Marie Skłodowska-Curie (1867–1934) was a Polish physicist and chemist, the discoverer of polonium and radium, and a pioneer of radioactivity research. Born in Russian-occupied Warsaw, she pursued a secret education before moving to Paris in 1891. She earned degrees in physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne and married Pierre Curie, with whom she shared a passion for science. In 1903, she became the first woman awarded a Nobel Prize, shared with Pierre and Henri Becquerel for their work on radioactivity. After Pierre’s death in 1906, she became the first female professor at the Sorbonne. She won a second Nobel Prize in 1911 for isolating pure radium. During World War I, she developed mobile X-ray units for battlefield medicine. Later, she founded the Radium Institute in Paris and Warsaw, advancing cancer research. Her work led to her death from leukemia due to radiation exposure. Her legacy continued through her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie, who won a Nobel Prize in 1935 for artificial radioactivity.
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