in science.
She graduated first in her high school class of 1883. Since
females were not allowed in colleges, Maria and her sister
attended a secret "floating university." In 1891, Maria
left for Paris, changed her name to Marie, and enrolled in Sorbonne. By July 28, 1894, she had
graduated with second honors in Mathematics and just a year
before received her license in Physics, also graduating first in
her class.
July 26, 1895 was a great day for Marie, as she married
Pierre Curie. She was always thinking of saving money so she had
a dark wedding dress made so she could wear it to the lab. And
that she did until it was worn and tattered. Pierre and Marie
were a perfect match; both very involved with science. They had
two children. Irene was born September of 1897 and Eve was born
in December of 1904. They four lived a happy life together.
Until the devastating day of April 19, 1906. Pierre was
killed by being struck by a horse-drawn wagon while walking from
the laboratory.
Marie was left to raise Irene and Eve by herself while
conducting her research on radium (see Accomplishments).
They both grew up to be wonderful ladies and Irene even won a Nobel prize, just like her mother.
Everything was fine, even though they missed their dear
Pierre, until that fateful day of July 4, 1934. Marie passed away
from leukemia caused by the elusive radium
that she devoted her life to discovering and eventually
isolating.
The ashes of Pierre and Marie were laid to rest under the
famous dome of Pantheon in Paris.
Works Cited:
"Curie, Marie (1867-1934)," Microsoft (R) 96
Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1995 Microsoft Corp.
"Marie Curie,"
http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/label_france/
ENGLISH/SCIENCES/CURIE/marie.html