目录 Contents

1. 扉页

2. 插图

3. 序一 悼念玛丽·居里

4. 序二 我的信念

5. 第一章 我的家庭

6. 第二章 婚后生活

7. 第三章 战争岁月

8. 第四章 美国之行

9. 英文原版 The Autobiography of Marie Curie

1. Chapter Ⅰ My Family

2. Chapter Ⅱ Married Life

3. Chapter Ⅲ At War

4. Chapter Ⅳ A Visit to America

10. 附录一 居里夫人书信选

11. 附录二 居里夫人生平大事年表

居里夫人自传

The Autobiography of Marie Curie

[法]玛丽·居里 著

孙伊 译

天津人民出版社

图书在版编目（CIP）数据

居里夫人自传／（法）玛丽·居里著 ; 孙伊译. -- 天津 : 天津人民出版社, 2018.1

ISBN 978-7-201-12826-9

Ⅰ. ①居… Ⅱ. ①玛… ②孙… Ⅲ. ①居里夫人（Curie, Marie 1867-1934）－自传 Ⅳ. ①K835.656.13

中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2017）第325407号

居里夫人自传

JULI FUREN ZIZHUAN

出版 天津人民出版社

出版人 黄沛

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装帧设计 钟蓉

制版印刷 北京盛通印刷股份有限公司

经销 新华书店

发行 果麦文化传媒股份有限公司

开本 880×1230毫米 1/32

印张 5.5

印数 1-8, 000

字数 145千字

版次印次 2018年1月第1版印刷 2018年1月第1次印刷

定价 26.00元

版权所有 侵权必究

居里夫人

居里夫人（左一）和父亲、姐妹

居里夫妇

居里夫人和女儿们

专心致志做实验

与爱因斯坦等人一同参加

布鲁塞尔第五届索尔维物理学会议

两次获得的诺贝尔奖证书

居里夫人的书信笔迹

序一

悼念玛丽·居里

居里夫人去世一年之际，在纽约罗里奇博物馆举行的纪念居里夫人的典礼上，爱因斯坦发表演说，高度颂扬了他的同行和朋友居里夫人。

在居里夫人这样的杰出人物走到生命终点时，我们不应只满足于回忆她的研究对人类做出了多么巨大的贡献。相比于纯粹智力方面的成就，伟大人物的道德品质对于其时代及历史进程的意义更大。即使论智力成就，其对于品格的依赖也远超过世人的想象。

二十余年来，我有幸与居里夫人保持着一种高尚而纯洁的友谊。相识越久，我对她的崇高品格钦佩越深。她的坚强，她的毫无杂念，她的严于律己，她的客观精神，以及她刚正不阿的决断——这一切美德很少会集中在一个人身上。她时刻把自己视为社会公仆，永远虚怀若谷，毫不骄傲自满。长久以来，她一直受到社会粗暴不公的对待，心情压抑，因此外表看上去总显得很严肃，很容易被不亲近的人误解——她性格中偏向艺术的一面也无法减轻这种罕见的严肃气质。一旦她认定了一条道路是正确的，她就会不屈不挠地追寻下去。

居里夫人一生最伟大的科学成就是证明了几种放射性物质的存在并分离出了它们，这一成就的取得，靠的不仅是大胆的直觉，更是一种在极端艰苦的条件下献身研究、坚忍不拔的精神，这种情况在实验科学的历史上并不多见。

如果居里夫人的品德力量和奉献精神能有一小部分存留于欧洲知识分子的身上，欧洲的未来就会更加光明。

爱因斯坦

序二

我的信念

每个人的生活似乎都很不容易，但我们必须有一种不屈不挠的精神，最重要的是必须有自信。要相信我们都有某种天赋的才能，无论付出什么代价，都必须实现它。这样当一切结束时，我们就能问心无愧地说：“我已经尽了自己最大的努力。”

有一年的春天，我卧病在家休息几周。看到女儿养的蚕结茧的过程，我很有兴趣。看着这些蚕辛勤忙碌的样子，我觉得自己和它们很相似。像它们一样，我总是朝着一个目标努力。这样做或许是因为有某种力量在推动着我——就像是蚕被鞭策着吐丝结茧一样。

在过去的五十年里，我投身科学研究，努力追寻着真理的身影。我有许多愉快的回忆：学生时代，我在巴黎大学独自苦读，之后的一段日子里，我和丈夫心无旁骛地在书房潜心从事研究，那段日子就像梦一般美好，再后来，我们在那儿发现了镭。

我追求的一直是一种安定简单的家庭生活。为了实现这个理想，我们努力营造了一个不受世人和名利侵扰的宁静的生活环境。

我相信，在科学中我们追求的是做一番事业，而不是获得财富。皮埃尔和我不想通过我们的发现获取经济利益，认为那样做有违纯粹研究的精神，所以我们没有申请制镭的专利，也就等于放弃了相当可观的财富。我坚信我们的决定是正确的。人类固然需要有讲求实际的人，这些人可以通过自己的工作获益最大。但是人类也需要有梦想家，他们毫无私心地追求一项事业，无暇关注自己的物质利益。我唯一的奢望是以一个自由学者的身份，在一个自由的国家中从事研究工作。我知道这种权益不是理所当然的，因为在二十四岁之前，我一直在被占领和蹂躏的波兰生活，我估量过法国自由的代价。

