Historical Figure
Irene Joliot-Curie
b. 1897
French chemist and physicist (1897–1956)
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Biography
Irène Joliot-Curie was a French chemist and physicist who received the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with her husband, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, for their discovery of induced radioactivity. They were the second married couple, after her parents, to win the Nobel Prize, adding to the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. This made the Curies the family with the most Nobel laureates to date.
Timeline
The story of Irene Joliot-Curie, told in moments.
Operated mobile X-ray units near the front lines during WWI. She was 17. Her mother had designed the vehicles. Irene ran them under artillery fire.
Married Frederic Joliot. They both took the hyphenated name Joliot-Curie. Her mother disapproved of the match. The couple went on to share a Nobel Prize.
Won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Frederic for discovering artificial radioactivity. She and her mother remain the only parent-child pair to both win Nobel Prizes.
Died of leukemia at 58. Caused by decades of radiation exposure. The same radiation that killed her mother. She spent her life studying the thing that was killing her.
Artifacts (7)
We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the mea...
lity". She was the first Black woman of any nationality to win the prize. In her acceptance speech, Morrison said: "We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure...
For all those who asked the question 'Toni Morrison again?'... I say with certai...
eceived from her Nobel Prize win in 1993. The novelist also appeared three times on Winfrey's show. Winfrey said, "For all those who asked the question 'Toni Morrison again?'... I say with certainty...
He never told us that he'd seen bodies. But he had seen them. And that was too t...
up of white people lynched two African-American businessmen who lived on his street. Morrison later said: "He never told us that he'd seen bodies. But he had seen them. And that was too traumatic, I...
among the greatest commencement addresses of all time and a courageous counterpo...
2004, Morrison was invited by Wellesley College to deliver the commencement address, which has been described as "among the greatest commencement addresses of all time and a courageous counterpoint to...
Despite the international stature of Toni Morrison, she has yet to receive the n...
ircle Award. Forty-eight Black critics and writers, among them Maya Angelou, protested the omission in a statement that The New York Times published on January 24, 1988. "Despite the international...
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