Marie Curie

Marie Curie was a Polish-French scientist. She was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1867. She discovered two new elements called polonium and radium. She was the first woman ever to win a Nobel Prize and the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.

Early Life

Curie grew up in Poland when it was controlled by Russia. Girls were not allowed to go to university there. She moved to Paris, France, to study science. She worked very hard and often did not have enough money for food.

Big Discoveries

Curie and her husband Pierre studied radioactivity together. They discovered the elements polonium and radium. She won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and another in Chemistry in 1911. During World War I, she drove mobile X-ray units to help wounded soldiers.

Fun Facts

• Curie named the element polonium after her home country, Poland.
• Her notebooks are still radioactive and must be kept in lead-lined boxes.
• She was the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.

Did You Know?

Marie Curie's daughter Irene also won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Curie family has won a total of five Nobel Prizes, more than any other family in history.