我并非生来就是个性情温和的人。我很早就知道，许多人像我一样敏感，即使受一言半语的呵责，也会过分懊恼，因而我尽量克制自己的敏感。从我丈夫的温和沉静的性格中，我受益匪浅。当他猝然离世后，我便学会了逆来顺受。如今我年岁渐长，相比以前，更懂欣赏生活中的种种琐事，如栽花、种树、建筑，对诗歌朗诵和眺望星辰也有了一点兴趣。

我一直沉醉于世界的优美之中，所热爱的科学也不断展示它崭新的远景。我认定科学本身就有一种伟大的美。从事研究工作的科学家，不仅是技术人员，也是小孩儿，科学如同大自然的景色，技术人员沉醉其中，就好比孩子沉醉于神话故事。这种科学的魅力，就是使我终生埋首于实验室的主要原因。

玛丽·居里

第一章

我的家庭

我的美国朋友们一直希望我写下自己的人生经历。一开始我有些抵触，后来却被说服了。但是我无法把这篇传记写成纯粹个人感情的表达，也不愿不厌其烦地记述记忆所及的每件事情。随着岁月流逝，人们的很多情感会发生改变，渐渐淡化乃至完全陌生。往事失去了当时的况味，有时竟像发生在别人身上。但是人生中总有一些主导的思想和强烈的感受，它们使人生有了总的方向和延续的线索，借助它们，我们可以理解一个人的人生轨迹，看出他的性格特点。在这篇传记中，我将勾勒自己坎坷一生的大致过程和基本面貌，相信我的故事会使读者诸君更好地理解我在生活和工作中的心境。

我祖籍波兰，本名玛丽·斯克洛多夫斯卡，双亲都出身于波兰的小地主家庭。在我的祖国有许多家庭属于这个阶层，他们拥有一块不大的田产，彼此之间常常有着千丝万缕的联系。直至现在，波兰的知识分子还主要来自这个群体。

我祖父在务农的同时还管理着一所省里的中学。我父亲则一心向学，从彼得格勒大学毕业后来到华沙，进入一所中学担任物理和数学教师。他娶了一个与他志趣相投的女子——她很年轻，但已接受了当时看来非常良好的教育，在华沙最好的一所女子中学担任校长。

我父母对事业非常兢兢业业，他们的学生遍布波兰各地，而且都对他们长存感念之心。直到现在，我回到波兰时还是总会遇见他们过去的学生，听他们说起关于我父母的温馨往事。

我父母尽管在学校当老师，却一直和乡下大家庭的亲戚们保持着往来。我在假期总会去亲戚家小住，不仅过得逍遥自在，也见识了乡野生活并为之深深着迷。这种经历与普通的度假完全不一样，我对乡村和自然终生不渝的热爱大概正源自于此。

我于1867年11月7日生于华沙，是五个孩子里最小的。长姐在十四岁时不幸早夭，只剩下了我们姊妹三人和一个哥哥。母亲遭逢丧女之痛，又被恶疾折磨，身体渐渐衰弱，年仅四十二岁便撒手人寰，丢下悲痛欲绝的丈夫和几个孩子。我那时只有九岁，大哥也只有十三岁。

人生中第一次经历巨大的变故和痛苦，我陷入了深深的消沉中。我母亲是一位品性不凡之人。她知书达理、胸怀宽广，很有责任感。尽管她性情非常宽容温厚，但在家中很有威信。她对宗教非常虔诚（我父母都是天主教徒），却永远怀着包容之心，不会在意宗教信仰方面的分歧，对于那些和自己意见相左的人也总是和颜悦色。她对我的影响很大，我对她既有小女儿对母亲的天生爱恋，更有一种热烈的崇拜之情。

母亲的去世使父亲悲恸欲绝，从此，他把全部精力投入到工作和对我们的教育中。父亲公务繁忙，很少有空闲时间。母亲去世后，全家在很多年里都感到这个家失去了灵魂人物。

我们几个孩子上学都很早。我六岁就上学了，在班里年龄最小、个子最矮，有人来校参观的时候，我总是被叫到教室前面背课文。这对性格羞怯的我真是一种巨大的折磨，我每次都想逃到什么地方躲起来。作为一位优秀的教育工作者，父亲关心我们的学业，也懂得如何指导我们，但是因为经济条件困难，一开始我们上的是私立学校，后来就转入公立学校了。

华沙当时处于俄国统治之下，俄国人统治最残酷的一面就是对学校和学生的压迫。波兰人办的私立学校受到警方的严密监视，而且被要求用俄语教学，孩子们从很小就开始学习俄语，竟连自己的母语都不太会说了。幸而这些学校的教师基本是波兰人，他们会想尽办法减少这种民族压迫带来的危害。但是私立学校不被准许授予文凭，想要文凭，就只能上公立学校。

公立学校基本都是俄国人控制的，他们对波兰人的民族精神施以直接镇压。所有教学都用俄语进行。教师都是俄国人，他们仇视波兰人，视学生为敌人。品德高尚、知识渊博的教师不愿忍受这种排挤的态度，一般不会到这些学校教书，因此学生们是否学到了有价值的东西颇值得怀疑，而且这些学校的道德风气让人完全无法忍受。学生们一直处于怀疑和监视之下，都知道若用波兰语交谈一句，或不留神说了错话，就会给自己和家人造成严重伤害。一方面，生活在这种充满敌意的氛围中，他们失去了生活的全部乐趣，小小年纪就被不信任和愤怒压得喘不过气。然而另一方面，这种不正常的环境也激发了波兰青年极大的爱国热情。

