“Life is not easy for any of us. But
what of that. We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.
We must believe that we are gifted for something and that thing must be
attained”
Above inspiring and provoking
utterances were made by the strongest representation of a woman empowerment, Marie
Salmomea Sklodowska later known as Marie Curie who was born on November 7, 1867
in Warsaw, Poland. She is best known for her discovery of radium and polonium
and her work with radioactivity. Just because of she is a woman, although she
encountered times of adversity in her career, she was able to exceed all the
barriers put on her at that time and became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only
woman to win the award in two different fields of physics and chemistry.
From the childhood, Marie was bright
and had a curious mind to learn. She was a top student in her secondary school.
Although she was clever enough to pursue higher education she was unable to
enroll in a regular institution of higher education because she was a woman.
She instead continued her education in Warsaw's "flying university,"
a set of underground, informal classes held in secret. But Marie was eager to
earn an official degree. So that, Maria worked out an agreement with her
sister, Bronisława, that she would give her financial assistance during
Bronisława's medical studies in Paris, in exchange for similar assistance from
Bronislawa after she completed her studies. In connection with this, Maria took
a position as a governess and work. And also she continued to educate herself
in all her spare time. Finally she made her way to Paris in 1891 and continued
her studies at the Sorbonne where she obtained Licenciateships in Physics and
the Mathematical Sciences.
In there, she met Pierre Curie, Professor in the School of Physics in
1894 and in the following year they were married. Although she had given birth
to two daughters called Irene and Eve Curie, her passion for science, did not
stop and not even slow down her work. At first, Marie and Pierre Curie worked
on their projects separately. Later Pierre Curie put aside his own work to help
Marie with her exploration of radioactivity. In 1903, she won the prestigious
honor along with her husband and Henri Becquerel, for their work on
radioactivity.
The tragedy stuck on her in 1906. She lost her beloved husband who was
knocked down and killed by a carriage. But, she was a strong woman as she took
his place as Professor of General Physics in the Faculty of Sciences. It was
the first time a woman had held this position. And also she was appointed as
the Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University
of Paris, founded in 1914.
Despite her success, Marie continued to face great opposition
from male scientists in France, and she never received significant financial
benefits from her work. By the late 1920s her health was beginning to
deteriorate. She died on 4 July 1934 from leukemia, caused by exposure to
high-energy radiation from her research.
Article By: Uddeepa Wijerathna
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