Buried in a lead coffin: the tragic fate of a famous woman

Marie Skłodowska-Curie is one of the most outstanding women in the history of science. Her discoveries changed medicine and physics, but her work with radioactive substances caused her death and even determined the circumstances of her burial.

She became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and the only woman in the world to be awarded it twice, in both physics and chemistry. The research began in 1896, when Henri Becquerel noticed unusual radiation from uranium. This inspired Marie and her husband, Pierre, to experiment, and in 1898, they isolated radium and polonium. For the discovery in 1903, the Curies, along with Becquerel, received the Nobel Prize in Physics.

After Pierre died in 1906, Marie continued her research. In 1911, she received a second Nobel Prize in chemistry for the isolation of pure radium. The scientist devoted her life to studying radioactivity and its application in medicine, laying the foundations of modern oncology.

But constant contact with radium and polonium ruined her health: on July 4, 1934, Maria died of aplastic anemia. Due to radiation damage, her body was buried in a coffin lined with lead. When she was reburied in the Pantheon in 1995, it turned out that even decades later, a weak background radiation was emitted from her remains.

Her personal belongings turned out to be much more dangerous: laboratory notebooks, furniture, and clothes are still stored in lead containers in the French National Library. Access to them is only possible with protective gear. Considering the half-life of radium is 1,600 years, these items will continue to emit radiation for many centuries.

Interesting facts.

The only woman to receive two Nobel Prizes in different fields of science.

Her daughter Irene Joliot-Curie also became a Nobel laureate.

Studied at the illegal “Free University” because women were not allowed to enroll in universities.

She was one of the first female drivers in France.

Wore an ampoule of radium as an amulet, not knowing about its mortal danger.

Who else was buried in a lead coffin

Robert Thompson, an X-ray researcher (1925), according to his will.

Liquidators of the Chernobyl accident (1986), whose bodies were heavily irradiated.

The fate of Marie Curie and other researchers shows that science brings the world the most significant discoveries, but sometimes requires tragic sacrifices.