失去亲人又被异族压迫，我的童年过得郁郁寡欢、黯淡无光。不过也有一些愉快的回忆。在平静而忙碌的日子中，亲友不时欢聚一堂，使生活有了一抹亮色。父亲对文学很有兴趣，不仅熟读波兰和外国诗歌，有时还自己写诗，而且擅长把外国诗歌译成波兰语。他的那些关于家庭轶事的小诗总是让我们兴致盎然。星期六晚上，他会给我们朗读波兰的优秀散文和诗歌。这些夜晚给我们带来了莫大的快乐，同时不断激发着我们的爱国热情。

我自幼喜爱诗歌，能够大段背诵波兰的许多杰出诗篇，最喜欢的诗人是密茨凯维奇、克拉辛斯基和斯沃瓦茨基。后来我接触到更多外国作品，对文学的兴趣更浓了。我从小学习法语、德语和俄语，很快熟读了这些语言写成的优秀作品。后来我又感到了学习英语的必要性，于是下了番功夫，掌握了这门语言并读了一些英语文学作品。

我非常缺乏音乐方面的学习。母亲雅擅乐器，嗓音优美，因此希望我们也接受一些音乐训练。自从她去世后，没有了来自她的鼓励，我很快放弃了音乐学习，日后每念及此，总不免感到后悔。

我对数学和物理领悟很快，学校里教的内容很快就学完了。在这方面，我可以很容易地从父亲那里得到帮助。父亲热爱科学，在学校也教这两门课。他很喜欢向我们解释大自然及其规律。遗憾的是，他没有自己的实验室，不能进行科学实验。

每逢假期，我们就逃离被警察严密监视的城市，躲到乡下亲戚的家里，在旧式家族领地上过着自由自在的生活，无论在树林里赛跑，还是在一望无际的平坦的麦田里愉快劳作，都让人感到格外惬意。有时我们会越过俄属波兰的边境向南进入加利西亚山区，那里虽处奥地利的政治控制之下，受压迫的程度却比我们轻得多，我们可以尽情用波兰语交谈，高唱爱国歌曲，而不必担心招致牢狱之灾。

因为一直在平原上长大，第一次见到大山时我感到非常震撼。我很享受我们在喀尔巴阡山脉村子里的生活。层峦叠嶂，风景秀丽，我们去山谷里远足，在高山上的湖边徜徉，这些湖泊的名字都很有诗意，比如“海之眼”。不过最让我眷恋的还是一望无际的地平线和微微起伏的平原，我对这种舒缓的景色十分倾心。

后来我有机会随父亲去了更南边的波多利亚省度假，在敖德萨第一次见到了大海，后来又去了波罗的海。这次经历很令人激动，但是后来到了法国，我才真正领略了澎湃的海浪和瞬息万变的潮汐。我这一生中，每次看到大自然的新奇景色时，总会像个孩子似的雀跃不已。

学生生涯结束了。我们兄弟姐妹都很有天分，适合从事脑力劳动。我哥哥从医学院毕业后，在华沙的一所大医院当医生，后来当上了主任医师。我和两个姐姐本打算继承父母的事业当教师，但长大后大姐改变了心意，决定学医。她进入巴黎大学学医，毕业后嫁给了一位波兰医生德鲁斯基，两人一起在奥属波兰喀尔巴阡山脉一个风景优美的地方开了一家疗养院。我二姐在华沙嫁给了绍洛伊先生，她在中学任教多年，对教育事业做出了很大贡献。波兰独立后，她被任命为一所中学的校长。

上中学时，我的成绩在全班一直名列前茅，十五岁就高中毕业了。成长发育和勤学苦读都让人疲惫，我不得不在乡下休养了近一年时间。之后我返回华沙和父亲同住，本想在华沙人办的学校谋个教职，却因家境艰难改变了主意。父亲年事已高，不堪辛劳，需要休息，但他的积蓄实在微薄。于是我决定接受一份工作，到一户人家当几个孩子的家庭教师。就这样，年仅十七岁的我离家远行，开始独自生活。

这次离家是我的青年时代最鲜明的一段记忆，至今依然历历在目。登上火车时我的心情很沉重。我要坐好几个小时火车，远离心爱的家人，下了火车还要再坐五个小时马车。我坐在车厢里，眺望着开阔的平原，心中感到惴惴不安：等待着我的生活是什么样的呢？

我去教书的这户人家的男主人是个农艺师。他的大女儿与我年龄相仿，我们的关系更像是朋友而不是师生。家里还有两个年纪较小的孩子，一男一女。我和学生们相处甚洽，每天上完课还会一起散步。因为热爱乡村生活，我并不觉得孤单，而且此处的风景虽不甚优美，春夏秋冬倒也各有韵致，令人赏心悦目。这家人的地种得很好，农艺在当地首屈一指。我渐渐了解到种植的具体知识和农作物的分布，密切关注各种植物的生长状况。在农场的马厩里，我也渐渐熟悉了马的脾性。

到了冬天，覆盖着白雪的广袤平原十分动人，我们会乘雪橇出远门。有时我们根本看不清路。“小心别掉进沟里！”我对驾雪橇的人大喊。“你正在朝它冲过去！”他回答道，“别怕！”然后雪橇就翻了！但是这些意外只会给我的旅行平添欢乐。

我记得有一年田野里的积雪很深，我们造了一座极好的雪屋，可以坐在里面眺望被阳光染成玫瑰色的皑皑雪原。我们还经常去结冰的河上滑冰，总是怀着不安的心情关注天气，担心天暖化冻，我们的这份乐趣就会被剥夺。

