MARIE CURIE
(1867-1934)

Curie and her husband, Pierre, were largely responsible for initiating fundamental studies on radioactivity. The husband-and-wife team received the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics (shared with Henri H. Becquerel). After her husband’s death in 1906, Marie Curie continued her research at the Sorbonne, receiving in 1911 yet another Nobel Price “for her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium.” When World War I broke out, Marie Curie accompanied ambulances equipped with portable X-ray apparatus to the front lines and taught courses in radiology for medical officers.