Marie Curie: biography of this pioneer radioactivity researcher.

A summary of the life of Marie Curie, as well as the research career of this scientist.

It is impossible to be trained in the field of science, both physics and chemistry, and not to know Marie Curie..

This researcher was one of the best known scientists, standing out especially in the study of radioactivity. Together with her husband Piere, she made important discoveries such as that of the elements radium and polonium.

Her work was recognized by awarding her two Nobel Prizes in both Physics and Chemistry, and her contributions were not limited to these two fields, as during the First World War she collaborated with doctors and nurses for a better recovery of the soldiers, using mobile X-ray units.

In this article we will mention the most important events in the life of this scientist through a biography of Marie Curie. a biography of Marie Curie.

Brief biography of Marie Curie

Maria Salomea Sklodowska, better known by the name of Marie Currie, was born on November 7, 1867 in the city of Warsaw, Poland.. Both her parents were teachers, her father was a physics and mathematics teacher and her mother was a piano and singing teacher. She was the youngest of five children and did not have an affluent childhood as her parents had lost all their property.

At that time the Russians had occupied Poland, thus losing part of the teaching of the Polish language and culture.. For this reason Marie attended clandestine classes to learn the customs of the country.

The Russian mandate in Poland also affected the work of Marie's father, who lost his job because he was sympathetic to Polish culture. Similarly, when laboratory teaching was banned in schools, her father moved all science equipment into his home and used it to teach its usefulness to his children.

Marie Curie's life was also marked by the untimely death of one of her sisters and her mother, which caused Curie to lose her life.These events caused Curie to lose her Catholic faith.

Youth and university years

As for her educational career, Curie entered the boarding school of J. Sikorska when she was 10 years old, to be transferred later to a high school for girls, graduating in 1883 with a gold medal. Due to the difficulties women had at that time to get an education, she had to enroll with her sister in an underground Polish university that admitted women.

In order to raise money to pay for her sister Bronislawa's medical studies and her own studies, she worked as a private tutor and as a governess. Her sister moved to Paris in 1890 and proposed to Marie to go with her and her husband, but she did not accept, as she had not yet raised enough money to pay the tuition at the university.

Even so, she never stopped studying and never stopped studying and training, she continued to attend the clandestine university and began her studies in the and began her studies in the field of practical science by attending the chemical laboratory of the Museum of Industry and Agriculture.

A year later, at the age of 24, he was finally able to move to Paris with enough money, which he had saved thanks to his work and his father's help, to continue his education. Already in the new city He continued his studies in physics, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Paris, the Sorbonne.Despite his good level in these subjects, he had to make an effort to learn and understand French.

In Paris his living conditions did not improve, since in order to pay for his housing and his studies, he had to work teaching at night. But her efforts paid off, and in 1893 she graduated in Physics at the top of her class and was able to start working in an industrial laboratory. Her studies in the field of physics did not stop, and in 1894 she obtained her second degree at the University of Paris. She also had as a hobby the theater, acting in some plays.

Her professional life in research

In 1894 she made one of her first researches in charge of the Society for the Promotion of National Industry, with the purpose of study and learn about the magnetic properties of various steels..

It was in this year when she met her future husband, Pierre Curie. At first their union was only professional, since Pierre, who was an instructor at the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielle in Paris, provided Marie with a laboratory with a larger space to work. But their great interest and passion for science formed a closer bond between them, thus marrying on July 26, 1895.

She continued her education with the completion of her Ph. his doctorate, whose thesis focused on research on radioactive substances.. He chose this topic given the discoveries made by Henri Becquerel of uranium radiation and Wilhelm Röntgen of X-rays.

By conducting her research she was able to refute previously accepted hypotheses such as the one that claimed that atoms were indivisible. Neither she nor her husband were aware of the dangers of working with radiation without controlling the conditions; at that time, the associated diseases it entailed were not yet known.

On a personal level, Marie and Pierre had their first daughter, Irène, in 1897.So, given the new addition to the family, Marie decided to combine her research with her work as a teacher at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris in order to support her daughter.

Consolidation of her career as a scientist

The couple continued with their research in the field of radioactivity and it was in 1898 when they made public the discovery of two new radioactive elements: polonium and radium, which showed more radioactivity than the already known uranium. Despite their announcement, they needed four more years to prove their discovery.

In her work as a professor, Marie Curie was the first woman to be appointed professor at the École Supérieure where she taught in 1900.. Her continuous contact with radiation caused her and her husband to experience the first symptoms and health problems in 1903.

Piere and Marie made multiple joint publications where they came to affirm that if Cancer cells that formed tumors were exposed to radium, they were destroyed faster than healthy cells.

It was in 1903 when they received their first awards, receiving the Davy Medal from the Royal Society of London for their discovery in the field of chemistry and the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics awarded, together with the couple, also to Henri Becquerel for his research on radioactivity. She was thus the first woman to receive this prize, although it was not an easy task since at first it was intended to give the recognition only to the two men.

A year later, in 1904, their second and last daughter, Ève, was born. The couple's health continued to deteriorate due to constant exposure to radiation.. It was in 1906 when an accident took Pierre's life, and this catastrophic event caused Marie to suffer from depression. On May 13 of the same year, she became Professor of Physics at the University of Paris, previously belonging to her husband, being the first woman to teach at this university.

Marie Curie was a member of the Academy of Sciences of Sweden, the Czech Republic and Poland, but she was not able to join the French Academy of Sciences, receiving much criticism for being a woman and a foreigner. These criticisms did not cease, since in 1911 the affair she had had with a former student of her husband's came to light, thus blaming her, in a bad way, of being a home wrecker.

But her research and recognition did not stop, in 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discoveries of radium and polonium, the isolation of radium and the study of the nature of radium. and the study of the nature of this element.

Despite his recognitions and awards, his psychological and physical problems were increasing, so he decided that the best option would be to take some time off. A year later, in 1913, his health improved, allowing him to study the properties of radium radiation at low temperatures.

The Great War and post-war years.

Her research and studies were interrupted by the First World War.But Marie's contributions did not cease, she proposed the creation of mobile radiography units, X-ray equipment, to be able to better attend the wounded soldiers and she occupied the position of director of the Radiology Service of the French Red Cross.

After the war, Marie traveled to the United States to raise funds to continue radium research. In 1920 he founded the Curie Institute, which is now one of the world's leading centers for medical, biological and biophysical research.

Final years and death

In 1922, she was a member of the was a member of the International Commission for Intellectual Cooperation of the United Nations Society and a member of the French National Academy of Medicine. and a member of the French National Academy of Medicine. She was also a member of the International Committee on Atomic Weights of the International Union of Chemistry.

Marie Curie died on July 4, 1934 at the Sanctuary of Sancellemoz, France, of aplastic anemia. Her research on radioactivity and unprotected exposure to X-rays seriously damaged her health.