NAME: Marie Curie

BORN/DIED:7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934

Job: Chemist, Physicist

KEY FACTS: Marie Curie grew up in Poland and did well at school. Marie wanted to go to university and study to become a scientist but it was expensive and at the time, university was thought of as mainly for men. Eventually Marie earned her degree in Physics from a university in France. Marie did lots of experiments and discovered two new elements for the periodic table! She named them Polonium (after her hometown of Poland) and Radium (because it gave off such strong rays).

ACHIEVEMENTS: In 1903 Marie was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on radiation. She was the first woman to ever get this award. In 1911 she was awarded a second Nobel Peace Prize for her discovery of two new elements.