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M.S. 158 Marie Curie

Photo of Marie Sklodowska Curie, Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 90-105, Science Service Records, Image No. SIA2008-0748, https://www.si.edu/object/marie-sklodowska-curie-1867-1934:siris_arc_296597

Photo by Patrick Wallach, 2022.

Photo by Patrick Wallach, 2022.

Marie Curie (1867-1934) was a noted scientist and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physics. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Maria Skolodowska-Curie moved to Paris in 1891 to study at the Sorbonne. Soon after, she joined a research laboratory and in 1898, she and her husband Pierre expanded on Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radioactivity, discovering two new elements, Polonium and Radium. This discovery earned Curie her first Nobel Prize, in Physics. She won a second Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1911, becoming the first person to earn two such awards. Curie died in France in 1934 from leukemia, thought to be caused by exposure to radiation.

Sources:

"Marie Curie Playground," New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, accessed November 16, 2022

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