家庭教师的工作不会占去我的全部时间，于是我办了一个小班，教那些在俄国统治下无法上学的农村孩子读书。这户人家的大女儿也参与帮忙。孩子们自愿参加，我们教他们读写，还送给他们一些波兰语书籍，家长们也很喜欢这些书。但是俄国政府禁止一切此类活动，即使我们的行为别无居心，也可能会身陷险境，比如被捕入狱或被流放到西伯利亚。

晚上的时间，我一般用来学习。我听说在彼得格勒和外国有一些女子成功学完了一些课程，于是下决心自学一些预备知识，以便日后效仿她们。

我还没有决定要走哪条路。我对文学、社会学和科学都很感兴趣，不过这几年里，一直在通过自学一点点寻找自己真正的兴趣所在。最终我转向了数学和物理学，一旦下定决心，就开始认真地为将来的学习做准备。我想去巴黎深造，所以希望能攒下点钱，供我在那边生活学习一段时间。

自学的过程困难重重。我在中学接受的科学教育很不完备，与法国中学的课程水平差距很大。我试着用随意选取的一些课本自学以弥补不足。这种方法虽然效率不高，但也有些成效。这段时间，我养成了独立工作的习惯，也学到了一些日后能够派上用场的知识。

后来，大姐决定去巴黎学医，于是我也改变了自己对未来的规划。我们约好互帮互助，但没有足够的钱一起离开，所以我继续做这份家庭教师的工作，直到三年半后教完这几个学生才返回华沙，接着又在那里找了一份类似的工作。

新工作我只做了一年，就回到了父亲身边，他已经退休了一段时间，现在一个人生活。我们一起度过了美好的一年，他写了一些诗文，我靠做家教攒下了一些钱。与此同时，我还在继续努力自学。在俄国政府统治下的华沙自学并非易事，但比在乡下毕竟机会多一些。我生平第一次进入一间实验室做实验，感到莫大的满足。我的一个表哥是这间很小的市属物理实验室的主任。我只有晚上和周日才有时间过去，所以做实验的时候总是独自一人。我试着做了物理和化学课本上的各种实验，经常得到一些意想之外的结果。有时我会因为小小的成功而喜出望外、备受鼓舞，有时又因为缺乏经验导致事故和失败，深深陷入沮丧。这些最初的考验让我明白了前进的路上没有坦途和捷径，但也使我更加确信，自己向往的是在物理和化学领域从事实验研究。

后来我加入了华沙的一个进步青年组成的团体，在其中做一些教学工作。这个团体的成员都热爱学习，而且渴望为社会和国家做出贡献。在华沙还有一些类似的青年团体，他们认为要想救国，就必须为提高国民的知识和道德水平而努力奋斗，波兰的希望正系于此。我们的最近目标是先自学，再把知识传授给工人和农民。按照这个计划，我们商定把上课时间定在晚上，每人教自己最擅长的课程。不必说，这是一个秘密团体，因此每件事都会遇到重重困难。团体里有一些极富有献身精神的年轻人，我至今依然相信他们能做出一番真正有益的事业。

我还清楚记得那种志同道合的氛围，我们在搞运动和学知识的道路上携手共进，虽然行动手段不强，效果有限，但我一直坚信当时指引我们的思想，是通向真正社会进步的唯一道路。没有自我提升，谈何改造社会。为了这个目标，我们每个人都必须谋求自身的最大发展，同时承担起自己在人类共同生活中的责任——我们的职责就是帮助那些我们最能帮到的人。

这个时期经历的种种事情，都使我更加渴望继续深造。父亲很疼爱我，尽管手头并不宽裕，却希望能帮我实现梦想。大姐不久前在巴黎结了婚，决定让我去和她住在一起。父亲和我都希望等我学成归国后，我们能再次一起生活，但是命运将做出不同的安排，我将在法国结婚并留在那里。父亲年轻时曾梦想从事科学工作，虽然不能一起生活，但我在工作中渐渐取得了一些成就，给他带去了些许安慰。父亲对我的无私爱护我永远铭记于心。后来他和哥哥一家住在一起，充满慈爱地抚养几个孙辈。1902年，父亲刚过七十岁就离开了我们，使我们心中哀痛不已。

1891年11月，我二十四岁的时候，终于实现了几年来萦绕心头的梦想。

我到了巴黎，受到姐姐和姐夫的热情欢迎，但我只在他们的家里住了几个月。因为他们住在巴黎郊区，以方便姐夫行医，我却想住到离学校更近的地方。后来我像许多波兰留学生那样租了一间小屋，添置了几件家具，在那里度过了四年学生生涯。

那几年的学习给我带来的益处是说不尽的。远离了外界的干扰，我全身心地沉浸在学习和进步带来的喜悦之中。不过因为我的积蓄很少，家里也没有多大能力资助我，日子一直过得很清苦。这种情况并不少见，我认识的许多波兰学生都有类似的经历。我的房间在阁楼上，冬天冷极了，取暖设备只有一个不顶事的小炉子，还经常缺煤。有一年冬天特别冷，夜里脸盆的水经常会结冰。我只好把所有衣服都堆在被子上，才能勉强入睡。我在房间里做饭，只有一盏酒精灯和寥寥几件炊具，经常只吃一些面包、咖啡、鸡蛋或水果充饥。没人帮我做家务，取暖用的煤块，我也只能自己搬上六层楼。

在一些人看来，我的日子过得很苦，我却从中感受到了真正的魅力。这种生活给了我非常宝贵的自由和独立的感觉。我在巴黎这座大城市里默默无闻、独来独往，自己照料自己，但这种感觉一点也不难受。偶尔我也会觉得孤独，不过大部分时间都心境平和，还有一种强烈的精神上的满足感。

