Born Maria Skłodowska in Warsaw, Curie studied in Paris and worked with Pierre Curie on radioactive substances. She coined the term radioactivity and helped isolate polonium and radium.
Curie received the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel, and the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. During the First World War she helped develop mobile X-ray services.
The hazards of prolonged radiation exposure were poorly understood. Curie died from aplastic anaemia in 1934, and her surviving papers require protective handling.
Why It Matters
Curie's life connects scientific discovery with institutions, wartime medicine and the uneven opportunities available to women in science.