Manya,as she was called, was born Maria Sklodowska in Warsaw, Poland on November 7, 1867. Maria was only eight when her oldest sister caught typhus and died. That death was followed less than three years later by the death of her mother, Madame Sklodowska, who lost a five-year battle with tuberculosis at the age of 42. The surviving family members, Professor Sklodowski, his son Joseph and his daughters Bronya, Hela, and Maria drew closer to one another.
Manya was the star student in her class. Her personal losses did not block her academic success. After graduating at the age of 15, Maria hoped to get an advanced degree, but while Joseph was able to enroll in the medical school at the University of Warsaw, women were not allowed to. In 1891, she attended Sorbonne and changed her name to Marie. Marie realized that neither her math or science background nor her ability in technical French equaled that of her fellow students. Refusing to let go of her goals, she was determined to overcome these drawbacks through hard work. Marie finished first in her master's degree physics course in the summer of 1893 and second in math the following year. Having little money stood in the way of her math degree, but senior French scientists recognized her abilities and were able to help her by awarding a scholarship. …show more content…
Pierre was Lab Chief for the Paris Municipal School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry. Marie and Pierre shared lab space. Pierre gave Marie a lab of her own. In Marie, Pierre found an equal with a comparable devotion to science. They would soon marry and have two