我一心扑在学习上，一开始我觉得课业有些困难。事实上，尽管我在波兰付出了许多努力，基础却远不如法国同学那样扎实，进入索邦大学后在自然科学课程方面难免吃力。我必须努力弥补差距，特别是数学。我把时间分成几段，用来上课、做实验和在图书馆自习。晚上我就在小屋里学习，有时学到深夜。我所见所学的一切新知识都让我欣喜不已，仿佛一个新世界——科学的世界——在我面前打开了大门，而我终于能尽情地一窥堂奥了。

关于我和同学的关系也有一些愉快的回忆。一开始我很腼腆，后来我发现大部分同学都很用功而且友善。我们一起探讨学到的知识，对一些问题有了更深的兴趣。

我在波兰同学中虽然没有学习伙伴，却和他们的一个小团体来往密切。我们时不时聚在某个人简陋的小屋里，讨论祖国的种种问题，我感到不再那么孤单。我们还一起散步，因为都对政治有兴趣，有时还一起参加公众集会。不过巴黎生涯的第一年将要结束时，我不得不离开了这个圈子，因为我必须把全部精力投入到学习中，争取早日完成学业，我甚至在假期里都在复习数学。

我的不懈努力终于有了回报。我弥补了自己基础训练的不足，和其他同学一起通过了考试。1893年，我以第一等成绩获得了物理学学士学位，1894年以第二等成绩获得了数学学士学位，对这个结果我感到非常满意。

日后，当我姐夫回忆起我的这段艰苦奋斗的日子时，曾戏称它为“我妻妹人生中的英雄岁月”。经过那么长时间的等待，我终于得到了学习的机会，当然会心无旁骛地投入其中。对我来说，这段孤独岁月将永远是我人生最美好的回忆之一。

1894年，我与皮埃尔·居里第一次见面。一位在弗里堡大学担任教授的波兰同胞来看望我，又邀请我去他家拜访，他还邀请了一位他很欣赏的年轻巴黎物理学家。一走进他家，我就看到通往阳台的落地窗前站着一个高个子年轻人，他有一头褐色的头发和清澈的大眼睛。我注意到他的神情严肃又温柔，举止洒脱，看上去是一个沉浸在自己思绪中的爱做梦的人。他对我的态度单纯热情，让我心中顿生好感。第一次见面后，他提出想再见面，继续那晚关于科学和社会问题的讨论，我们对这些都很感兴趣，看法也很相近。

过了一段时间，他开始到我的住处拜访，我们成了好友。他给我讲他的日常工作情况，还说他的理想是过一种完全献身科学的生活。不久，他提出想和我携手共同追求那种生活。但我无法立刻决定，因为答应他就意味着抛弃我的祖国，远离我的家人。

假期我回了波兰，当时尚不知自己能否返回巴黎。不过后来情况有了转机，我得以在那年秋天回到巴黎，继续我的研究。我进入了索邦大学的一间物理实验室，开始实验研究，为我的博士论文做准备。

我和皮埃尔·居里又见面了。因为工作的缘故，我们越走越近，最后我们都深信自己不可能找到更好的人生伴侣，就订了婚，在1895年7月举行了婚礼。

皮埃尔·居里当时刚获得博士学位，在巴黎市立物理和化学学校教书。他年仅三十六岁，却已经是一位在国内外都很有声望的学者。他一心扑在科研工作上，从来不曾为自己谋求前程，收入十分微薄。婚前，他一直和年迈的双亲住在巴黎郊区的索镇。皮埃尔深爱自己的父母，第一次向我提起他们时用了“高贵”这个形容词。事实也正是如此。他的父亲是一位老物理学家，学识渊博，性格刚强；他的母亲是一位很了不起的女人，为丈夫和儿子奉献了一生。皮埃尔的哥哥是蒙彼利埃大学的教授，兄弟二人感情甚笃。我有幸加入这个可爱可敬的家庭，受到了他们非常热情的欢迎。

我们的婚礼非常简单。结婚当天，我没有穿特别的礼服，邀请的也只有几位亲朋好友。让我特别高兴的是，父亲和二姐从波兰赶来参加了我的婚礼。

我和皮埃尔别无奢望，只想找个安静的地方工作生活。我们幸运地找到了一套有三个房间的小公寓，窗外能看到一个美丽的小花园。皮埃尔的父母给了我们几件家具。我们还用一个亲戚给的礼金买了两辆自行车，经常骑上车去郊游。

第二章

婚后生活

婚后，我开始了一种与独身时完全不同的新生活。我和丈夫感情甚笃，我们志同道合、亲密无间，几乎是形影不离。我手头只有他写给我的几封信，因为我们很少分开。我丈夫把教学之外的闲暇时间都用来在他教书的那所学校的实验室做研究，我也被准许和他一起在那里工作。

我们的寓所离学校很近，所以不必在路上浪费太多时间。因为收入微薄，我只能自己做大部分家务，其中做饭尤为费时费力。兼顾家务和科研工作并非易事，但我凭着坚强的意志做到了。我们的这个小家宁静温馨，不受外人打扰，这种生活让我们感到非常幸福。

在实验室工作的同时，我还必须学习一些课程，因为我决定参加教师资格考试，如能通过并拿到证书，就可在女校教书，还有资格获得教授职称。1896年8月，经过几个月的复习，我以第一名的成绩通过了考试。

