A new mural dedicated to Maria Skłodowska-Curie has appeared on the façade of a block of flats on Legnicka Street in Wrocław. The impressive work commemorates the achievements of the researcher, who went down in the history of science as the discoverer of two elements and the only person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in two different fields.
Maria Skłodowska-Curie mural – the life of a scientist
Maria Skłodowska-Curie was born on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw. She grew up and received her early education in the Polish territories under Russian rule, after which she left for France. There, she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, where she later conducted intensive scientific research. Her interests focused on the phenomenon of radioactivity, which was little known at the time. Her work pioneered a completely new area of research in physics and chemistry, and the name Skłodowska-Curie quickly gained international recognition.
Polonium, radium and groundbreaking discoveries
During her doctoral research on uranium radiation, Maria Skłodowska-Curie identified a new chemical element in 1898, which she named polonium. Collaboration with her husband Pierre Curie led to further conclusions, including confirmation that radioactivity can be measured and that it is related to the structure of the atom. A few months after the discovery of polonium, the scientist announced the existence of a second element, radium. In the following years, she managed to chemically isolate both elements, which was a huge achievement considering the makeshift working conditions and the scale of technical difficulties.
Mural of Maria Skłodowska-Curie in Wrocław
For the discovery of polonium and radium and the isolation of pure radium, Maria Skłodowska-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. It was her second award of this rank, after the Nobel Prize in Physics awarded in 1903 jointly with Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel. The scientist died on 4 July 1934 in France, and her ashes rest in the Panthéon in Paris. The mural in Wrocław, made with fluorescent paints, depicts Skłodowska-Curie with illuminated laboratory vessels and a vial in her hand, as well as symbols of polonium and radium. The mural, created by Good Looking Studio, is part of Orlen’s campaign conducted in cooperation with the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum in Warsaw. Similar paintings have also appeared in other Polish cities.
Source: Wrocław City Hall
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