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Мария Кюри
- GenresHistory
328 pages, Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1977
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November 7, 2025
Биографията на великата химичка и физичка Мария Склодовска-Кюри през погледа на дъщеря й Ева, прочетох за пръв път в 7 клас покрай изпитите за ЕГ. Никога не съм обичала физиката или химията, но в света на М.Кюри всичко ми беше безкрайно интересно и някак вълшебно. За трудния път на едно бедно полско момиче към науката и Сорбоната , за най-важната среща в живота с любовта й Пиер Кюри. От съединяването на тези двама гении се раждат редица открития, най-важното от които - радиоактивността и радия като средство за лечение на рак и т.н. Мария Кюри е първата жена учен с Нобелова награда за химия и физика. Твърде млада остава вдовица след нелеп инцидент и сама продължава започнатото. В моите очи тя е една силна жена, препрочитала съм биографията й многократно. С Пиер Кюри имат две дъщери, една от които тръгва по стъпките на родителите си и заедно със съпруга си продължават откритията,свързани с радиоактивността.
Мария Кюри умира от левкемия, вероятно в следствие на дългите години работа с радиоактивни елементи и облъчване от тях.
Мария Кюри умира от левкемия, вероятно в следствие на дългите години работа с радиоактивни елементи и облъчване от тях.
December 7, 2025
I first learned about Marie Curie long ago. Like many people, I knew only the canonical set of facts: the first woman scientist of global significance, twice a Nobel Prize laureate–in physics and chemistry; a pioneer of radioactivity and early nuclear physics; a woman who died of radiation-induced leukemia. From Matvei Bronstein’s book, I remembered how she and her husband Pierre painstakingly hand-processed tons of radioactive ore, ultimately discovering polonium and radium. Yet all this knowledge felt superficial, almost clichéd–like the names Freud and Fromm, which everyone has heard, but few truly understand what exactly these brilliant minds contributed.
To me, Marie Curie was associated with a kind of obligatory scientific symbol–someone universally recognized from the famous photographs of the Solvay Conferences, where she sits beside Albert Einstein, Max Born, and some of the greatest physicists in history. Recognized–yet not understood. Even when I encountered her name on Polish streets or universities, I found myself thinking not of a living person but of a somewhat strange and gloomy monument in Lublin.
When I picked up the trendy book I, Marie Curie by Sara Rattaro, it took only a few pages to understand that it was beautifully written and emotional–but completely derivative. Not about the Polish Maria Skłodowska, not about the real person or her life, but about a literary construct. The author, it seemed, had barely studied Marie’s biography and wrote more fantasy than fact. I deleted the book without hesitation.
Then I remembered an old edition I once bought on OLX: the biography Madame Curie, written by Marie’s daughter, Ève Curie. And that turned out to be a treasure. This is a book whose Soviet translation was published by “Atomizdat” and which appeared on the shelves of scientists’ personal libraries for a very good reason. A biography written by someone who lived beside Marie, saw her every day, and understood her more deeply than any historian ever could.
From the very first pages, it becomes clear: this is not a book about a myth. This is a book about a living human being.
Ève Curie describes her mother’s childhood with such warmth that Marie immediately becomes closer. We see an intelligent, lively girl who loves to play and laugh, and who gazes with fascination at the scientific instruments of her father–a teacher. The Skłodowski family appears as unusually educated, cultured, and united.
The story of the sisters–Marie and Bronya–is particularly striking. It is a story of sacrifice: first, Marie works to support Bronya’s medical studies; later, Bronya brings Marie to France. All this unfolds against a harsh reality that is difficult to imagine today: in their partitioned and occupied homeland, Polish women could not obtain higher education or work as scholars and lecturers at universities.
And then–Paris. Hunger, cold, poverty. Endless study from morning until night. A physics degree. A mathematics degree. Survival and brilliance in one person. This alone shows how extraordinary Marie was.
Yet even this is not the whole story. Still living in Warsaw after finishing school, she secretly taught Polish children despite the threat of exile. She was not afraid of the Tsarist police. She was a patriot who named one of the elements she discovered together with Pierre–polonium.
Marie as a scientist and as a human being
The book describes in detail how Marie met Pierre, their shared life, their daughters. I had studied the physical laws associated with Pierre Curie at university–piezoelectricity, magnetism, the Curie point, the Curie law–but knew almost nothing about him as a person. Discovering him through Ève’s eyes is one of the warmest revelations of the book.
Then comes tragedy–and Marie’s extraordinary scientific work thereafter, carried out alone. And her enormous contribution to radiological medicine during World War I, when she personally drove mobile X-ray units to the wounded, risking her own life.
Marie became the first female professor of the Sorbonne and a member of academies of sciences in several countries. A volunteer, a doctor, a scientist. A person who combined remarkable gentleness with remarkable strength.
A biography written with love
Ève Curie does not simply write a biography. She creates a work that accomplishes the impossible: it erases the distance between the reader and a historical figure. When you read about Marie’s childhood, she feels like a beloved relative. When you read about her student years, she resembles a classmate you once knew. And by the end, you realize you are looking at one of the greatest women in human history–yet she never appears distant or cast in bronze.
Why this book surpasses dozens of modern bestsellers
Today we are surrounded by a sea of literature on productivity, habit-building, and motivation. But Marie Curie formed her own “atomic habits” more than a century ago. Ève Curie wrote about them long before such concepts became fashionable.
Marie shows that a dream is not an abstraction but a direction. And if you move in that direction, no poverty, no hardship, no injustice of the world can stop you.
Conclusion
This book is a beacon for me.
And I wholeheartedly recommend it:
To schoolchildren and students interested in science.
To women seeking inspiration.
To Poles and to everyone who cherishes the history of Poland.
To anyone who wants to see the human being behind a great scientist.
Ève Curie’s biography is not just a book about Marie. It is a story of strength, love, courage, and dignity. And above all, it reminds us that greatness always begins with a dream–and hard work.
To me, Marie Curie was associated with a kind of obligatory scientific symbol–someone universally recognized from the famous photographs of the Solvay Conferences, where she sits beside Albert Einstein, Max Born, and some of the greatest physicists in history. Recognized–yet not understood. Even when I encountered her name on Polish streets or universities, I found myself thinking not of a living person but of a somewhat strange and gloomy monument in Lublin.
When I picked up the trendy book I, Marie Curie by Sara Rattaro, it took only a few pages to understand that it was beautifully written and emotional–but completely derivative. Not about the Polish Maria Skłodowska, not about the real person or her life, but about a literary construct. The author, it seemed, had barely studied Marie’s biography and wrote more fantasy than fact. I deleted the book without hesitation.
Then I remembered an old edition I once bought on OLX: the biography Madame Curie, written by Marie’s daughter, Ève Curie. And that turned out to be a treasure. This is a book whose Soviet translation was published by “Atomizdat” and which appeared on the shelves of scientists’ personal libraries for a very good reason. A biography written by someone who lived beside Marie, saw her every day, and understood her more deeply than any historian ever could.
From the very first pages, it becomes clear: this is not a book about a myth. This is a book about a living human being.
Ève Curie describes her mother’s childhood with such warmth that Marie immediately becomes closer. We see an intelligent, lively girl who loves to play and laugh, and who gazes with fascination at the scientific instruments of her father–a teacher. The Skłodowski family appears as unusually educated, cultured, and united.
The story of the sisters–Marie and Bronya–is particularly striking. It is a story of sacrifice: first, Marie works to support Bronya’s medical studies; later, Bronya brings Marie to France. All this unfolds against a harsh reality that is difficult to imagine today: in their partitioned and occupied homeland, Polish women could not obtain higher education or work as scholars and lecturers at universities.
And then–Paris. Hunger, cold, poverty. Endless study from morning until night. A physics degree. A mathematics degree. Survival and brilliance in one person. This alone shows how extraordinary Marie was.
Yet even this is not the whole story. Still living in Warsaw after finishing school, she secretly taught Polish children despite the threat of exile. She was not afraid of the Tsarist police. She was a patriot who named one of the elements she discovered together with Pierre–polonium.
Marie as a scientist and as a human being
The book describes in detail how Marie met Pierre, their shared life, their daughters. I had studied the physical laws associated with Pierre Curie at university–piezoelectricity, magnetism, the Curie point, the Curie law–but knew almost nothing about him as a person. Discovering him through Ève’s eyes is one of the warmest revelations of the book.
Then comes tragedy–and Marie’s extraordinary scientific work thereafter, carried out alone. And her enormous contribution to radiological medicine during World War I, when she personally drove mobile X-ray units to the wounded, risking her own life.
Marie became the first female professor of the Sorbonne and a member of academies of sciences in several countries. A volunteer, a doctor, a scientist. A person who combined remarkable gentleness with remarkable strength.
A biography written with love
Ève Curie does not simply write a biography. She creates a work that accomplishes the impossible: it erases the distance between the reader and a historical figure. When you read about Marie’s childhood, she feels like a beloved relative. When you read about her student years, she resembles a classmate you once knew. And by the end, you realize you are looking at one of the greatest women in human history–yet she never appears distant or cast in bronze.
Why this book surpasses dozens of modern bestsellers
Today we are surrounded by a sea of literature on productivity, habit-building, and motivation. But Marie Curie formed her own “atomic habits” more than a century ago. Ève Curie wrote about them long before such concepts became fashionable.
Marie shows that a dream is not an abstraction but a direction. And if you move in that direction, no poverty, no hardship, no injustice of the world can stop you.
Conclusion
This book is a beacon for me.
And I wholeheartedly recommend it:
To schoolchildren and students interested in science.
To women seeking inspiration.
To Poles and to everyone who cherishes the history of Poland.
To anyone who wants to see the human being behind a great scientist.
Ève Curie’s biography is not just a book about Marie. It is a story of strength, love, courage, and dignity. And above all, it reminds us that greatness always begins with a dream–and hard work.
January 3, 2022
Вперше читала цю книгу коли мені було років 13. Знайшла випадково в бібліотеці (2003 рік). На той час вона справила на мене дуже велике враження, навіть цитати з неї виписувала, і досі їх пам'ятаю.
Надибала її в мережі нещодавно і перечитала. Для себе виділила 2 пункти хейту.
1. В біографії відсутній один із епізодів життя МК, а саме її роман з Полем Ланжевеном. Звичайно, кому потрібні "брудні простирадла", однак, читач розраховує на відносно правдиву історію, а так це виглядає як відверте "відбілення" репутації. Авторка не дотримується погляду "з боку", а відверто пише "я її дочка, вона моя мати, її не чіпайте". Відсутність у людини "нормального людського фактору" не є нормальним.
2. Писати біографію своєї матері невдячна справа.
В 21 ст. чудова мода на природність людини, як її вади уживаються з її чеснотами. І я рада, що МК не є "богинею, вірна дружина, вчена, матір", а звичайною людиною яка просто працювала більше за інших.
Наостанок напевно варто було б прочитати книгу в оригіналі (якщо є бажання). Переклад російською мовою викликає недовіру.
Надибала її в мережі нещодавно і перечитала. Для себе виділила 2 пункти хейту.
1. В біографії відсутній один із епізодів життя МК, а саме її роман з Полем Ланжевеном. Звичайно, кому потрібні "брудні простирадла", однак, читач розраховує на відносно правдиву історію, а так це виглядає як відверте "відбілення" репутації. Авторка не дотримується погляду "з боку", а відверто пише "я її дочка, вона моя мати, її не чіпайте". Відсутність у людини "нормального людського фактору" не є нормальним.
2. Писати біографію своєї матері невдячна справа.
В 21 ст. чудова мода на природність людини, як її вади уживаються з її чеснотами. І я рада, що МК не є "богинею, вірна дружина, вчена, матір", а звичайною людиною яка просто працювала більше за інших.
Наостанок напевно варто було б прочитати книгу в оригіналі (якщо є бажання). Переклад російською мовою викликає недовіру.
November 12, 2019
На церемонии принятия Мари Кюри в Академию наук 7 февраля 1922 года месье Шошар, президент Академии, сказал о ней: "Мы приветствуем в Вашем лице крупного ученого и мужественную женщину, посвятившую свою жизнь бескорыстному научному труду, патриотку, которая и во время войны, и в мирные времена всегда делала больше, чем требовал долг. Вы оказываете благотворное моральное воздействие своим примером и славой Вашего имени".
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