Let's Get Personal
5
Marie Curie was actually born Maria
Sklodowska, into a family of seven. Her
two parents were school teacher and held
very high expectations for Marie and her
four siblings. In Poland, Marie wasn't
permitted to attend college because
the all-girl-school's neglect to teach the
young women what they need to know
in order to meet the requirements for any
university. In order to beat the system,
she left the country with little money
and a hefty scholarship to obtain a college
level education.
This substantial woman earned many
degrees, gold medals, and even two Nobel
Prizes. This was unheard of in her time.
She was so dedicated to her work that
when she got the news about her award,
her and her husband refused to go retrieve
it personally because it would interfere
with her work.
Marie couldn't have made this
discovery at a better time. Once she
figured out how to use and perfect X-rays
she was able to help during World War One
by taking X-rays of the wounded soldiers
to locate bullets and shrapnel. She was
able to teach over 100 women how to use
these machines.
The Nobel Committee asked Curie not
to attend the ceremonies in 1911. Also,
the French Academy of Sciences denied her
membership. Angry mobs gathered her
home, all because she was a woman and
society at the time didn't approve of
her being a scientist. In an act of bravery
and stubbornness, she attended the Nobel
Awards anyways.