Marie Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland. Her mom and dad were teachers. At age 15, she finished high school. She had the top honors.

Her first name was Maria. She moved to Paris. She went to study at a big school there. At the Sorbonne, she used the name Marie.

In 1894, she met Pierre Curie. They were married in 1895. They worked as a team. They were scientists.

Marie and Pierre found two new elements. They were polonium and radium. Marie named polonium for Poland. She was born there.

Radium comes from a Latin word. It means ray. It gives off light and heat. The Curies did much of the work in a shed.

Marie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. In 1911, she won a second one. It was in chemistry. It was for her work on radium and polonium.

No one had won two Nobel Prizes before. Marie was the first.

Words to know

• Sorbonne: a Paris university
• elements: basic materials
• radium: a glowing element
• Nobel: a famous prize