Home » Working Women » Women from History » Marie Curie Polish born French physicist, Marie Curie was famous for her work on radioactivity. She was the winner of the Nobel Prize, together with Henry Becquerel and her husband, Pierre Curie in Physics in 1903. She was also the sole winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911. Born with a prodigious memory; Curie was an outstanding student.

Marie Curie received her Doctorate of Science in June 1903 for her research on pitchblende, a mineral whose activity is superior to that of pure Uranium.

A woman with a strong purpose in life, Marie Curie intensified her scientific research. She was appointed chief assistant in the laboratory directed by Pierre Curie. However the sudden death of Pierre was a bitter blow to Marie Curie, but it was also a decisive turning point in her career. She henceforth devoted all her energy to completing alone the scientific work that they had undertaken.

One of Marie Curie's outstanding achievement was to have understood the need to accumulate intense radioactive sources, not only for the treatment of illness but also to maintain an abundant supply for research in nuclear physics.

She died in the year 1934 as a result of leukaemia caused by the action of radiation.

[ 1867 - 1934 ]