Madam Marie Curie

Madam Marie Curie (www.nobelprize.org)

Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland, 1867. Her parents were school teachers and always taught her the value of learning. Since woman were not allowed to be educated at the University of Warsaw in Poland at that time, she and her sister left their home country to get an education in France.

As a physicist and a chemist, she spent most of her life studying radioactivity which led to more knowledge in medical studies and the treatment of diseases.

She never lost focus in her research. Even when she didn’t have much money, she would work extra teaching jobs, but still continued her research in radioactivity.

Two Nobel Prize - Madam Curie (www.wikipedia.org)

She had many achievements during her life. Some of the major ones are:

She created the theory of radioactivity
She discovered two new elements, polonium and radium
She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry
She was the first female professor at the University of Paris
She founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw

She did all of this at a time when women were not considered equal to men.

Madam Curie - Hard at Work (www.geek-life.com)

Madam Curie was proud of her French identity, but never lost her Polish roots. One of the elements she discovered, polonium, was named after her home country.

She died at a young age of 67 in France due to illness caused by radioactive materials.

Her strong desire to learn so that it could improve lives of other people should be a lesson to everyone. She also taught me that no matter how difficult it looks you should never give up and try your best.