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Marie Sklodowski Curie, 1867-1934

© Mary Lou Derksen

Marie Curie was born in Warsaw which the Tzar of Russia had ruled for over 70 years. Reacting to several uprisings during that time, the Tzar did all he could to eradicate the Polish culture and language. One way was through the public schools, where most Polish teachers were replaced by Russians. Those Poles who remained in the teaching profession, at the expense of not being able to teach as they chose, often stayed simply to prevent their spot from being filled by a Russian and to have some hope of influencing the children. Wladyslaw Sklodowski, Marie's father, was one of these.

Her mother, Bronislawa, was also a teacher and headmistress of an excellent academy for girls in Warsaw and this position provided the family's living quarters in the school. When Marie, the fifth of the Sklodowski children, was a year old, her father was hired as the assistant director of a public school. The family had to move, and Bronislawa had to give up her job. To help make ends meet, she learned shoe-making so that she could cobble all of the children's shoes.

The two parents had a passion for learning and teaching; family games and excursions were always educational. Wladyslaw read to the children from great literature every Saturday evening. When he read "David Copperfield" to them, he translated from English to Polish as he read.

Bronislawa had always been a loving mother, but suddenly she stopped hugging her children; instead stroking their hair and foreheads and patting them on the shoulders. Unbeknownst to the children, she had discovered she had tuberculosis and didn't want to give it to her children, even though it was not yet known to be a contagious disease.

The parents taught the children at home for as long as they could, then sent them to private schools. Because only the government schools could confer a diploma, however, it was inevitable that the children would have to attend these sooner or later.

Bronislawa began teaching Bronya, the middle of the five children, to read when she was six. Bronya tried to make this more fun and at playtime engaged four-year-old Marie in making letters of the alphabet with her. One day Bronya was reading her lesson to her mother, stumbling over many of the words. Impatient, little Marie took the book and read it herself. Everything became silent and, flattered, Marie continued to read. Suddenly she panicked and looked up. Bronya's wary eyes stared at her, and her parents were stupefied. Marie burst into tears. "Pardon!" she wailed. "I didn't do it on purpose! ...It's only that it was so easy!"

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