Marie Curie once said “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas,” curiosity of ideas lead her to be one of the most accomplished scientists. Throughout Curie’s life she continuously proved the public wrong, showing that it doesn’t matter what you look like, think like, or what gender you are, you can be great. From not being allowed access to a school to being the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in physics and the only woman to win two prizes, nothing was going to stop her. On November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland Maria Sklodowska was born. Sklodowska, often called Manya, was the youngest of three sisters and one brother. As a young girl, she was very terse and never talked in a brusque way. Both her parents were teachers. Wladyslaw, her father, taught science, physics, and math while her mother was a headmistress at a prestigious girl’s private school (“Remembering Marie Curie on Her 144th Birthday.”). During her childhood Russia had control of Poland, because of this their education was limited, no one was allowed to speak or teach in Polish and science was forbidden (Krieg, Katherine. Marie Curie: physics and chemistry pioneer). Wladyslaw lost his job but continued to teach his children science When Sklodowska was eight years old her sister died due to a sickness. Two years later she lost her mother to the same sickness. After the death of her sister and mother, the family struggled to keep a healthy lifestyle. Sklodowska stance became slouched, she was constantly hungry and tired.  Her father soon opened up their house as a boarding school, so the family could have some currency. Soon after the opening of the boarding school, Wladyslaw thought it would be better for his children to attend public school. Many of the teachers at the school were Anti-Polish and accost many Polish students (Krieg, Katherine. Marie Curie: physics and chemistry pioneer). Despite that, she was a very bright and smart student who did well in all her classes. Many teachers were incoherent and didn’t know how a Polish woman could do so well in school. In 1883, at the age of 15, she graduated with honors (“Marie Curie Biography.”). Slodkowska wanted to continue her education and go to College. She was denied access to all Colleges in Poland (“Marie Curie: 7 Facts on the Groundbreaking Scientist”). This didn’t infuriate Slodkowska but this did bother her. She then got a job as a governess to make money for her education. After work, she would attend a Floating University, made up of Women who dreamed of going to college (Krieg, Katherine. Marie Curie: physics and chemistry pioneer).  The money she made as a governess went to her sister, Bronya, who was studying at Sorbonne in Paris (Allen, John. Marie Curie).  In 1891 Bronya graduated, Slodkowska then moved in with her and went to Sorbonne. In 1893 Slodkowska got a masters degree in physics and in 1893 she got a masters degree in math (Allen, John. Marie Curie). The Encouragement of Natural Industry then hired her to be a scientist. While working there she studied magnetic properties of steel. She then visited the School of Physics and Chemistry, in need of a bigger lab (“Marie Curie Biography”). There she met Pierre Curie. She then started to receive anonymous letters from Pierre, saying how he liked her. Pierre and she became partners, then got married on July 26, 1895. After they got married they had their first child, Irene Joliot-Curie. Near this time the Periodic element Uranium had been discovered (Waxman, Laura Hamilton. Marie Curie). This element had Curie interested. During her work on Uranium Curie came up with the word “radioactivity.” On July 20, 1898, Curie announced her discovery, of a new element. Polonium, named after her hometown, Poland (Waxman, Laura Hamilton. Marie Curie).  After her discovery Curie won the Davy medal. Then in December, she discovered Radium. That same month she won the Nobel Prize in Physics, making her the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (“Remembering Marie Curie on Her 144th Birthday”). The University of Paris then appointed her the Director of Research. On December 6, 1904, the Curie’s had another daughter, Eve Denise Curie. She was at the culminate of her career. Sadly, on April 19, 1906, her husband Pierre died, he was run over by a horse and carriage in the middle of the square (Allen, John. Marie Curie). This was a recess in her career but soon recovered and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, this made her the first person to ever win two Nobel Prizes (“Remembering Marie Curie on Her 144th Birthday”). Even though she had won two Nobel Prizes, The Academy of Sciences, still, denied her access because of her gender. But this did not stop her. During this time World War 1 had started. Curie was a very perceptive person who wanted to help soldiers, so she created the first portable x-ray machine (Krieg, Katherine. Marie Curie: physics and chemistry pioneer). After her help with World War 1, she received money to fund her Radium Institute. Once her Radium institute was successful she visited the United States to continue her research. To give thanks for all of her research the U.S gave her some radium. When she returned to France her oldest daughter had got married. After her marriage Irene (Curie’s daughter) won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, making them the first mother and daughter to win the same Nobel Prize (McHugh, Brendan. “Marie Curie: 7 Facts on the Groundbreaking Scientist”) On July 4, 1934, in Sancellemoz, France Curie died, of Aplastic Anemia from exposure to radiation. After her death, her daughter Irene, in honor or her mother, continued to work with radium. (Waxman, Laura Hamilton. Marie Curie) Walt Disney once said, “We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing things because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” Marie Curie walked down many new paths in life, each path was another accomplishment. The Polish scientist changed science with her discoveries and will be forever remembered.