Unit 2

A2

Host: Marie Curie is one of the world’s greatest women and one of the most famous scientists in history, winning the Nobel Prize twice.

Marie was born on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw, a city in Poland. She was the fifth and the youngest child of her family. Her father was a science professor and her mother was a music teacher.

From an early age, Marie was interested in the work that her father did. She studied hard to become like her father, and finished her high school education at the age of 16.

Marie worked as a teacher and saved money so she could continue her studies. In 1891, Marie left Poland and went to Paris to study at a university there. She studied Mathematics and Physics.

While Marie was studying at university, she met Pierre Curie, a French scientist, and they got married in 1895. They worked and studied together.

Three years after their marriage, Marie and Pierre became famous for discovering radium in their laboratory. This discovery won Marie and Pierre the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1903.

Sadly, Pierre died in a traffic accident in 1906, two and a half years after they won the prize. However, this did not stop Marie from working hard, and in 1911, she won her second Nobel Prize, for Chemistry. Marie Curie died on 4 July 1934, at the age of 67.