Marie curie

Biography

Early years

Birthplace on ulica Freta in Warsaw's "New Town" – now home to the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum

Maria Skłodowska was born in Warsaw, in the Russian partition of Poland, on 7 November 1867, the fifth and youngest child of well-known teachers Bronisława, née Boguska, and Władysław Skłodowski. The elder siblings of Maria (nickname: Mania) were Zofia (born 1862, nickname:Zosia), Józef (born 1863, nickname:Józio), Bronisława (born 1865, nickname: Bronia) and Helena (born 1866, nickname: Hela).

Władysław Skłodowski with daughters (from left)Maria, Bronisława, Helena, 1890

On both the paternal and maternal sides, the family had lost their property and fortunes through patriotic involvements in Polish national uprisings aimed at restoring Poland's independence (the most recent had been the January Uprising of 1863–65). This condemned the subsequent generation, including Maria, her elder sisters and her brother, to a difficult struggle to get ahead in life.

Alfred Nobel

 Known for inventing dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. After reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute theNobel Prizes. The synthetic elementnobelium was named after him. His name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel andAkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies Nobel himself established.