I am Marie Curie

I am Marie Curie Story

Bonjour! My name is Marie, and I want to tell you my story. It’s a story about learning, and shining, just like the stars!

I was a little girl in Poland, a long, long time ago. My name then was Mania Sklodowska. I loved to play outside, just like you! But most of all, I loved to read. My papa had lots of books, and I read them all! I loved stories about science, about how things work.My papa was a teacher, and my mama was a teacher too. They taught me how important it is to learn.

I was very good at school. I loved numbers and puzzles. But it was sad too. My mama got very sick, and she went to heaven when I was little. That made me very sad, but I knew she would want me to be strong.

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I always wanted to learn more, especially about science. But in Poland, girls couldn’t go to university. Only boys could. That made me very sad. I wanted to learn like the boys!

My sister Bronia and I made a plan. We would go to Paris! Paris had a famous university called the Sorbonne. But first, Bronia would go. She would study to be a doctor. I would work and send her money. Then, when she was a doctor, she would send me money, and I could go to the Sorbonne!

I worked as a governess, teaching children. It was hard work, and I missed my family. But I saved my money, and I wrote letters to Bronia. Finally, the day came! Bronia was a doctor, and I could go to Paris!

Paris was big and exciting! I was so happy to be at the Sorbonne. I studied very hard. I learned about math, physics, and chemistry. It was like magic! I loved learning about how the world works.

I was very poor. I lived in a tiny room, and sometimes I was very cold and hungry. But I didn’t care. I was learning! I loved to learn!

One day, I met a man named Pierre Curie. He was a scientist too. He was very kind and very smart. We talked about science for hours and hours. We loved to work together. We became friends, and then we fell in love! We got married, and we were very happy.

We worked together in a small lab. It was very cold and damp, but we didn’t mind. We were looking for something very special. We were studying a rock called pitchblende. It was very strange. It seemed to give off energy, like a tiny light.

We worked for many years. We boiled the pitchblende, and we stirred it, and we measured the energy. It was hard work, but we didn’t give up. We believed that there was something new hidden inside the rock.

Finally, we found it! We found two new elements! We called one polonium, after my home country, Poland. And we called the other radium, because it was so radiant, like a shining star!

Radium was very special. It glowed in the dark, and it gave off heat. It could even kill sick cells! We knew it could help people with cancer.

People were amazed by our discovery. We won a big prize called the Nobel Prize. It was a very happy day!

Pierre and I continued to work together. We loved to learn and to discover new things. But then, a very sad thing happened. Pierre had an accident, and he went to heaven. I was very sad, but I knew he would want me to keep working.

I kept working, and I won another Nobel Prize! I was the first woman to win two Nobel Prizes! I was very proud, but I knew that the most important thing was to help people.

I helped to build hospitals with X-ray machines. These machines helped doctors see inside people’s bodies, so they could find broken bones and sickness.

I even helped during the First World War. I drove around in a truck with X-ray machines, helping doctors to save soldiers.

I worked hard all my life, and I learned so much. I learned that science is like a big puzzle, and we can all help to solve it. I learned that even when things are hard, we should never give up. And I learned that the most important thing is to use our knowledge to help others.

So, remember my story. Learn, and shine, just like the stars! And never give up on your dreams. Maybe one day, you will discover something amazing too!