Marie Curie
(aka Ashley M.)

I am Marie Curie. I was born Marya Sklodowska in Warsaw, Poland in 1867. I was born at my school where my mother was the principal. I was very smart as a child. I taught myself to read when I was very young. My parents thought that reading at such a young age was not good for me, so they kept me away from books until I was older. I loved to look at my father's bookcase which as filled with scientific instruments.

I was very sad that my country of Poland was ruled by the Russians. They would not allow any Polish history to be taught in the schools. My teachers secretly taught me and my fellow students the Polish language and history. When I became a teacher, I also taught my students these things in secret.

I went to the Sorbonne University in Paris, France to study Science. For a while, my classmates did not call me anything. They could not pronounce my last name, and I did not want them to call me by my first name, which had been changed to Marie. I had trouble understanding my teachers, who taught in French, so I taught myself French. I became so good, I knew my French better than the French did! I became the first woman in Europe to get a Doctor of Science degree and the first woman professor at the Sorbonne.

I married my fellow scientist, Pierre Curie. He loved Science as much as I did. Together we discovered the new elements, Radium and Polonium. I named Polonium after Poland. We won the Nobel Prize for this discovery. I won another Nobel Prize for my experiments with Radium. Radium was very important because it was eventually used for x-rays. X-rays were used to find bullets and broken bones in soldiers during World War I. It was also used to treat diseases like cancer. X-rays are still used today to help find what is wrong with sick people and to treat cancer.

I loved Science so much that I forgot to eat and sleep, and did not take care of myself. This made me sick very often. I worked with Radium for 30 years. I did not know that Radium caused a blood disease. I died at the age of 66 from that disease. I am Marie Curie.

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