实验室工作之余，我们的主要消遣是散步和骑自行车去乡间游玩。我丈夫非常喜欢户外活动，对山林草地中的动植物有浓厚兴趣，他的足迹踏遍巴黎周边地区。我也喜欢乡下，因此和他一样享受这种远游，它能让我们的头脑从紧张的科学工作中放松下来。我们经常采几束野花回家，有时玩得忘了时间，回家时已是深夜。我们还定期去探望皮埃尔的父母，他们为我们专门准备了一个房间。

到了假期，我们就骑自行车去更远的地方，用这种方式周游了奥弗涅和赛文山脉，还去了海边的几个地方。我们很喜欢用一整天时间长途远行，每天晚上在一个新地方落脚。如果在一个地方待得太久，皮埃尔就开始想回实验室了。有一年假期，我们一起去喀尔巴阡山脉和我的娘家人团聚，我丈夫还为此学了一点波兰语。

但是我们人生中最重要的还是科学工作。皮埃尔备课非常认真，我会给他帮忙，这对我的教学也大有裨益。不过我们的大部分时间还是用来在实验室里做研究。

我丈夫没有自己的实验室。他可以在某种限度内使用学校的实验室做自己的研究，但他更喜欢在学校的一个无人问津的角落工作，觉得那样更自在。从皮埃尔身上我懂得了一件事：一个人在极简陋的条件下也能愉快地工作。当时他正在专心从事晶体研究，我则在研究钢铁的磁性。1897年，我完成了这项工作并发表了成果。

就在这一年，我们的大女儿出生，生活发生了巨大变化。几个星期后，我的婆婆去世了，公公搬来与我们同住。我们在巴黎市边上找到了一栋小房子，皮埃尔去世之前，我们一直住在这里。

我要照顾好伊雷娜和我们的小家，还要兼顾科研工作，这是一个很大的挑战。我不愿放弃研究，我丈夫也不能接受。他常说他有一个与自己天造地设，可以携手共进的妻子。我们不可能放弃如此珍爱的科学事业。

我们当然也请了佣人，但是照料女儿的琐事都要我亲自做。我去实验室的时候，就把女儿交给她的祖父照料。他很疼爱孙女，她也给他的生活增添了许多乐趣。就这样，一家人齐心协力，帮我做到了各方兼顾。不过发生特殊情况时还是会很辛苦，比如女儿一生病，我们就要没日没夜地照顾她，生活节奏都被打乱了。

不难想象，我们的生活中没有世俗的往来。我们只和很少几个朋友见面，都是同行的科学工作者。聚会在家里或花园里进行，我一边参与谈话，一边给女儿做些针线活。我们和皮埃尔的哥哥一家来往密切。但是自从大姐和姐夫离开巴黎回波兰定居后，我便和所有娘家人分离了。

正是在这种称心的平静生活中，我们完成了人生中最重要的工作。这项工作于1897年底开始，一做就是很多年。

此时我已经确定了博士论文的题目。我一直很关注亨利·贝克勒尔做的关于稀有金属铀所含铀盐的有趣实验。贝克勒尔把铀盐放在用黑纸包着的照片底片上，结果底片像受到光照那样感光了。造成这种效果的是铀盐发出的一种特殊射线，它可以穿透黑纸，因此与普通射线不同。贝克勒尔还证明这种射线能使验电器放电。一开始他认为铀盐曾经曝露在光照下，所以才会产生铀射线，但是实验证明，在黑暗中存放了几个月的铀盐依然能发出这种特殊射线。

我和丈夫对这种新现象很感兴趣，决定对它做深入研究。在我看来，首先要做的是对它进行精确测定。我决定利用它使验电器放电的那种射线特性来实现测定。不过我用的不是普通的验电器，而是一种更完善的仪器。我做这些初步测定时用过的一台仪器模型，如今保存在费城医学院里。

不久我就得到了一些有趣的结果。我的测定结果证明，发出射线是铀的一种原子特性，与铀盐的物理和化学状态无关。物质中含有的铀越多，发出的射线就越强。

接下来，我想找出是否有其他物质具有铀的这种惊人特性，很快我就发现含有钍的物质也能发出射线，而且它同样来自钍的原子特性。在我继续对铀射线和钍射线进行详细研究时，发现了一个有趣的新事实。

我找机会检查了一些矿物，其中几种显示出了放射性，它们都含有铀或钍。如果这些矿物的放射性与其所含有的铀或钍的质量成正比，那就没有什么可惊讶的了，但实验结果并非如此，有些矿物的放射性比铀矿强三四倍。我对这个惊人的事实进行了仔细求证，其真实性毋庸置疑。我思考了这种现象的成因，似乎只有一个合理的解释：这些矿物里一定含有某种活性极强的未知物质。我丈夫也同意这个判断。于是我提议立刻开始寻找这种假设中的物质，当时我认为如果我们齐心协力，一定能很快得到结果。我们都没料到这项工作一旦开始，就意味着我们踏上了一条终生不渝的新的科学道路。

当然，即使在最开始，我也不认为这种新元素的含量会很高，因为我们已经对矿物进行了比较精准的测定。当时我认为新元素在矿物中的含量至少会有百分之一，但是随着研究深入，我们越来越清楚地意识到，这种放射性物质的含量一定极少，也就是说其放射性一定极强。我们的研究条件十分艰苦，如果一开始就知道这种新元素在这些矿物中的含量如此之低，很难说我们是否还会坚持下来。如今回头看，只能说是研究中不断取得的进展，使我们能不顾艰苦的条件，满腔热情地投入研究。事实上，经过了好几年繁重的劳动，我们才最终完全分离出了这种新元素，也就是如今世人皆知的镭。现在我将寻找并发现它的过程大致记述如下：

