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Signature of Marie Curie

Marie Curie

Marie Curie's personal signature, written in the Polish form 'Skłodowska Curie'.

Her own signature, showing the Polish identity she maintained throughout her life.

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Handwritten cursive signature in dark ink reading 'Marie Curie' with a flowing, looping line, written across a plain light background.
Signature of Marie Curie-Skłodowska. Family archive.

About this source

What it is

This is a signature of Marie Curie, written using the Polish spelling of her maiden name, Skłodowska, combined with her married name Curie. It comes from a family archive.

Why it matters

Curie was born in Poland but spent most of her scientific career in France. Using her Polish name alongside her French married name shows that she kept her Polish identity even while working abroad.

Look closer

  • Why might someone choose to sign with both their birth name and married name?
  • What does this small detail suggest about identity and nationality in her life?
  • What can a signature tell you about a person that a photograph cannot?

This document 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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