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Marie Curie — The Woman Who Discovered Radioactivity

A Determined Young Woman

Maria Sklodowska was born in Poland in 1867. She LOVED learning, but in Poland at that time, women were not allowed to attend university! So she moved to Paris, France, changed her name to Marie, and enrolled at the famous Sorbonne university. She was so poor she sometimes fainted from hunger.

Marie worked incredibly hard and graduated first in her physics class. She married Pierre Curie, also a scientist, and they worked together in a tiny, leaky laboratory. They could not afford proper equipment, so they improvised with whatever they could find.

Despite all these obstacles, Marie Curie became the FIRST woman to win a Nobel Prize — and then she won a SECOND one! She is still the only person EVER to win Nobel Prizes in TWO different sciences (physics AND chemistry).

Marie Curie — The Woman Who Discovered Radioactivity

A Determined Young Woman

Maria Sklodowska was born in Poland in 1867. She LOVED learning, but in Poland at that time, women were not allowed to attend university! So she moved to Paris, France, changed her name to Marie, and enrolled at the famous Sorbonne university. She was so poor she sometimes fainted from hunger.

Marie worked incredibly hard and graduated first in her physics class. She married Pierre Curie, also a scientist, and they worked together in a tiny, leaky laboratory. They could not afford proper equipment, so they improvised with whatever they could find.

Despite all these obstacles, Marie Curie became the FIRST woman to win a Nobel Prize — and then she won a SECOND one! She is still the only person EVER to win Nobel Prizes in TWO different sciences (physics AND chemistry).