Marie Curie was a brilliant physicist and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.
She was also the first person to receive two Nobel Prizes and receive them in two different fields.
These achievements are even more incredible since few women were scientists during her lifetime.
Marie Curie was born Maria Sklodowska on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland.
Manya, as she was called by her parents, grew up in a family that valued education.
Her father, a math and physics teacher, taught his five children how to use scientific equipment.
Manya graduated from school early, around the age of 15.
Manya and her sister Bronya wanted to continue their studies, but women could not attend universities in Poland.
Instead they participated in the Flying University.
This was an underground organization whose members met in different locations each night to provide education and discuss politics.
Eventually Manya and Bronya decided to go to the Sorbonne, a university in Paris.
The Sorbonne was France's most prestigious university.
The sisters didn't have enough money to both attend at the same time.
So together they worked out a solution:
they would take turns.
Bronya enrolled at the Sorbonne first.
While she was in Paris studying medicine, Manya stayed behind in Poland.
During this time Manya worked as a tutor and governess to help pay for Bronya's education.
Even though she wasn't going to school, Manya didn't give up on learning.
In her spare time, she continued to read about physics and chemistry.
Six years after Bronya had left, she sent good news to her sister.
Bronya had become a doctor, and she could now help pay for Manya's education at the Sorbonne.
In November 1891 Manya registered at the Sorbonne using "Marie," the French version of her name.
As a student, Marie was so busy that she hardly slept and forgot to eat!
In 1893 she earned a degree in physics, graduating first in her class.
The following year she earned another degree—this one in mathematics.
In 1894 Marie needed a laboratory to conduct scientific tests for a research project.
A friend introduced her to Pierre Curie, a young physicist with a laboratory to share.
Marie and Pierre had a lot in common, which eventually led to their marriage in July 1895.
With Pierre's encouragement, Marie decided to earn a doctoral degree.
For her research topic, she decided to continue the work of Henri Becquerel, a French physicist.
In 1896 Becquerel had found that rocks containing the element uranium give off light, or rays.
Marie wanted to find out what caused this phenomenon.
Marie discovered that Becquerel's rays were caused by changes in the atoms that make up the rocks.
Up until then scientists had believed that atoms could not change their form.
Marie called this phenomenon radioactivity.
Pierre was heavily involved in Marie's research.
Together they investigated whether other matter had radioactivity.
Their work led them to the discovery of two new elements:
polonium and radium.
Marie published her research on radioactivity and the discovery of polonium and radium all in 1898.
The year 1903 was an important one for Marie.
She became the first woman to earn a doctoral degree in France.
At the end of the year, she became the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize.
She shared this Nobel Prize for Physics with Henri Becquerel and her husband, Pierre.
Sadly, in 1906, Pierre died in an accident while crossing a street.
Marie was heartbroken, but she was determined to continue on with her work.
The physics department at the Sorbonne offered Marie her husband's job as professor.
She accepted, becoming the university's first female professor.
In 1911 Marie received her second Nobel Prize, this time for chemistry, which made her a worldwide celebrity.
Despite her fame Marie kept her focus on research.
She began to explore ways to use radium to benefit others.
During World War I, she expanded the use of x-ray machines to diagnose medical conditions, and trained nurses to use them.
With the help of the French government, she also created "little Curies."
These were portable x-ray machines that could be used to examine injured soldiers immediately on the battlefield.
After World War I ended, Marie's health declined.
Scientists had not yet discovered that exposure to radioactive material was dangerous and could cause many illnesses.
Working with radioactive materials for decades had damaged Marie's health.
She died in 1934 at the age of 66.
Marie Curie's discoveries led to many of today's technologies.
Radioactivity is used to treat cancer, make electricity, and produce heat.
Her discoveries in physics and chemistry have greatly influenced science and the way we live.
