Maria Skłodowska was born in Poland in the 19th century. She studied at the Flying University before coming to Paris to further her knowledge. She had very little means and did her best to be able to afford doing so. She was attracted by natural sciences, physics and chemistry.

Upon completing some of her training, she shared a laboratory with Pierre Curie, where she studied the electromagnetic properties of metals. Their love for science brought them together and they ended up falling in love and marrying. Together, they started, following Marie's idea, to work and study radioactivity, a term she coined.

Together, they won Nobel prizes and revolutionised what was known about atoms back in their days. Marie is the first woman to ever receive a Nobel prize, there will be 2 in total rewarding her hard work and efforts. In spite of being a woman, Marie toured the world and gave many lectures in prestigious universities. In London, she was not allowed to speak, because of her gender, and Pierre had to carry out the presentation of her work.

Upon Pierre's death, Marie had an affair with a married man, estranged with his wife. This attracted some very negative publicity, as people's morals were heavily scrutinised back in those days. She strongly invited people to leave her personal life alone and to focus on the academic achievements she was making.

Marie toured the world, opening several institutes to promote her research; and also gained an incredible fame while she was still alive.

It is believed that she died from exposure to radioactivity, as back in her days, people worked without protective equipment, although recent findings suggest that this could have been from over-exposure to X-rays (she did invent a mobile device to help the war efforts in 1914). She is the second woman to be buried at the Panthéon, in Paris, together with Pierre.

Marie has been a real inspiration for women, due to her perseverance, her hard work and scientific ideas. She remains very popular to this day, with many commemorations, on stamps, street names, universities and institutions.

Illustration based on a period photography.