Mini Bio: Madame Curie - Part 5 (English)

Author: Eve Curie

Ten years after their wedding, Marie and Pierre Curie achieved something that no couple before them ever had. Together with their colleague Henri Becquerel, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. The reason? Nothing less than the discovery of radioactivity.

While experimenting with uranium salts, Henri Becquerel had discovered that they blackened a photographic plate. He called the phenomenon "uranium radiation," but then neglected it. Marie then investigated this radiation more closely as part of her  doctoral thesis and coined the term "radioactive." Becquerel had made his discovery quite by accident. Marie’s discovery came through dedication and vision.

She also found that the radiation was a property of atoms – and that this knowledge could help discover new elements. She and Pierre did just that, discovering the elements radium and polonium – which, by the way, is named after Marie's native Poland.

At the Nobel Prize ceremony, Pierre was invited to give a speech; Marie was once again snubbed. And so Pierre made a point to emphasize again and again how important his wife's work was for their joint research. He proudly pointed out Marie, who was sitting in the audience.

Despite the lack of ceremony, this award made Marie Curie the first woman to be honored with a Nobel Prize. But she got less out of it than the two men. Becquerel received prize money of 70,000 francs, and the Curies got the same amount to be split. Pierre was accepted into the prestigious Academy of Sciences. Marie was not.

Pierre was then offered a teaching position at the Sorbonne – then, finally, Marie was appointed his head of research. It must be said, though Marie was a Nobel Prize winner, the scientific community had immense difficulty giving her any recognition.

Despite the infuriating injustice, the Curies’ situation improved. Their scientific achievements had finally been recognized, and with Pierre's cushy new job, they no longer had money worries. and could afford to have fresh flowers in every room of their apartment daily.