Marie Curie

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Marie Skłodowska (Marie Curie) and her sister Bronisława Skłodowska

Watch Alan Alda discussing the remarkable life of Marie Curie, who was the subject of his play Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie

Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, and Gustave Bémont

Pierre and Marie Curie with their daughter Irène

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Marie Curie’s Achievements

Marie Curie

Q: What did Marie Curie accomplish?

Working with her husband, Pierre Curie , Marie Curie discovered polonium and radium in 1898. In 1903 they won the Nobel Prize for Physics for discovering radioactivity. In 1911 she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for isolating pure radium. Following work on X-rays during World War I, she studied radioactive substances and their medical applications.

Q: What awards did Marie Curie win?

With Henri Becquerel and her husband, Pierre Curie , Marie Curie was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics . She was the sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry . She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only woman to win the award in two different fields.

Q: Why was Marie Curie important?

Marie Curie’s contributions to physics were immense, not only in her own work, as indicated by her two Nobel Prizes, but also through her influence on subsequent generations of nuclear physicists and chemists. Her work paved the way for the discovery of the neutron and artificial radioactivity .

Polish-born French physicist

Also known as: Maria Salomea Skłodowska

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 11, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

Née:: Maria Salomea Skłodowska

Born:: November 7, 1867, Warsaw, Congress Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire

Died:: July 4, 1934, near Sallanches, France (aged 66)

Awards And Honors:: Nobel Prize (1911); Nobel Prize (1903)

Notable Family Members:: spouse Pierre Curie; daughter Ève Curie; daughter Irène Joliot-Curie

What did Marie Curie accomplish?

What awards did Marie Curie win?

Why was Marie Curie important?

Marie Curie (born November 7, 1867, Warsaw, Congress Kingdom of Poland, Russian Empire—died July 4, 1934, near Sallanches, France) was a Polish-born French physicist, famous for her work on radioactivity and twice a winner of the Nobel Prize. With Henri Becquerel and her husband, Pierre Curie, she was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics. She was the sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and she is the only woman to win the award in two different fields. (Read Marie Curie’s 1926 Britannica essay on radium.) From ...(100 of 1237 words)

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