Fascinating facts about Marie Curie

Polish scientist Marie Curie is a legendary woman who won Noble Prize as the first female. She is also the pioneer in the improvement of radioactivity. Her life has been the subject of curiosity for many of the people in the present day. She was a struggling woman who had to battle with society to gain her berth as a scientist and as a woman. Some of her life events are amazing and may wonder the readers. Some of the interesting facts about her noted here for the readers.



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Agonistic Woman: 

She was the woman of agonistic nature. She lost her faith in God for some familial issues. She lost her mother, a sibling. So, she could not gain faith in religious issues though she belonged from a religious family.

Struggling Academic Career: 

As a female, she had to undergo various types of humiliation and suffering. Her gender was the key obstacle that did not allow her to get a higher education. But luckily she got the chance of higher education and had to take part in part-time activities to meet the educational expenses. She also helped financially to her younger sister to continue her education. To meet the demands, Marie Curie had to work as a governess and a tutor as well.

A Hungry Lady: 

While pursuing a higher degree in Science subjects, she could not get a sufficient amount of money for her survival. As a result, she had to suffer from hunger and occasionally fainted from hunger. But she continued her studies and achieved several degrees in Mathematics and Physics.

Atom Division: 

It was Marie Curie who discovered that atoms were subject to division. Earlier to her research on this issue, there were ideas that atoms cannot be divided. After her invention, atomic physics was created which improved this branch of science.

Mother of the word ‘Radioactivity’: 

She is the inventor of the word ‘Radioactivity’. Before her invention, there were no such words rather the word had no meaning at all. She invented the meaning and created this new word.

Noble Prize: 

Marie Curie had to battle to get her Noble Prize as the prize-giving committee did not allow to give the prize to a woman. Initially, there were some troubles regarding the matter and then the committee had to award the prize. She won the prize in 1903 jointly with her husband though the prize-giving committee was reluctant to declare her name as the prize winner. She also won Noble Prize in multiple sections of science.

Female Professor: 

After the death of her husband in a road accident, Marie Curie took her husband’s position in the university as a teacher and gradually became the first female professor of that institution.

A PhD Holder: 

Marie Curie was really an exceptional woman of her age. She achieved a PhD degree from a French University with distinctions.

Worked in a Shack: 

Marie Curie had conducted a good number of her research in a shack for the want of a spacious laboratory. Her shade was located between a potato shade and a stable. It was really troublesome for the scientist to continue the work in such a miserable leaky shack.

Distributed her Discoveries for Free: 

Being simple in nature, Marie Curie and her husband shared the information about their discoveries with the people and parties who need them without charging any fee or money. Particularly, the invention of radium is remarkable here. It happened that people were getting money by selling their inventions and they did not have enough money to buy the product for their research.

Meeting with Einstein: 

Marie Curie had the chance to meet with another great scientist, Albert Einstein at a scientific conference. Einstein had inspired the woman and also defended her in several situations.

Contribution to World War I: 

She had the chance to contribute to the First World War. She contributed her knowledge of radioactivity for the betterment of the French soldiers to win the war. She also provided medical support to the soldiers of France during this time.

Born as Maria: 

Marie Curie was born 'Maria' and had changed her name spelling when she went to Paris as “Marie”. She migrated in Paris in 1891 to get her higher education at the University of Paris.

Died for Radioactive Contacts: 

Marie Curie died because of her excessive close contact with radioactive elements. She suffered from aplastic anaemia and the disease was prolonged for her too much exposure to radiation. She actually worked without any safety measures in the laboratory. It is said that often she carried radioactive elements with her which might have affected her in various ways.


The life that Marie Curie had led was filled with battling with the odds. In order to achieve her position, she had to undergo lots of stress in her personal life and challenge the social norms which were sensitive to gender issues. She also was the subject to be blamed for having an extramarital affair with a student of her husband. However, finally, she became successful in establishing herself as a wise and dedicated woman to science with her knowledge and contribution to different branches of science.

Famous Marie Curie quotes:

1. Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.
2. A scientist in his laboratory is not a mere technician: he is also a child confronting natural phenomena that impress him as though they were fairy tales.
3. You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement.
4. I am one of those who think like Nobel, that humanity will draw more good than evil from new discoveries.
5. All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.