Marie Curie in Photographs

Marie Curie in her laboratory

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​In 1909, after the death of her husband Pierre in 1906 and after her first Nobel Prize (1903) for her laboratory work, Marie Curie won an appointment as a professor at the Sorbonne, the first woman appointed to a professorship there. She's best known for her laboratory work, resulting in two Nobel Prizes (one in physics, one in chemistry), and also for encouraging her daughter to work as a scientist.

Marie Curie With Female Students, 1912

Marie Curie with Female Students

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Curie was less well known for her encouragement of female science students. Here she is shown in 2012 with four female students in Paris.

Marie Sklodowska Arrives in Paris, 1891

Maria Sklodowski 1891

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At 24 years old, Maria Sklodowska -- later Marie Curie -- arrived in Paris, where she became a student at the Sorbonne.

Maria Sklodowski, 1894

Maria Sklodowski (Marie Curie) in 1894

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In 1894, Maria Sklodowski received ​a degree in mathematics, taking second place, after graduating in 1893 in physics, taking first place. That same year, while working as a researcher, she met Pierre Curie, whom she married the following year.

Marie Curie and Pierre Curie on Their Honeymoon, 1895

Marie and Pierre Curie Honeymoon 1895

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Marie Curie and Pierre Curie are shown here on their honeymoon in 1895. They met the previous year through their research work. They were married on July 26 of that year.

Marie Curie, 1901

Marie Curie 1901

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This iconic photograph of Marie Curie was taken in 1901, while she was working with her husband Pierre on isolating a radioactive element that she would name polonium, for Poland where she had been born.

Marie and Pierre Curie, 1902

Marie Curie and Pierre Curie, 1902

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In this 1902 photograph, Marie and Pierre Curie are shown in her research laboratory in Paris.

Marie Curie, 1903

Marie Curie in Nobel Prize portrait, 1903

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In 1903, the Nobel Prize Committee awarded the physics prize to Henrie Becquerei, Pierre Curie,​ and Marie Curie. This is one of the photographs of Marie Curie taken to commemorate that honor. The prize honored their work in radioactivity.

Marie Curie With Daughter Eve, 1908

Marie Curie with Eve, 1908

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Pierre Curie died in 1906, leaving Marie Curie to support their two daughters with her work in science, both research work and teaching. Ève Curie, born in 1904, was the younger of the two daughters; a later child was born premature and died.

Ève Denise Curie Labouisse (1904 - 2007) was a writer and journalist, as well as a pianist. Neither she nor her husband were scientists, but her husband, Henry Richardson Labouisse, Jr., accepted the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of UNICEF.

Marie Curie in Laboratory, 1910

Marie Curie in Laboratory, 1910

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In 1910, Marie Curie isolated radium and defined a new standard for measuring radioactive emissions which was named the "curie" for Marie and her husband. The French Academy of Sciences voted, by one vote, to turn down her admission as a member, amidst criticism of her for being foreign-born and an atheist.

The following year, she was awarded a second Nobel Prize, now in chemistry (the first was in physics).

Marie Curie in Laboratory, 1920

Marie Curie in Laboratory, 1920

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After winning two Nobel Prizes, in 1903 and 1911, Marie Curie continued her work teaching and researching. She is shown here in her laboratory in 1920, the year that she established the Curie Foundation to explore medical uses of radium. Her daughter Irene was working with her by 1920.

Marie Curie With Irene and Eve, 1921

Marie Curie in America with Daughters Eve and Irene, 1921

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In 1921, Marie Curie traveled to the United States, to be presented with a gram of radium to use in her research. She was accompanied by her daughters, Eve Curie and Irene Curie.

Irène Curie married Frédéric Joliot in 1925, and they adopted the surname of Joliot-Curie; in 1935, the Joliot-Curies were awarded the chemistry Nobel Prize, also for the study of radioactivity.

Ève Curie was a writer and pianist who worked to support UNICEF in her later years. She married Henry Richardson Labouisse, Jr. in 1954.

Marie Curie, 1930

Marie Curie 1930

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By 1930, Marie Curie's vision was failing, and she moved to a sanatorium, where her daughter Eve stayed with her. A photograph of her would still be newsworthy; she was, after her scientific accolades, one of the best-known women in the world. She died in 1934, probably from the effects of exposure to radioactivity.

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Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Marie Curie in Photographs." ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/all-about-marie-curie-3529556. Lewis, Jone Johnson. (2023, April 5). Marie Curie in Photographs. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/all-about-marie-curie-3529556 Lewis, Jone Johnson. "Marie Curie in Photographs." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/all-about-marie-curie-3529556 (accessed March 28, 2024).