Physicist · 1867 – 1934
Marie Curie
Little-Known Facts
- Her laboratory notebooks remain so radioactive they are kept in lead-lined boxes.
- Her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie also won a Nobel Prize, making them a Nobel dynasty.
Myths & Misconceptions
Was Marie Curie French?
She was born Maria Skłodowska in Warsaw, Poland, and became a naturalized French citizen; she always honored her Polish roots, naming polonium after Poland.