IRÈNE CURIE, 1897 – 1956Comment made to journalist from Le Quotidien who had asked about family obligations

Irène CurieClaire Gui Class V

Irène Curie

Born: September 12, 1897, Paris, France

Died: March 17, 1956 (only live for 58 years)

Nationality: French

Education: University of Paris

Spouse: Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1926)

Awards: Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Parents:Marie Curie & Pierre Curie

contents

1 Background (Early Life)

2 Education

3 Notable Discoveries

4 Why famous

5 Life Struggles

Background(Early Life)

At the time of Irène's birth, neither parent was well-known, but that would soon change. In 1903 her parents received a share of the Nobel Prize in Physics, and in 1911 her mother was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, becoming the only scientist in history to win both prizes.

Irène was a very shy child who had to compete constantly with her parents’ powerful devotion to science. She felt they did not spend enough time with her. As she grew, Irène increasingly craved her mother’s attention.

After Pierre's mother died, his father who is Eugène Curie,Grandpa Eugène, a retired medical doctor, soon became the young girl's best friend and first teacher. They were both looking for sympathetic company.

Education

Marie Curie was rising early to give her children lessons each day before going to her laboratory. She also ensured the girls were physically robust, engaging them in horse riding, hiking, swimming, skiing and acrobatics.

Marie discovered dissatisfaction with the education then available to children in Paris. Marie and some of her colleagues decided to take matters into their own hands; each would use his or her expertise to educate a class made up of all of their children. For example ,physics was taught by Marie Curie;chemistry was taught by Jean Baptiste Perrin .

Education

Irène returned to Paris in September 1913 to attend 'normal' school lessons at Collège Sévigné.Within a year of her return, World War 1 had begun.

At the age of 17,Irène took a nursing course in addition to work she was doing for her school certificate and courses she had begun at the Sorbonne.

Soon, Irène was teaching radiology to nurses recruited by Marie Curie to serve in her field radiology units.Irène then served in battlefield hospitals herself, taking x-rays.

Aged 21, she became her mother' s laboratory assistant at the Radium Institute.

Joliot-Curie

Irène and Frédéric hyphenated their surnames to Joliot-Curie after they married in 1926.

Eleven months later, their daughter Hélène was born; she would also become a noted physicist. Their son, Pierre, a biologist, was born in 1932.

could have won them three separate Nobel Prizes. However, they misinterpreted results

from two sets of experiments (two sets of results could have led them to discover the

neutron and the positron)

had converted aluminum atoms into atoms of

radioactive phosphorus-30, an isotope of phosphorus

that – with a half-life of 150 seconds – had never been

observed in nature

pioneered research into radium nuclei that led a separate group of

German physicists to discover nuclear fission

Notable Discoveries

discovered how to synthesize 'designer' radioactive elements in the laboratory

0 1 Notable honors

0 2 Political Views

Why famous

got Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for the discovery of artificial radioactivity with Frederic Joliot-Curie

Barnard College Gold Medal for Meritorious Service to Science 1940 with Frederic Joliot-Curie.

the officer of the Legion of Honor

had become increasingly aware of the growth of the fascist movement. They opposed its ideals and joined the Socialist Party in 1934, and in 1936 actively supported the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War.

The Joliot-Curies had continued Pierre and Marie’s policy of publishing all of their work for the benefit of the global scientific community.

became actively involved in promoting women’s education, serving on the National Committee of the Union of French Women and the World Peace Council

During World War II Joliot-Curie contracted tuberculosis and was forced to spend several years convalescing in Switzerland.

In the spring of 1906, when Irène was eight years old, her

father Pierre was hit by a carriage in the street and

killed

With so many so closely with radioactive materials finally caught up with Joliot-Curie and she was

diagnosed with leukemia. Irène Joliot-Curie died of leukemia at the age 58 in the Curie Hospital in Paris

Life Struggles

Comment about her“Her parents were both persons of strong and independent mind. Joliot-Curie inherited much of their character as well as their scientific genius. She had a powerful personality, simple, direct and self-reliant. She knew her mind and spoke it, sometimes perhaps with devastating frankness; but her remarks were informed with such regard for scientific truth and with such conspicuous sincerity that they commanded the greatest respect in all circumstances. ”

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