Last updated on May 10th, 2021
27. In 1898, the Curie couple, after discovering radium, did not pursue the patent for the extraction process. Soon, radium became the center of attraction for many traders and industrialists, and the cost of a single gram of the glowing green material reached $100,000. Surprisingly, Marie Curie could not afford to buy the material for further research, which she herself had discovered.
28. Entitled “Pierre Curie,” Marie Curie wrote her husband’s biography.
29. Despite her many important contributions to physics, for which the Curies received the Nobel Prize in 1903, her name was not nominated on the list, initially. Partly because no women had won a Nobel Prize prior to that, the committee for the Nobel Prize was reluctant to give one to Marie Curie. However, when Pierre became aware of the situation, he requested that the committee include his spouse’s name.
30. Another surprising fact that gives us an insight into Marie’s character and thinking is that she tried to sell her Nobel Prize gold medals to contribute toward World War I efforts. However, the French National Bank refused to accept the medals.
31. Marie Curie was offered the most distinguished French honor, The Legion of Honor (Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur), which she politely refused. France’s premier award was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte to recognize eminent accomplishments of people in service to France.
32. Marie Curie died of aplastic anemia, which can be caused by prolonged exposure to radiation.
Facts about Madame Marie Curie and her association with the Nobel Prize
33. She was the first woman to ever be awarded a Nobel Prize.
34. She is also the first person in history to have won Nobel Prizes in two different sciences (Physics-1903 and Chemistry-1911.) The only other person is Linus Pauling. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954, and in Peace in 1962.
35. She and her daughter Irene are the only mother-daughter pair to have both won a Nobel Prize.
36. She is the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry.
37. She was also the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris, and also the first woman to receive a PhD from a French university.
38. On May 20, 1921, US President Warren G. Harding received her at the White House to present her with one gram of radium collected in the United States. The funds to buy the one gram of radium, the cost of which was $100,000, was collected over a period of one year from American women.
In her honor
The UN declared 2011 as the “International Year of Chemistry,” while Poland and France declared it as the “Year of Marie Curie.”
In a poll in 2009, Marie Curie was voted “the most inspirational woman in science.”
Famous quotes by Marie Curie
- “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
- “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”
- “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
- “All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.”
- “I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.”
- “One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”
- “A scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician: he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales.”
- “I have no dress except the one I wear every day. If you are going to be kind enough to give me one, please let it be practical and dark so that I can put it on afterward to go to the laboratory.”
Marie Curie – Quick facts
| Born | 7 November 1867 Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland, then part of Russian Empire |
|---|---|
| Died | 4 July 1934 Passy, Haute-Savoie, France |
| Nationality | Poland (by birth) France (by marriage) |
| Languages Known | English, Polish and French |
| Age At the time of death | 66 years |
| Field of Work | Physics, chemistry |
| Books | Pierre Curie: With Autobiographical Notes by Marie Curie, Radioactive Substances, Marie Curie's Search For Radium |
| Nickname | Manya |
| Contributions | Science and Physics |
| Education | University of Paris Flying University |
| Parents | Wladyslaw Sklodowski Bronislawa Sklodowska |