Category: Amazing Women

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The Tragic Death of Madame Curie

Julius Mendes Price [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons from Wikimedia Commons
Julius Mendes Price [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons from Wikimedia Commons
If you studied science and in particular, radiology, then you know the story of Marie Curie (1867–1934) and her husband, Pierre (1859–1906). Madame Curie was the first woman to ever win a Nobel Prize and the only woman to win two Nobel prizes in separate categories: physics (1903) and chemistry (1911). At this moment, she is the only woman buried in the Pantheon based on her own merits (several other women have recently been voted in but their remains have not been transferred).

Family Affair

The Curie family was quite well known for their work in radiology and radium. Their daughter, Irene (1897–1956), would go on to win the 1935 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The other children were esteemed scientists in their own ways.

Pierre was an instructor at the School of Physics and Chemistry and would go on to hold the physics chair at the University of Paris created specifically for him. Despite this position, the Curies had to use a make shift laboratory located in a converted shed.

Jointly, the Curies are responsible for discovering two elements: polonium (named for her homeland of Poland) and radium. In time, they would create the word radioactivity. One of their 32 scientific papers dealt with radium and how when exposed to it, diseased and tumor-forming cells would die off quicker than healthy cells. Read More The Tragic Death of Madame Curie

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The Women of the French Revolution

Women
A Versailles, à Versailles du 5 Octobre 1789. Illustration (unknown). Bibliothèque nationale de France. PD+100; PD-US-No Notice. Wikimedia Commons.

The Many Layers of Women

One of the more fascinating aspects of my research on the French Revolution has been the role that women played in the Revolution. While I’m no historian and have limited knowledge of historical world events, I have never run across such a significant event in which women were the catalysts for such important components. While it’s the men that receive most of the attention (as well as several keynote women such as Marie Antoinette), if you scratch the surface, you’ll find many layers of women whose actions contributed to those turbulent times.

For simplicity sake (at least for my simple mind), I’ve categorized the women into groups: royalty, nobility, citizens (known as sans-culottes), the salons, and the feminists. We can talk about each of these groups but the real forces behind many of the pivotal events of the Revolution were the female citizens of Paris – the working class of Paris or sans-culottes.

Food was scarce. Bread was hard to come by. The weather had taken its toll on the harvests for several consecutive years. It was the woman’s responsibility to feed the family. It was the woman who held her baby who screamed as he slowly died from starvation. These women got mad. They demanded change.

Women Stormed the Bastille Too!

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