Born: 7 November 1867 · Died: 4 July 1934 · Age: 66
Pioneer of radioactivity who discovered polonium and radium and became the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two sciences
Did you know?She remains the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields.
Quick facts
Date of birth7 November 1867
Date of death4 July 1934
Age at death66
NationalityPolish-French
BirthplaceWarsaw, Poland
Occupationphysicist, chemist
Editor's Take:
Marie Curie's story is one of extraordinary persistence in a world that rarely made room for women in science. Working in a draughty shed in Paris, she and her husband Pierre processed tonnes of ore by hand to isolate two new elements, polonium and radium. She coined the word radioactivity and showed that it came from inside the atom itself, opening the door to modern nuclear physics. She was also the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first woman to teach as a professor at the University of Paris. Her notebooks are still so radioactive that researchers must sign a waiver to read them, a haunting measure of the price she paid for discovery.
Key Milestones
1891: Moves to Paris to study at the Sorbonne
1898: Discovers polonium and radium with Pierre Curie
1903: Shares the Nobel Prize in Physics
1906: Becomes the Sorbonne's first female professor
1911: Wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
1914: Develops mobile X-ray units for the front
Pioneer of radioactivity research and the first person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.
Marie Curie's birthday is November 7. She was born on November 7, 1867 in Warsaw, Poland.
How old was Marie Curie when she died?
Marie Curie died on July 4, 1934, aged 66.
Who shares a birthday with Marie Curie?
Famous people who share Marie Curie's November 7 birthday include Albert Camus, James Cook, Leon Trotsky, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman and Konrad Lorenz.
