Marie Sklodowska Curie

(1867-1934)
Tribute To Greatness

Marie and Pierre Curie devoted their lives to moving forward the frontiers of science. They shared the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics with Henri Becquerel and were honored for their joint research on radiation phenomena. Marie Curie proved with her research that radioactivity is an atomic property and, in 1911, received her second Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry, for the discovery of polonium and radium, the isolation of radium and the study of its nature and compounds.

The ultimate impact of these pure research discoveries has been profound and personal for the millions of people who have since undergone radiation treatment for cancer.

In World War I, Marie Curie personally organized the installation and training of X-ray and radiation therapy services for the military hospitals in France and Belgium. This work was directly responsible for saving many lives and lessening the suffering and infirmity of many wounded men.

In her Radium Institute, she was a mentor for all the researchers, especially women, and became a role model for women all over the world.

As a wife and mother, Marie Curie touched her family with love and devotion, as a scientist she touched the world and opened a new window on the universe.