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Primary sourcePhotographc. 1900

Portrait of Marie Curie

c. 1900

A studio photograph of Marie Curie taken around 1900, during her early research years at ESPCI.

A contemporary photographic portrait of Curie from the years of her pitchblende research.

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Black-and-white studio portrait of a woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing a dark textured top with a patterned neckline, facing the camera with a serious expression.
Portrait of Marie Skłodowska-Curie, c. 1900.

About this source

What it is

This is a black-and-white studio photograph of Marie Curie taken around 1900, while she was carrying out her pitchblende research in a shed at ESPCI in Paris.

Why it matters

The photograph shows Curie before her fame, during the demanding early stage of the research that would lead to the discovery of radium and polonium.

Look closer

  • What does her expression and posture suggest about how she wanted to be seen?
  • Why might a studio portrait look different from a photo taken in her laboratory?
  • What does this image not show about the conditions she actually worked in?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Marie Curie on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Cover of the January 1904 issue of the magazine Le Radium, showing a printed masthead and a photograph captioned Le Laboratoire de la Rue Lhomond. The photo shows two men and a seated woman among laboratory equipment and glassware, with the caption M. & Mme Curie below.Photograph

Primary source

Photograph of Pierre and Marie Curie in their Laboratory, rue Lhomond

c. 1898-1904

Title page of the 1904 second edition of Recherches sur les substances radioactives by Madame Sklodowska Curie, a thesis presented at the Faculté des Sciences de Paris. Published in Paris by Gauthier-Villars. Handwritten number 5 and a note appear in the top right corner.Book

Primary source

Recherches sur les substances radioactives

Marie Curie · 1904

Document

Primary source

Rayons émis par les composés de l'uranium et du thorium

Marie Curie · 12 April 1898

A museum display case showing a wooden mahogany box with its lid open and a round metal radium container inside, beside a separate lidded metal canister with a brass knob, a key on a chain, and a small cluster of tubes on the glass base.Artifact

Primary source

International Radium Standard

Marie Curie · 1911

Black-and-white photograph of a clear glass vessel with a flared conical bowl, a pouring spout on the left rim, and a short stem on a flat circular foot, set against a plain light background.Artifact

Primary source

Glass beaker used for the first radium salt solution

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