Chapter 1
Women| men
Women did not have access to the same jobs as men—and girls were certainly not supposed to daydream of becoming scientists. For a woman, the world of science was almost untouchable—it belonged to men.
Maria’s birth
At the time of Maria’s birth in 1867, Warsaw was in the part of Poland that was under the Russian Empire’s control.
money
After Władysław lost his job, the Skłodowskis began to worry about money.
sadness, wept
The deaths shook the foundations of the Skłodowski family life. Władysław was overcome with sadness, while his children wept in their bedrooms, mourning their mother and sister. Young Maria was devastated, but she was also a very resilient little girl. She put on a brave face—determined not to let heartbreak interfere with her studies.
Maria Skłodowska
Her name was Maria Skłodowska—more famously known by the name she later took, Marie Curie.
Maria’s father, had encouraged
Władysław Składowski, Maria’s father, had encouraged his children’s scientific curiosity from an early age, being a man of science himself. For many years he had taught mathematics and physics at a gymnasium.
well-to-do family (in russian)
состоятельная семья
fifteen
Maria was only fifteen when she f inished high school. She was such a bright student that she was awarded a special gold medal for her academic achievements.
Maria’s father brought home
It all began when Maria’s father brought home a box of scientific equipment from his teaching laboratory—where lucky students were shown how to do chemistry experiments.
When Maria was a teenager
When Maria was a teenager, the Russian Czar Alexander II was killed by revolutionary students. Maria and her best friend, Kazia, were so happy to learn of his death that they celebrated by dancing on the tops of their classroom desks!
spare rooms
The family of seven had little choice but to begin renting out the spare rooms of their house to boarders who Władysław tutored in exchange for money. But living in close quarters with strangers brought a new problem to the family.
graduation
But her graduation was tarnished, because when the time came for her to accept her diploma on stage, she realized it would mean shaking the hand of the Russian grandmaster of education. Maria didn’t think much of him!
She was determined....
She was determined to learn how all the equipment worked and to one day use it in experiments of her own.
Maria and Kazia were happy because
Maria and Kazia were happy because they felt that the Czar unfairly controlled their part of Poland. Life was not easy for most Polish people in Warsaw, and Maria’s family— despite her parents’ well-paid jobs—were no exception to this rule.
Caught
Illnesses became very difficult to avoid. Caught from the bodily fluids of an infected person, such as cough droplets in the air, contagious diseases spread quickly in full houses. Unfortunately, in the 1800s medicine was not as advanced as it is today. Diseases that are now preventable, such as typhus and tuberculosis, were often deadly.
After graduating
After graduating, she became unhappy and withdrawn. At the time, doctors thought this might be due to “nervous exhaustion,” but today we would probably recognize this as depression.
siblings
Maria had four siblings—Zofia, Józef, Bronisława, and Helena. The children of two teachers, they all went on to be scientists and educators—except for Zofia, who died when she was a child.
followed in the footsteps of her parents(in Russian)
пошла по стопам своих родителей
died mom and Zofia
In just two years, Maria suffered the loss of her sister Zofia, who caught typhus from a boarder, and her mother, Bronisława, who died from tuberculosis.
father’s advice
Władysław urged his daughter to take a year of rest and relaxation in the countryside. Maria took her father’s advice. She spent many carefree months laughing, going to dances, and recuperating in the joyful company of her cousins, whom she loved very much.