Marie Curie is famous, but we only remember two or three of her achievements & discoveries. We remember even less about who she was, not as a historical figure, but as a person. How did she spend her free time? What was her occupation? What happened to her near her end? Marie isn’t just a historical figure, but she was a real person like anyone; she left a lasting impact on the world around her. Marie Curie had many jobs. Marie Curie was a governess for a short amount of time to fund her sister Bronya’s education, before getting her own education. “Leaving her home to follow her passion for science,” as author Saundra Mitchell put it (2016, pg. 37). After education, she became a teacher, and then realized her potential as a physicist, so she became one. While she was a physicist, however, she left her job temporarily to help out in World War II, creating radiation treatments for the soldiers. These radiation treatments included cancer treatments and wound sterilization (Mitchell, 2016, pg. 38).
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After Marie Curie’s mother (Bronisława) and oldest sister (Zosia) died while Marie was young, she began suffering from a mental illness during her childhood, which caused her to “leave school due to a ‘nervous disorder’” (Barcella, 2016, pg. 20). Although it was described as a nervous disorder, the illness was likely to be the depression she was diagnosed with later in life (Barcella, 2016, pg. 20) (World of Physics, 2006, par. 2). In spite of the depression she suffered from, she was persistent and very determined, according to a document on Marie Curie by World of Health (2007, par. 8). World of Health also mentions that the determination was one of the only things strong enough to keep her family together when Marie Curie eventually married Pierre Curie (2007, par.
After Marie Curie’s mother (Bronisława) and oldest sister (Zosia) died while Marie was young, she began suffering from a mental illness during her childhood, which caused her to “leave school due to a ‘nervous disorder’” (Barcella, 2016, pg. 20). Although it was described as a nervous disorder, the illness was likely to be the depression she was diagnosed with later in life (Barcella, 2016, pg. 20) (World of Physics, 2006, par. 2). In spite of the depression she suffered from, she was persistent and very determined, according to a document on Marie Curie by World of Health (2007, par. 8). World of Health also mentions that the determination was one of the only things strong enough to keep her family together when Marie Curie eventually married Pierre Curie (2007, par.