Curie Family: Richest Family in terms of Nobel Medals

 

In this series of Nobel Prize discussions we are adding a new article today. Here we are going to discuss a rich family not in terms of wealth and land but in terms of knowledge, achievement and their contribution to the society. Let’s start the discussion.

                             The family about whom we are talking is none other than the Curie family. This prestigious family has 5 Nobel laureates. They had succeeded in Nobel physics, Nobel Chemistry, even the Nobel peace Prize also. Here are the names of the member of the family two times Nobel laureate and renowned scientist Marie Curie, her husband French physicist Pierre Curie, their elder daughter and son in law Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie, younger daughter and son in law Ève Curie and Henry Richardson Labouisse Jr.. Let’s discuss them one by one.

             Coming to the most famous and relatively major member of the Curie family Marie Curie, her real name is Marie Salomea Skłodowska–Curie she preserved her parenthood name after her marriage also. She was a two time Nobel Prize winner. She was the first woman to win the Nobel, first scientist who won Nobel in two different branches, first laureate to win Nobel twice. In her first Nobel she shared the Nobel with her husband Pierre Curie and physicist Henri Becquerel for the research on Radioactivity, term radioactivity also coined by Madam Curie. They are the first couple who jointly won the Nobel Prize. After the death of Pierre Curie, Marie carried their research work single handedly; she won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the discovery of two elements Polonium and Radium. Her research eventually leads her into becoming a diseased person. Maximum exposure to radioactive substances caused aplastic anaemia eventually leading to death. Pierre Curie was a magnificent physicist that he spread his researches in crystallography, magnetism, piezoelectricity, and radioactivity. He was the inventor of piezoelectric quartz electrometers. He is popularly known for Radioactivity, Curie’s law, Curie's principle, Curie constant, Curie temperature and Curie-Weiss law. Both the Curies experienced radium burns, both accidentally and voluntarily and were exposed to extensive doses of radiation while conducting their research.

                       Next couple is Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie; they hyphenated their surnames after their marriage. Irène was a chemist, physicist and politician. Marie Curie developed a mobile radio active emitter for the immediate X-ray of war injuries, Irene assisted her mother as a nurse in the war field, and here she gathered much scientific and medical knowledge. Frederic was appointed as the assistant of Marie Curie in Radium Institute. He fell in love with her daughter and they married in 1926. They both believe in anti war and peace ideologies. Irene delivered many speeches for world peace and she was also a front line feminist who fought for the involvement of women in scientific research institutes. They won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of Induced radioactivity. They were the second couple to win a Nobel jointly like their parents. They also chose the same fortune and death like their parents. Irene’s death happened due to leukaemia which was due to accidental exposure to radioactive polonium. Frederic’s death was due to liver problems and the reasons were over exposure to radioactive substances. Five Nobel medals from one family made them the record holder of a rare record. That record is still alive.

                      This Does not end the Curie family’s magnificent legacy but here changes their categories. After the interesting scientific ride in the article, here started the story of Curie family’s literature and administration journey. The next couple is their youngest daughter and son in law. Ève Denise Curie Labouisse, younger daughter of the Curie couple did not know her father, who passed away in a street accident. After his death Marie was forced for the upbringing of their children herself. In later life Eve confessed that she lacked sufficient attention from her mother which led to their strong bond between them in her teens. She was more attracted to literature than science and maths. She was an author, journalist and war reporter. She was famous for his book Madam Curie and Journey among warriors. Her husband Henry Richardson Labouisse Jr. completes the legacy of five winners from one family. He was the executive director of UNICEF when UNICEF won the Nobel peace Prize. He was also the representative of UNICEF to collect the medal. Eve also worked for UNICEF and she was often called “the first lady of UNICEF”. Stay tuned with hungry researcher for more such information.

                                                                                                    Hungry and Foolish