Madame Curie, the youngest of the five children, was born in Wersaw, Poland in 1867. Marie Curie's maiden name was Manya. Her parents were teachers, and she learned the importance of education at a very early age. No higher education was offered to women in Poland at that time, so Manya took a job as a tutor. She sent part of her income to Paris to help pay for her elder sister's medical studies. Her sister qualified as a doctor and married a fellow doctor in 1891. Manya went to joined them in Paris, changing her name to Marie.
She entered the Sorbonne（now the University of Paris）and studied physics and mathematics, graduating at the top of her class. For the research she wanted to do, she was introduced to another young scientist, Pierre Curie. Later, they fell in love with each other.
After she was rewarded the Nobel Prize, fame troubled Marie Curie and also her husband, because science was their world and in this world of science, fame and honor to persons had no value. One day when a writer for a newspaper tried to ask Marie about herself, her thoughts and her beliefs, she answered him, "In science we must be interested in things, not in persons." Much of the real character and spirit of this unusual woman was found in these few words, which she was later often to repeat. One evening, at a big party, a friend asked if she would like to meet the King of Greece, who was also a guest. She answered in her simple manner, "I don't see the value of it." Then, seeing that she hurt the feeling of her friend, she quickly added, "But…but…of course, I shall do whatever you please. Just as you please."
