Marie Curie More

Marie Curie
Banquet speech

Marie Curie’s speech at the Nobel Banquet in Stockholm, December 10, 1911 (in French)

Je remercie l’Académie des Sciences du très grand honneur qu’elle m’a fait. Je crois que
cet honneur ne s’adresse point uniquement à moi. Pendant de longues années, Pierre
Curie et moi avons consacré toutes nos journées aux travaux concernant nos
découvertes communes du radium et du polonium. Je crois donc interpréter dans son
vrai sens la pensée de l’Académie, en disant que ce prix Nobel qu’on vient de me
décerner est aussi un hommage rendu au nom de Pierre Curie.

Qu’on me permette en outre d’exprimer la joie que je ressens en pensant à la radio-

activité. La découverte des phénomènes radio-actifs ne date que de quinze ans. La
radio-activité est donc une science très jeune. C’est un enfant que j’ai vu naître et que j’ai
contribué, de toutes mes forces, à élever. L’enfant a grandi, il est devenu beau. La radio-
activité est une science nouvelle qui a des rapports très étroits avec la physique et la
chimie mais qui n’en est pas moins absolument distincte. Nous avons aujourd’hui des
institutions et des laboratoires pour la radio-activité; de nombreux savants se
consacrent à l’étude des phénomènes radio-actifs. Le développement en a été admirable;
mais l’on n’aurait pu espérer non plus de plus bel encouragement que celui dont la jeune
science a été l’objet de la part de l’Académie des Sciences de Suède qui a décerné trois
prix Nobel, un de physique, deux de chimie, aux quatre chercheurs Henri Becquerel,
Pierre Curie, Marie Curie et E. Rutherford.

From Les Prix Nobel en 1911, Editor Carl Gustaf Santesson, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1912
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1911

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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911

Marie Curie

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Marie Curie
Facts
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Marie Curie, née Sklodowska

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911

Born: 7 November 1867, Warsaw, Russian Empire (now Poland)

Died: 4 July 1934, Sallanches, France

A liation at the time of the award: Sorbonne University, Paris, France

Prize motivation: "in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the
discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the
study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element."

Prize share: 1/1

Also awarded: The Nobel Prize in Physics 1903

Life
Life

Marie Skłodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, to a family of teachers who believed
strongly in education. She moved to Paris to continue her studies and there met Pierre
Curie, who became both her husband and colleague in the field of radioactivity. The
couple later shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics. Marie was widowed in 1906, but
continued the couple's work and went on to become the first person ever to be awarded
two Nobel Prizes. During World War I, Curie organized mobile X-ray teams. The Curies'

daughter, Irene, was also jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry alongside her
husband, Frederic Joliot.

Work
1903 Prize: The 1896 discovery of radioactivity by Henri Becquerel inspired Marie and
Pierre Curie to further investigate this phenomenon. They examined many substances
and minerals for signs of radioactivity. They found that the mineral pitchblende was
more radioactive than uranium and concluded that it must contain other radioactive
substances. From it they managed to extract two previously unknown elements,
polonium and radium, both more radioactive than uranium.

1911 Prize: After Marie and Pierre Curie first discovered the radioactive elements
polonium and radium, Marie continued to investigate their properties. In 1910 she
successfully produced radium as a pure metal, which proved the new element's
existence beyond a doubt. She also documented the properties of the radioactive
elements and their compounds. Radioactive compounds became important as sources
of radiation in both scientific experiments and in the field of medicine, where they are
used to treat tumors.

To cite this section

MLA style: Marie Curie – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2019. Wed. 31 Jul 2019.
<https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1911/marie-curie/facts/>

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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1911

Marie Curie
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