Celebrity Graveland

November 07, 1867 – July 04, 1934

Maria Skłodowska-Curie, most commonly referred to as Marie Curie, was the first woman ever awarded a Nobel Prize. Skłodowska moved to Paris with her sister from their native Poland in 1891. Her natural curiosity and demanding work ethic led to great success in her academic endeavors. With multiple degrees under her belt, she embarked on a career in research in Paris. She met another researcher named Pierre Curie and the began working together. Eventually, the two fell in love and were married. Then, as is the case with most newlywed couples…they discovered “radioactivity.”

The Curies were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics due to their discovery of the elements polonium and radium, as well as their pioneering research with the radioactive mineral, pitchblende. In 1906, Pierre was killed when he was run over by a street carriage. He had held the chair of the physics department at the University of Paris. After his death, the university passed the chair to Marie and she became the first woman to be named a professor at the school.

She continued her research and was awarded a second Nobel Prize, this time for Chemistry, after successfully isolating radium – some 8 years after she and Pierre discovered it. She is the only person to have been awarded two Nobel Prizes in different sciences. The awards and recognition flowed in. But, Marie focused on her work and couldn’t be bothered with silly things like notoriety and fame. During World War I, Curie developed a method for mobilizing x-ray units for field surgeons to better and more quickly treat wounded soldiers. She founded research institutes. She directed laboratories. She taught. She mentored. Her name has been commemorated on awards, subway stations, streets, an asteroid and – most notably – the unit of measurement used to measure radiation. The element curium – identified in 1944 – is named after both Marie and Pierre.

Of course, little was known at the time about the dangers of working with radioactive materials and Curie used no protection whatsoever. She often kept samples in her desk or her pockets. As radium itself is only lethal when ingested, the aplastic anemia she developed that eventually claimed her life was more than likely the result of the unguarded work she did with x-rays during the war. She died at the age of 66. In 1995, both her and Pierre’s remains were exhumed and relocated to the Panthéon. True to the theme of her ground-breaking life, she was the first woman interred in the shrine on her own merits.

Burial

The Panthéon – Paris, FRANCE

Specific Location

Crypt VIII

This entry was posted on August 28, 2023 at 8:34 am and is filed under The Pantheon with tags Scientists, The Pantheon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.