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Marie Curie, originally named Maria Sklodowska, was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1867 in a family steeped in educational traditions. As a bright, determined young woman, she found ways to quench her thirst for learning despite the restrictive norms of that time.
After a period of self-education and working as a governess, she was able to join her sister in Paris to study at the prestigious Sorbonne University, where she embarked on formal studies in physics, chemistry, and mathematics.
It was here that Marie met Pierre Curie, a fellow scientist. This meeting sparked not just a profound romance, but also a dynamic scientific partnership that would modify the course of science and medicine forever.
They married in 1895 and became parents to two daughters, Irene and Eve.
Both Marie and Pierre Curie dedicated their lives to the pursuit of knowledge, with Marie eventually becoming the pioneer in radioactivity discovery.

Groundbreaking Contributions to Radioactivity
Marie Curie's groundbreaking contributions to science started with her exploration into the concept of radioactivity.
The path of her career diverted towards this phenomenon when she noticed that some compounds emitted more rays than the radioactive elements they contained, a puzzling observation at the time.
Her investigation led her to postulate that the extra radiation could only come from new elements.
In 1898, this research resulted in the discovery of two new radioactive elements - radium and polonium, named in honour of her native Poland.
Her work revolutionised the world's understanding of atomic structure by demonstrating that radioactivity was not merely a product of molecular interactions, but a fundamental property of certain elements.
These elements, she hypothesised, contained a vast amount of energy locked within their atoms.
This discovery proved instrumental in forming the basis of modern nuclear physics and medical radiology.
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