The only person ever to get Nobel Prices in two sciences

Do you know the person’s name? I guess you do. Of course it is Marie Curie

Marie Curie was an outstanding woman, as her Nobel Prices show. She was born as Marie Skłodowska Curie (7. November 1867) in Poland and died on 4. July 1934.

At that time is was not allowed for woman to study, so she learned secretly. After a few years as a teacher, she went to the famous french university Sorbonne where she finished degrees in mathematics in 1883 (as the best) and physics (as second best).

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Later on she met Pierre Curie whom she married in 1895 and who unfortunately died in a traffic accident in 1906, just two years after being called as a professor to the Sorbonne to a chair for physics made just for him.
Marie was then selected to take over the teaching and laboratory, but not the chair. It took two more years for her to become professor.

Privately the loss hit her hard and Marie Curie had depressions. It should also be mentioned that beginning in 1898 Marie Curie had health problems, including a miscarriage in 1903, that were likely based on her exposition to radiation.

A few years after her husband’s dead she had a love affair with a student of her late husband, a married man, which became public at the time when she was a candidate for her second Nobel Price. The affair was topic of international interest (and the yellow press) and also resulted in five duels.

In the first Word War she initiated mobile x-ray stations in trucks to use at the front. Since 1922 she also worked for the League of Nations.

Marie Curie died on 4. July 1934 because of aplastic anemia, one year before one of her two daughters, Irene, earned a Nobel Price for physics.

The Nobel Prices

There are only four persons until today who ever got more then one Nobel price. Of those only Marie Curie got prices for more then one science – Physics and Chemistry (Linus Pauling got Chemistry and Peace). Curie was the first person to ever get more then one and the first woman in both.

Physics

Wikipedia

Marie and Pierre Curie got the Nobel Price for Physics in December 1903, but could not attend because of Marie’s bad health and her recent miscarriage. Only in June 1905 Marie could hold her lecture about radium and radioactivity.

Chemistry

At the Nobel price for Chemistry Marie also had to cope with big problems. It was exactly the time when here love affair made big press. But finally she was awarded the price on 7. November 1911, the first time any person got a second Nobel Price.

I would certainly have loved to met her! What a brilliant mind and strong determination she must have had!