Marie Curie - The First Lady of Science

“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