Marie Curie was a pioneering scientist known for her groundbreaking research on radioactivity. Born in Poland in 1867, she moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne where she met her husband, Pierre Curie. Together, they discovered the elements polonium and radium, and their work laid the foundation for much of modern physics and chemistry. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remains the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields.

Her contributions to science were not without sacrifice, as she faced discrimination as a woman in a male-dominated field and endured health issues from her exposure to radiation. Despite these challenges, Marie Curie's legacy continues to inspire generations of scientists and women in STEM fields. She founded the Curie Institute in Paris, a renowned research center, and her work has had a lasting impact on our understanding of the atomic structure and the potential uses of radioactivity in medicine.