一开始我们并不了解这种未知元素的化学性质，只知道它能发出射线，所以必须由此入手。我们从圣约阿希姆斯塔尔矿场得到一批沥青铀矿，首先对它做了分析。除了使用常规的化学方法之外，我们还用一种精确的电学设备，检查矿物的各个部分是否有放射性。后来，在我们工作的基础上形成了一种新的化学分析方法，科学家用它发现了很多种放射性元素。

只用了几个星期，我们就确信之前的判断是正确的，因为放射性在有规律地加强。过了几个月，我们成功地从沥青铀矿中分离出一种与铋掺杂在一起的元素，其放射性比铀强很多，而且有明确的化学性质。1898年7月，我们宣布了这种新元素的存在，我将它命名为钋，以纪念我的祖国波兰。

在研究钋的同时，我们还发现在沥青铀矿分离出的钡里掺杂着另一种新元素。经过几个月的艰苦努力，我们终于分离出了这种新元素，日后它的重要性将远远大于钋。1898年12月，我们宣布发现了这种新元素并将它命名为镭，如今它已举世闻名。

然而，还有很多实际工作在等待我们完成，我们虽然发现了两种重要的新元素，但它们依然与铋和钡混合在一起，而且含量极微，我们主要是靠放射性才确认了它们的存在。现在必须把它们以纯元素的形式分离出来，我们立刻开始了这项工作。

我们需要对大量矿物进行精密的化学处理，然而条件很差，没有钱，没有合适的实验室，也没有助手来完成这项艰巨的工作。这是一个从无中创造出有的过程。我姐夫曾说我早年的学习生涯是我一生中的英雄岁月，我可以毫不夸张地说，我和丈夫共同奋斗的这段日子才是我们共同生活中真正的英雄岁月。

通过此前的实验，我们知道在圣约阿希姆斯塔尔的铀矿场处理的沥青铀矿残渣里一定含有镭。我们取得了矿场的所有者——奥地利政府——的准许，顺利得到了一些当时被认为毫无价值的残渣。一天，有人送来了许多麻袋，装满混着松针的褐色尘状物质，我们发现它们的放射性比未经炼制的矿石还要强，那一刻真是欣喜万分！真是太幸运了，这些残渣没有被运到远处丢掉或以某种方式处理掉，而是就堆在矿场附近的松树林里。后来奥地利政府在维也纳科学院的请求下，以很低的价格卖给了我们好几吨残渣。很长时间里，我的实验室的镭都是从这些原材料中提炼出来的，直到后来美国妇女送给了我一件珍贵的礼物，那是后话。

物理学校无法给我们合适的实验室，但校长允许我们使用学校里一间废弃的棚屋。这个地方以前曾被医学院作为解剖室，玻璃屋顶会漏雨，夏天闷热得让人窒息，冬天寒冷刺骨，只有待在紧挨着炉子的地方才稍微暖和一点。我们得不到其他化学家都在使用的合适设备，只有几张旧松木桌子、几个炉子和煤气燃烧器。在做一些产生刺激性气体的化学操作时，我们不得不去旁边的院子，但是毒气还是会灌进棚屋。我们就在这种简陋的条件下进行这项艰苦的工作。

然而正是在这个破旧的棚屋中，我们心无旁骛地投入工作，度过了一生中最幸福美好的时光。为了不中断某个特别重要的实验，我经常在棚屋里准备午饭。有时候我要花一整天用一根几乎和我一样高的沉重的大铁棒搅拌沸腾物质，累得筋疲力尽。另一些日子里，我要进行浓缩镭所需的分步结晶工作，这是一种非常精密细致的操作，飘浮在空中的铁屑和煤灰有时会落进我分离出的宝贵物质里，真让我沮丧极了。然而我们也有一些难以言喻的快乐：不受打扰的宁静的研究氛围让我们欣喜，取得实质性进展和越来越准确的结果让我们激动。费尽力气却没能成功时，我们也会沮丧，但不久这种感觉就会被新的工作冲淡。我们还一边在棚屋里踱步，一边轻声讨论手头的工作，这种时刻也很幸福。

我们的一大快乐就是在晚上走进棚屋，看到装提炼物的瓶子或其他容器发着微光，映在每一面墙上，那幅景象真是动人，我们每次看到都像第一次那样激动。那些发光的试管仿佛是童话里微微闪烁的小灯。

几个月过去了，除了偶尔休个短假，我们一直在努力工作。我们的假设得到了越来越完善的证明，我们的信心越来越强，成果也渐为世人所知。我们想办法弄到了一些新的原材料，最初的工序也交给一家工厂去做，这使我们能有更多时间做精细处理。

在这个阶段，我把全部精力投入到镭元素的提纯工作里，皮埃尔则专心研究这种新元素发出的射线的物理性质。我处理了一吨沥青铀矿残渣才逐渐得到一些明确的结果。事实上，我们现在已经知道，即使最好的矿石每吨也只含有几分克镭。

最后，这些分离出的物质终于表现出一种纯化学物质应有的全部特性。这种物质（也就是镭）有一种非常独特的光谱，我测定出它的原子量比钡高得多。这个结果是在1902年得到的，当时我有一分克极纯的氯化镭。我花了近四年时间，才获得了证明镭是一种新元素的化学证据。如果有适当的工作条件，大概只需一年。我们努力取得的这些成果为放射学这门新学科奠定了基础。

