The famous scientist known for being the woman who discovered radioactivity brings us today to meet in this space. This fascinating woman had a life full of bittersweet moments, but her career was full of recognition and she was a pioneer in her field. Her research and accomplishments had been well documented. However, her maternal side is not well-known.

Unknown, Marie Curie NatGeo. https://www.ngenespanol.com/traveler/la-controversial-carta-de-marie-curie-que-cambio-el-papel-de-la-mujer/amp/

Marie, the Mother

Marie Curie had two daughters with Pierre Curie, Irène and Ève. Marie was very attached to her girls, despite the fact that her work took up most of her time. Pierre passed away when little Ève was just 2 years old. By that time, the paternal family begins to play a more important role in raising the little ones. They looked after them when Marie had to spend long hours, in her lab doing research.

Unknown, Marie Curie with her daughters, 2019 AFP/Getty Images. 2019. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-47788210

Marie was a critic of the education that was imparted at that time in Parisian schools. So she decided that the girls’ education should be given at home with tutors. Their mother taught them Physics. Marie’s friends tutored in other areas, during the girls’ school years.

Irène showed interest in science. She was passionate about the laboratory, as well as her parents. Irène later, together with her husband, the scientist Frédéric Joliot, would win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935. Their work on artificial radioactivity would win them the award. Marie and Irène worked together in the laboratory that would later become the Curie Institute. Their relationship was very solid.

On the other hand, Ève leaned towards letters, later she would be a writer and journalist. In fact, all that is known about Marie Curie was due to the tireless work of her daughter Ève. Making known the fruitful life of her mother, through writings and the publication of a biography of the scientist. Ève was a special adviser to NATO, traveled to countries in conflict, where she served as a war correspondent. At the end of Marie’s days, Ève was always by her side and began to write her mother’s biography.

Marie, her training.

Maria Skłodowska-Curie was born in Poland in 1867. Daughter of a physics and mathematics teacher, her mother was a teacher, pianist, and singer. She grew up in an educated environment, along with his 4 other siblings. At the time of beginning university studies, Poland was the capital of the Russian partition and, prohibited the study of women. So, Marie and her sister decided to enroll in the “Floating University”.

Unknown, Marie Curie, 2021. https://www.infobae.com/sociedad/2021/04/30/madame-curie-cuando-la-mirada-de-genero-deforma-la-historia-y-empana-un-buen-film/

This university taught young people, who wanted to educate themselves. The name of the university comes from the fact that it was clandestine, and they always changed places so as not to be discovered. She was determined to be a scientist. She decides to study at the Sorbonne in France. But she must first work as a tutor, in order to pay for her studies. She did this work for a few years.

Once she got her bachelor’s degree in physics, she started to work in a lab. And she continues studying and earns a second degree, this time in Mathematics. Later she would meet Pierre Curie, who would be her husband, and her lab partner. Pierre saw that Marie’s work was paying off, and decides to focus on them, share knowledge, and work together.

Marie worked tirelessly in the laboratory. This work would later make her the winner of two Nobels Prizes in two different disciplines. She is so far the only person who has accomplished this feat. Marie Curie was the first woman to be a professor at the prestigious Sorbonne. She taught physics, a chair that her husband had left empty once he tragically passed away.

Curie had a fruitful life. Her daughters also brought many fruits to the world. Marie did not have a simple, trouble-free life. She had to overcome inconveniences and adversities. She suffered from xenophobia and criticism of her private life. However, today the world gives her the place she deserves, the woman who changed modern science.

Sources

Gavaldà, J. ¨Marie curie, la madre de la física moderna¨. 2019. https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/marie-curie-madre-fisica-moderna_14453/3

Rodríguez, M. ¨Las otras Curie: las apasionantes vidas de las hijas de Marie Curie y cómo cada una hizo historia a su manera¨. BBC News Mundo. 28 April 2019.  https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-47788210

Marie Curie. 2021. Wikipedia. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie