Marie Curie (Nov. 7, 1867 - 1934), one of only two people to receive two Nobel Prizes in two different disciplines, Chemistry (1903) and Physics (1911)
(The only other double Laureate across disciplines is Linus Pauling, who got the Prize in Chemistry and the Peace Prize. Two additional double Laureates have received their two Nobels in the same discipline: John Bardeen, twice in Physics; and Frederick Sanger, twice in Chemistry)
Madame Curie was born Maria Skłodowska in Warsaw and lived there until she was 24. In 1891 she followed her elder sister Bronisława to study in Paris, where she obtained her higher degrees and conducted her subsequent scientific work. She founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw. Her husband Pierre Curie was a Nobel co-laureate of hers, and her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie and son-in-law Frédéric Joliot-Curie also received Nobel prizes.
Her achievements include the creation of a theory of radioactivity (a term coined by her), techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of two new elements, polonium and radium. It was also under her personal direction that the world’s first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms (cancers), using radioactive isotopes. (Wiki)
Photo of Marie Curie in her Paris lab, 1911
