Portrait of Marie Curie, 1898. Photographer: Anonymous, Credit: Emilio Segre Visual Archives
Being a Poor Foreigner
Marie was 24 when she finally moved to Paris in 1891. She attended the Sorbonne -one of only 210 women among 9,000 students - to pursue a degree in Physics.
The Sorbonne (main entrance). Private collection S. Nicolas Mis en ligne sur Cairn.info le 01/11/2017 https://doi.org/10.4074/S0003503316000427
Short of money, Marie was forced to rent cheap, tight rooms, and on especially cold nights she had to drape on everything she owned to keep warm.
"Marie's garret rooms were to become part of her legend" Goldsmith, 47.
Cover of student magazine during celebrations of Mi-Careme, Paris 1896. Author: Paul Merwart. Wiki-Commons
However, she was happy living in the Latin Quarter, where most students lived, and she was able to attend lectures and events.
"...she was, at last, living her dream, free from restrictions on what she could study."
"My situation was not exceptional, it was the familiar experience of many of the Polish students whom I knew."
Borzendowski, 25.
In 1893,
the poor foreigner,
graduated first in her Physics class, which comprised only one other woman.
This eventually allowed her to obtain a scholarship to pursue another graduate degree,
this time in Math, in 1894.
Being a woman in Science
Pierre and Marie Curie, history.aip.org
In 1894, through mutual acquaintances, Marie met and fell in love with Pierre Curie, a fellow scientist and teacher at the School of Industrial Physics And Chemistry. They both were free-thinkers and nature lovers, and dreamed of a life devoted to research. They got married in 1895.
“A match made in science.”
"It is a sorrow to me to have to stay forever in Paris, but what am I to do? Fate has made us deeply attached to each other and we cannot endure the idea of separating."
Borzendowski, 34
When Marie started working on the subject of Uranium, Pierre decided to finish his dissertation to completely focus on working with her.
Marie and Pierre Curie, A Marriage of True Minds, in mariecurie.org.uk
Later, when they won their Nobel Prize, only Pierre was initially recognized for his contributions! Eventually, as the Nobel Committee faced backlash and Pierre stated strongly that he was merely Marie’s partner in research, they were nominated as a team.
Marie and Pierre Curie with daughter Irene, U.S. National Library of Medicine
Marie and Pierre had two daughters, Irene (b.1897), who would also as a grownup become a scientist and win a Nobel Prize of her own!, and Eve (b. 1904), a writer. For years the couple worked together, shared experiments, sacrifices and success. Sadly, in 1906, Pierre died in an accident, leaving Marie devastated and grieving, while continuing to work on her own.
Prejudice and Scandal
In 1910, Marie became close with Paul Langevin, Pierre’s former student. The relationship became a scandal when his ex wife published their private letters, and the press accused Marie of being a
“Foreign Jewish Homewrecker”.
Interestingly, Marie had earlier applied to the French Academy of Sciences, and many conservative newspapers were appalled that a woman and a foreigner could be considered as possible member, and used the occasion to tarnish Marie’s reputation.
Paul Langevin, courtesy AIP Emilio Segre Archives, researchgate.net
Marie, however, had support from many colleagues and friends, such as Jean Perrin and Henri Poincaré. She also received a friendly letter from Albert Einstein who she had met during a conference in Belgium, in 1911:
"I am impelled to tell you how much I have come to admire
your intellect, your drive, and your honesty, and that I
consider myself lucky to have made your personal acquaintance
in Brussels. Anyone who does not number among these reptiles
is certainly happy, now as before, that we have such personages
among us as you, and Langevin too, real people with whom
one feels privileged to be in contact."
A. Einstein, Prague, 1911
Letter to Marie Curie in Collected Papers, einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu