1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain Stuff. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum here. When Marie Kerrey and her husband Pierre 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: won the Nobel Prize for Physics in nineteen o three, 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,159 Speaker 1: their older daughter Iranne was just six years old and 5 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:20,959 Speaker 1: their younger daughter ev was yet unborn. Little could they 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: have imagined that their extended family would go on to 7 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: hold more Nobel Prizes than any other. It all started 8 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: with the romance and collaboration between Marie and Pierre. They 9 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: met in eighteen ninety four when she, at twenty seven 10 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: years old, took a job in Pierre's lab. He was 11 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: then a thirty five year old physicists studying crystals and magnetism, 12 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: and they quickly fell in love. The next year they 13 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: were married. Though Pierre was several years her senior, it 14 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: was Marie who steered their work into radiation. For her 15 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: doctoral thesis, she began building on the work of Henri 16 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: Bakrel and German physicist Wilhelm Runtgun, who had recently discovered 17 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: X rays. Marie eventually hypothesized that the mysterious penetrating rays 18 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: were a property of a given elements atoms. Pierre shelved 19 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: his work with crystals. To help Marie further her discoveries, 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: they set out to measure the strength of the rays 21 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: by adapting an instrument Pierre developed studying an or containing uranium. 22 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: Marie noted that it emitted much more radiation than one 23 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: would expect from the element alone. While investigating the source 24 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: of the rays, they discovered two new radioactive elements, radium 25 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: and polonium, which Marine named for Poland, the country of 26 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: her birth. Polonium was four hundred times more radioactive than uranium. 27 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: The pair were deeply devoted to their work and to 28 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: one another, yet just three years after they won their 29 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: Nobel Prize, their collaboration ended tragically when Pierre was run 30 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: over by a horse drawn cart. Marie was devastated, but 31 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: we spoke via email with Shelley Emling, author of Marie 32 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: Curie and Her Daughters, The Private Lives of Cy his 33 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: first family. She said, from all accounts, Marie loved her 34 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: husband deeply and was overwhelmed with grief, so much so 35 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: that she refused to talk about Pierre. However, she eventually 36 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: published a biography of Pierre in ninety three. In it, 37 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: Murray wrote, it is impossible for me to express the 38 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: profoundness and importance of the crisis brought into my life 39 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: by the loss of the one who had been my 40 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: closest companion and best friend. Crushed by the blow, I 41 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: did not feel able to face the future. I could 42 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: not forget, however, what my husband used to sometimes say, that, 43 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: even deprived of him, I ought to continue my work. 44 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: And continue she did, even though her very presence in 45 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: the field was somewhat controversial. Marie was the first woman 46 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: to receive a PhD in France, the first female professor 47 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: at the Saban, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, 48 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: the first person to win more than one Nobel Prize 49 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: and to this day the only woman to win more 50 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: than once, and the first person to win a Nobel 51 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: in more than one scientific field. And not everyone of 52 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: the time thought Marie deserved to share the scientific stage 53 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: with her male colleagues, so in nineteen o three, the 54 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Marie and her 55 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: husband for their study of radiation, as well as to 56 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: Beckrell for his observation of spontaneous radiation in uranium. But 57 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: originally the members of the French Academy of Sciences nominated 58 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,639 Speaker 1: only Pierre and Beckrell for the prize. Marie was included 59 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: only after Pierre worked to persuade some of the Nobel 60 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: committee that his wife deserved to share the honor to 61 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: and at the awards ceremony, the president of the Swedish 62 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: Academy downplayed her contributions, quoting the Bible in his speech, 63 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: it is not good that man should be alone. I 64 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: will make a help meet for him. Eight years later, 65 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen eleven, Marie was the sole recipient of the 66 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: Nobel Prize in Chemistry in recognition of her discovery of 67 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: radium and polonium and her subsequent research into nature of 68 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: those elements. In that time, there was pushback from people 69 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: who believed she was receiving the prize for essentially the 70 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,840 Speaker 1: same work and thus that she didn't deserve it. But 71 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: whatever anyone thought about it, those Nobel prizes made the 72 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: reserved Marie a celebrity. But we also spoke with Naomi Passakoff, 73 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: author of Marie Curry and the Science of Radioactivity. She 74 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: said she was a renowned scientist at a time when 75 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: there were virtually no women in the field. She was 76 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: a heroine. She was an oddity in some ways. She 77 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: was famous for being famous. In Marie and her two 78 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: daughters set off across the Atlantic Ocean on their first 79 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: journey to America, where Marie was mobbed by fans and 80 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: given a queen's welcome. In New York, Marie was hosted 81 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: at the Waldorf Astoria Carnegie Hall in the American Museum 82 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: of Natural History, which hosted an exhibit dedicated to her 83 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: discovery of radium. Universities conferred honorary degrees on her, and 84 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 1: President Warren G. Harding held an event in her honor 85 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: at White House. Em Ling said, until that time, her 86 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 1: daughters had no idea that their mother was famous. Marie 87 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 1: was nothing if not humble, But everywhere they went in 88 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: America they were greeted by throngs of reporters and flashing cameras. 89 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: People wanted Marie's autograph. The girls were stunned, as was Marie. 90 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: Speaking of her family, Marie was determined not to give 91 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: up her scientific work after the birth of her daughters, 92 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: em Ling said, But although she was relentless in her 93 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: scientific pursuits, she was also devoted to her daughters. It's 94 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: true that she wasn't able to spend an inordinate amount 95 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,040 Speaker 1: of time with her children, which meant Marie's father in 96 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: law and others often cared for them, but she did 97 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: lead by example. Em Ling added that she was especially 98 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: involved in their upbringing. After Pierre's death, Marie enrolled her 99 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: girls in a cooperative school in which the parents took 100 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: turns teaching the children lessons in their areas of expertise. 101 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:00,160 Speaker 1: Marie taught physical sciences. As the years went on, Wren 102 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: took her father's place as Marie's colleague. During World War One, 103 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 1: when Iren was a teenager, she assisted her mother in 104 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: bringing X rays to the battlefront to treat wounded soldiers. 105 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: Iran worked alongside her mother running mobile X ray units 106 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: in field hospitals and specially outfitted vehicles, which the soldiers 107 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: dubbed petit curies. Passakoff said Marie felt so confident in 108 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,280 Speaker 1: her daughter's knowledge and abilities that she had Irene give 109 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: courses in radiation to soldiers and nurses. This was even 110 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:33,359 Speaker 1: before Wren had earned her university degree. Later, Iran became 111 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: her mother's assistant at the Radium Institute while completing her studies. 112 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: It's there that a Wren met engineer Frederic Jolo, a 113 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: trainee in Marie's lab, whom she married in nine In 114 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,840 Speaker 1: ninety four, the couple made an important discovery when they 115 00:06:47,839 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: figured out a way to artificially create radioactive adams in 116 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: the lab. It earned them a shared Nobel in Chemistry 117 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: the following year, making Irene and her parents the only 118 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: mother daughter and father daughter pairs ever to receive the prize. 119 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: Though like her mother, Iran eventually died of prolonged exposure 120 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: to radiation. But what about Marie's other daughter Ev. Rather 121 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,320 Speaker 1: than follow her parents into the sciences, Ev found success 122 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: as a writer. Perhaps her best known work was Madame Curie, 123 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: a biography of her mother that she wrote after Marie 124 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: died in nineteen thirty four. The book became a huge 125 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: bestseller and earned EV literary acclaim. Emling said. During World 126 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: War Two, Ev became a foreign correspondent, traveling tens of 127 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: thousands of miles to wartime fronts that included Iran, Iraq, India, China, Burma, 128 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: and North Africa. Ev went on to publish a second 129 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: best selling book about her experiences, this one called Journey 130 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: among Warriors. Emling said. When V arrived for a book 131 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: tour in the United States, where her smiling face graced 132 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: the cover of Time magazine In February of nineteen forty, 133 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: she was greeted as a celebrity. She gave lectures and 134 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:06,119 Speaker 1: had dinner with Eleanor Roosevelt. After the war, Ev turned 135 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: to humanitarian work. In nineteen fifty two, she was appointed 136 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: Special Adviser to the first Secretary General of NATO. In 137 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, she married an American diplomat, Henry Richardson Labouise, 138 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: who later became the executive director of UNISEEF. EV would 139 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: also travel extensively for UNI SEF, and in nineteen sixty five, 140 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: when UNISF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, it was 141 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: Labuis who accepted the honor on the organization's behalf, making 142 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: him the fifth person in the Curis extended family to 143 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: receive the prize. Ev would die in two thousand seven 144 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 1: at the age of a d two, and the distinguished 145 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: scientific tradition of the Curie family still lives on. Ellen Lazenzolio, 146 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 1: the daughter of Irene and Frederic, is a well respected 147 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: nuclear physicist in France, and Ellen's husband, Michel Lazene is 148 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: also a nuclear physicist, and their son is an astro physicist. 149 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,800 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Jennifery Marquees and produced by 150 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. I've been meaning to do this episode for 151 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:10,439 Speaker 1: a while, but wanted to air it today because Radium 152 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: is the subject of the first episode of a new 153 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: podcast that I'm narrating. It's called American Shadows and premieres today. 154 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: It's produced by Aaron Minki and his team at Grimm 155 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 1: and Mild along with I Heart Radio, and it's an 156 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: exploration of the dark, true stories from America's past. It 157 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,880 Speaker 1: gets into some disturbing territory, but if you like lore 158 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: or unobscured, I hope you'll give it a try. That's 159 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: American Shadows, available wherever fine podcasts are found. Brain Stuff 160 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts 161 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,959 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 162 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.