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Marie Curie was the first woman to win The Nobel Prize. She also the first person to receive two Nobel Prizes: Nobel in Physics (1903) and Nobel in Chemistry (1911).
Her Life
Marie Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, on November 7, 1867. Her curiosity in physics was influenced by his father who was a teacher of mathematics and physics. Young Marie worked as a teacher since her family is experiencing economic difficulties. In her leisure time, she took physics, chemistry and mathematics studies.
In 1891, she moved to Paris for further study at the University of Sorbonne. She gained her Master's degree in physics in 1893 and mathematics in the next year. On July 25, 1895, she married Pierre Curie, who was a professor in the School of Physics. Pierre Curie also a physicist who discovered the piezoelectric effect.
The Discovery of Radioactivity
Marie and Pierre Curie successfully found the polonium and uranium which are inspired by Roentgen (German physicist) and Henri Becquerel (French physicist). In 1898, the Curies studied the pitchblende (U3O8) and reported the existence of polonium traces. The Curies reached a successful year in 1903. The Curies and Becquerel received the Nobel prize in physics. Pierre Curie was also appointed as a Head of the Physics Laboratory in Sorbonne. Meanwhile, Marie Curie gained a Doctor of Science in the same year.
However, 1906 was a tragic year for Marie Curie because her husband was killed by the carriage. Then, she replaced her husband as a professor of general physics in the Faculty of Sciences. She was also assigned as a Director of the Curie Laboratory in the Radium Institute of the University of Paris. In 1911, she obtained the second Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her acknowledgment of radioactivity.
Her Last Life
After World War I, she worked hard for Radium Institute. She was experiencing leukemia because long exposure from radioactive materials. On July 4, 1934, she died in Savoy, France, at the age of 66 years.
References:
- Marie Curie - Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. Sat. 4 Apr 2020. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1903/marie-curie/biographical/>
- Marie Curie (1867-1934)