Marie Curie was born on November 7^th 1867. She was born in Warsaw, Poland with a birth name of Marya Sklodowska. She was the youngest of five children and her family called her Manya. Manya had five siblings including her and they are; Zofia the oldest, Helena being the second youngest, Marya being the youngest, Jozef who is the second oldest, and Bronistawa who is the middle child, but he is nicknamed Bronya. Marya’s father taught Physics and Mathematics in a high school, but he did not get paid much and he lost most of his savings in bad investments. In addition to that, Marya’s mother had tuberculosis and did not kiss her kids. Unfortunately, when Marya was eight, Zofia died of Typhus Fever and two years later Marya’s mother died of tuberculosis. But Marya was interested in scientific things. Girls were not allowed in universities so she was a tutor and a governess to make enough money to go a university in Paris. At age 15, Marya finished high school being the top of her class and she received a medal for it. In 1884 she came back to Warsaw and began teaching and then Marya went to Floating University where kids met illegally. In 1891 Marya started Sorbonne a university in Paris. She lived with her sister Bronya and Bronya’s husband but Marya moved to a cheaper apartment that is closer to Sorbonne and she changed her name to Marie to fit in better. She worked long hours in the school library so Marie would not have to heat her apartment. Buying and cooking food seemed like a waste of time to Marie so her meals were often bread and butter, radishes, and tea but once she fainted from hunger. In 1893, Marie earned a master’s degree in Physics. Unfortunately, she wanted a master’s degree in Mathematics but Marie just could not afford it. What must have cheered Marie up was that she was asked by an organization to take a job studying the magnetism of various types of steel. Of course she said yes, I mean she needed the money. Later on, a friend introduced Marie to Pierre Curie who was a teacher and head of the lab at the school of Industrial Physics and Chemistry in Paris. Pierre was already famous for his work with crystals and magnets but he was attracted to Marie. Soon after Marie met Pierre, and he asked her to be his wife but she did not answer. Marie finished her master’s degree in Mathematics and went to Warsaw for the holiday but, Pierre wrote her many love letters so Marie went back to France. On July 26 1895 Marie and Pierre were married. In 1896, Marie had her first daughter Irene. But, in December 1904 when Irene was eight, Marie had her second daughter and named her Eve. In 1906 the whole family spent a wonderful weekend together. A few days later, they were home and Pierre was running errand on the rain soaked street, and he went to cross the street and fell in front of a horse drawn wagon. The horse’s hooves missed Pierre and the wheels came down. The rear wheels crushed Pierre’s skull and Pierre had died. Marie had rarely mentioned Pierre’s name to Irene or Eve. Out of it all, Marie had a very interesting life.

Numerous people think Marie is only famous for her work with radioactivity but they are wrong. Marie is famous for her work with radioactivity, but she is famous for much more too. The main reason why Marie is famous is because of her work with Radioactivity. In addition to that, she named two new elements called radium and polonium. Marie became so famous that radium is being used to stop cancer cells from growing inside patients with cancer which they named Curie Therapy. One thing Marie is famous for is for bringing x-rays to battlefields to see bullets inside soldiers which made an impact on a lot of people. Marie and Pierre Curie became so famous that doctors named a new unit Curie. One big reason Marie is famous is because she won two Nobel Prizes, one in physics and one in chemistry. Marie studied uranium rays and found that pitchblende rocks give off uranium rays. She found that elements like thorium give off rays. Marie reported the weight of one radium atom which must have been exciting for scientists. The last reason why Marie is famous is that in Paris they would make the Radium Institute and Marie would supervise a part to be called Curie Pavilion. Well, Marie is famous for a lot of things.

One thing that is great about Marie is that she has made an impact on tons of people’s lives. One thing she did was let scientists understand the atom and its parts. Marie made x-rays during World War 1 and she brought the x-ray equipment to almost every battlefield. Lastly, Marie made discoveries in the field of radiation and helped with making medicine. If Marie was alive right know I do not know about the people of the world but I would thank her for everything she has done for us.

There are a couple of remarkable and admirable things about Marie’s life. One thing that I find remarkable about her is that she won two Nobel Prizes. I find it remarkable because famous people that I have heard of have only won one Nobel Prize not two. Another thing that I find remarkable is that her invention helped doctors create Curie Therapy. I do not know why but it is just remarkable to me. Lastly, I find it admirable that Marie took care of her two children without a husband and still continued with her job. I find that admirable because I could not even do that myself. Those things are just amazing to me.

Last but not least, there are a couple of lessons you can learn from Marie. One great lesson you can learn from almost anyone is that hard work equals success. Another great lesson you can learn from her is that when you want something do not give up hope, Marie did not. So out of all, Marie is an unbelievably

fascinating person.

Bibliography

Biography.com: Marie Curie.2002.A&E Television Networks. 27 April.2009

<http://search.biography.com/print_record.pl?id=23598>

Curie, Pierre. “Marie Curie’’ The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 4.Chicago: Scott

Fetzer, 1993

Macleod, Elizabeth. Marie Curie A Brilliant Life Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press Ltd,

2004.

Marie Curie. 23 Mar 2009.<http://www.harcourt.school.com/activity/biographies/curie