Marie Curie, nee Sklodowska, was born in Warsaw, Poland on November 7, 1867. Marie was a top student in secondary school, but she was not allowed to attend the men-only University of Warsaw. She instead continued her education in Warsaw's "floating university," a set of underground, informal classes held in secret.
In 1891, Marie was able to continue her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, France where she obtained degrees in Physics and the Mathematical Sciences. Here, Marie met Pierre Curie, professor in the School of Physics. They married in 1895. Together they were able to identify two new elements extracted from pitchblende, a brown-black mineral ore, polonium and radium. The discovery won the Curies the Noble Prize in Physics in 1903.
After Pierre’s death in 1906, Marie focused her efforts on establishing a research institute in his memory, the Radium Institute. Its opening had to be delayed due to the start of World War One in 1914. During this time, Marie focused on supporting France’s military by setting up the first military radiology centers. Known as “petites Curies”, Marie equipped 20 vehicles with mobile X-ray apparatuses to help the wounded on the battle-front. On July 4, 1934, Marie Curie died from aplastic anemia cause by exposure to ionizing radiation.
She was the first Nobel laureate to win two separate Nobel prizes, the first woman in Europe to complete a doctorate, and the first and only woman to be laid to rest under the famous dome of the Pantheon for her own accomplishments.
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