Legacy

Legacy

“Marie Curie is, of all celebrated beings, the only one whom fame has not corrupted.”
~ Albert Einstein

[The Curies: A Biography of the Most Controversial Family in Science​​​​​​​, 2005]

After Pierre’s death, Marie endeavored to build the Radium Institute, which she planned to be a center for the study of radioactivity. It was renamed Institut Curie in 1970 and became an international research center focused on fighting cancer.

["The Curie Pavillion at the Radium Institute in 1925." Marie Curie - Photo Gallery, NobelPrize.org​​​​​​​.]

["Marie Curie and Irène Joliot-Curie at the Radium Institute, 1922." Irène Joliot-Curie, NobelPrize.org.]

["Marie Curie and her daughter Irène in the laboratory at the Radium Institute in Paris, France, 1921." Marie Curie - Photo Gallery, NobelPrize.org​​​​​​​.]

On July 4, 1934, Marie Curie died from aplastic anemia, a result of her extended exposure to radioactivity. She became the first woman to be buried underneath the Pantheon in recognition of her own discoveries.

Marie paved the way for women to obtain more opportunities. Even when she faced adversity because of her gender, Marie persevered and proved them wrong. Her research inspired her daughter, Irene, to discover artificial radioactivity and win a Nobel Prize.

[The Pantheon, Paris, France. Library of Congress​​​​​​​, 1890.]

[Associated Press, Winnipeg Tribune, 1934.] 

“In this field the importance of radium from, the viewpoint of general theories has been decisive. The history of the discovery and the isolation of this substance has furnished proof of my hypothesis that radioactivity is an atomic property of matter and can provide a means of seeking new elements. This hypothesis has led to present-day theories of radioactivity, according to which we can predict with certainty the existence of about 30 new elements which we cannot generally either isolate or characterize by chemical methods.”
~ Marie Curie

["Radium and the New Concepts in Chemistry," 1911]

“Her continued systematic studies . . . gave the surprising result that the strength of the radiation did not depend on the compound that was being studied. It depended only on the amount of uranium or thorium. Marie drew the conclusion that the ability to radiate did not depend on the arrangement of the atoms in a molecule, it must be linked to the interior of the atom itself. This discovery was absolutely revolutionary. From a conceptual point of view it is her most important contribution to the development of physics.”
~ Nanny Fröman (physicist)

[1996]

“Skłodowska Curie and her husband are immortalised as the Curie (Ci), the unit of radioactivity, and as curium (Cm), the element in the periodic table with atomic number 96.”
~ Monica Grady (author)

[2017]

[Periodic-table.com. The Element Curium.] 

“Madame Curie was the mother of us all, a role model for every girl who stakes a claim to a life of the mind, particularly that part of the mind too often deemed masculine - the scientific, mathematical part.”
~ Natalie Angier (biographer)

[Marie Curie​​​​​​​, 2016]

["Portrait of Marie Curie (1934)." Marie Curie - Photo Gallery, NobelPrize.org.]

Today, electricity plants, ships, and spacecraft could not function if not for Marie's work. Cancer and other health treatments have been influenced by her pioneering research, showing the impact of her work on modern society.

Marie’s life was filled with barriers, but she conquered them successfully, which inspired many others after her and opened the door for a new era of science.

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