Marie Curie

Marie Curie

In this paper, I'm going to talk about Maria Sklodowska, better known as Marie Curie.

Maria, who was born in Poland, November the 7th, 1867, lost her mother by death, in 1878, at the age of 11. In order to overcome the suffering, Maria, who was a talented student, turned resolutely to reading and studies.

In 1894, after a brilliant scholastic success, Maria met a French Physicist, Pierre Curie. She returned to Poland but, one year later, she decided to return to France to marry Pierre Curie. They both began to work on radioactivity and made discoveries. Between 1900 and 1904, Marie taught Physics in a school and in 1903, Marie and Pierre received the Nobel Prize of Physics.

However, in 1906, Pierre died in an accident. The University of Paris then took an outstanding decision: Pierre was a teacher in the Sorbonne and after his death, Marie was chosen to replace him. That was the first nomination of a woman in the science faculty and it opened the way for women in research and scientific jobs.

Marie Curie died in 1934, after 18 years of teaching and a second Nobel Price in chemistry in 1911.

Personally, I do scientific studies, so Marie Curie is for me a real role model. In fact, she managed to make her place in the scientific world, which was very masculine. She received two Nobel Prizes for her dicoveries, which are in fact very important and have changed many things in the world. Moreover, she is an example because of her determination, her courage, in her research and in her life. Her acts have allowed the improvement of women's place in society, particularly in the sciences.

So to my mind, Marie Curie is a role model, in particular for the girls who do scientific studies or work.