Marie Curie is one of the best known female scientists. There could be a lot of reasons why she should be the first woman to write about. But the true reason is that I admire her. Not only for her scientific work but in the first place for her perseverance.

She was born in Poland on 7 November 1867 and was the youngest of five children. At young age she lost her mother and a sister, but this never stopped her to graduate from high school in 1883.  Marie and her two year older sister wanted to go study in Paris, but with no money to do so they made an agreement. Her older sister went to Paris while Marie stayed home to work as a governess so she could support her sister financially. In exchange her sister would do the same for her several years later.

In 1891 Marie finally went to France to continue her studies. During the day she went to her classes and in the evening she had to tutor to earn some money. Three years later she earned a degree in physics and the next year she earned a degree in mathematical sciences. She returned to Poland and applied for a job at Krakow University, but she was denied because she was a woman.

She returned to France and in 1895 she married her former professor Pierre Curie. Together they did a lot of research on the radiation phenomena discovered by Henri Becquerel. In 1903 they were awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics for this work. Marie Curie was the first woman ever to win a Nobel Prize.

In 1897 and 1904 she gave birth to their two daughters. Unfortunately, her husband died in an accident two years later in 1906. She continued their work alone and took Pierre’s place as head of the laboratory in Sorbonne. In 1911 she was the first person ever to be awarded with a second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, due to her personal research in radioactivity.

Beside her two Nobel Prizes she had lots of other great accomplishments, all thanks to her hard work and perseverance. She is the example of the ‘the harder they strike you, the harder you come back’ philosophy. For me she is prove that when you really want something and you are willing to do everything you can, you will be awarded for it.

Her quote:
Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.