接下来的几年里，我制备出了几分克纯镭盐，更精准地测定了镭的原子量，甚至分离出了纯镭金属。不过镭的存在和特性都是在1902年得到确认的。

那些年，我们一心扑在科研工作上，但生活境遇也渐渐有了改善。1900年，日内瓦大学邀请皮埃尔到该校担任教授，但就在这个时候，索邦大学提出聘他为副教授，我也被塞夫勒的一所女子高等师范学校聘为教师。于是我们决定留在巴黎。

我对师范学校的工作越来越有兴趣，努力让学生们能在实验室做更多实际操作。学生们都是二十岁左右的年轻女孩，她们通过了严格的考试才被学校录取，必须非常用功才能达到标准，取得担任中学教师的资格。这些女孩都很勤奋好学，我也很乐意指导她们学习物理。

但是自从我们的发现公布后，名声大噪，实验室的平静工作受到打扰，日子变得难过起来。1903年，我完成了博士论文并取得了博士学位。这一年的年底，贝克勒尔、皮埃尔和我因为对放射性现象和新的放射性元素的发现，共同获得了诺贝尔奖。

获奖使我们的研究变得举世皆知。人们登门拜访，邀请我们讲课写文章，我们每天的生活都被打乱，简直片刻不得安宁。

获得诺贝尔奖是一项殊荣，而且该奖项的奖金比其他科学奖高得多，对我们接下来的研究工作起到了巨大帮助。不幸的是，我们两个人都过度疲劳，总有一人在生病，直到1905年才前往斯德哥尔摩，皮埃尔在那里做了诺贝尔奖的获奖演说，我们受到了热情的接待和欢迎。

不尽如人意的工作条件让我们体力透支、疲惫不堪，公众对我们私生活的打扰更是雪上加霜。我们甘愿过一种离群索居的生活，现在真是不胜其烦、如临大敌。我之前说过，不受外界干扰的状态对我们的家庭生活和科学工作多么重要，现在那种生活节奏完全被打乱了。当然，人们并无恶意，只是没有意识到他们的行为会让我们如此烦恼。

1904年，我们的二女儿艾芙·丹尼丝出生，我不得不再次暂时中断实验室的工作。就在这一年，因为获得诺贝尔奖，我们在公众之中有了认知度，索邦大学就为皮埃尔设立了一个新的物理学教授席位，还要为他建一间实验室，任命我为实验室主任。但是当时实验室还没建成，我们只能暂时使用原本用于其他用途的几间屋子。

我们在那间棚屋里度过了许多快乐的时光，1906年，就在我们将彻底告别它时，一场可怕的事故把皮埃尔从我身边夺走了，留下我独自一人抚养我们的孩子，继续我们未竟的科学研究。

皮埃尔是我最亲密的伴侣和最好的朋友，他的离去给我的生活带来的影响之大，无法用语言形容。这场打击使我濒临崩溃，觉得已经无法面对未来。但是我没有忘记皮埃尔过去常说的一句话，他说即使他不在了，我也必须继续研究工作。

皮埃尔去世之前，他的科学发现正为公众所知，本人也有了一定知名度，因此整个社会特别是科学界，无不认为这场灾难是国家的损失。巴黎科学院决定让我接任皮埃尔在索邦大学做了一年半的教授一职，很大程度上是受到了这种社会情绪的影响。这是一个非比寻常的决定，此前这个职位从未让女性担任过。索邦大学的这个决定是对我的一种极大的肯定，它让我有机会继续追求科学事业，否则我大概只能放弃了。我从未奢求这种待遇，只想自由地从事科学研究，如今在家庭遭遇不幸的情况下获此殊荣，不禁悲从中来。我不知自己能否履行好这份重任，犹豫再三后决定至少要试一下，于是我从1906年开始在索邦大学教课，最开始任副教授，两年后被聘为名誉教授。

丈夫去世后，生活变得更艰难了，现在我要独自肩负起过去两人一起分担的责任。照顾小孩要占用大量精力，我公公留下来和我们住在一起，主动帮我分担了这个重任。他很乐意花时间照料孙女，丧子之后，她们的陪伴是他最大的慰藉。我们两个人共同努力，为孩子们营造了一个温暖的家。尽管内心苦楚，我尽量不在女儿们面前流露，不想让她们太早知道人生的悲苦。我公公很想搬到乡下，于是我们在巴黎郊区的索镇找了一栋房子，离市区大约半小时路程。

乡村生活的益处很多，我公公很享受新的生活环境，尤其喜欢房子带的花园，我的女儿们也可以在开阔的田野间漫步，这对她们很有好处。但是我陪伴她们的时间变少了，所以给她们请了家庭教师。一开始请的是我的一位表亲，后来又请了另一个很有责任心的女子，我姐姐的一个女儿就是她带大的。两个家庭教师都是波兰人，因此女儿们学会了我的母语。在我伤心欲绝的日子里，波兰的娘家人会时不时来看望我，我们还会在假期安排见面，一般是在法国的海滨，还有一次是在波兰的山区。

1910年，我公公久病后不幸离世，使我伤心悲痛了很长时间。在他卧病时，我总是尽量抽出时间陪伴在病榻边，听他讲述往事。我的大女儿那年十二岁，已经懂得了和祖父共度的时光是多么珍贵，他的去世让她伤心极了。

两个女儿在索镇无法得到很好的教育。二女儿年纪还小，需要过健康的生活，多做户外活动，接受启蒙教育。她已经显露出聪颖的天资和对音乐的兴趣。大女儿的头脑更像她的父亲，并不机敏，但看得出很有逻辑推理能力，而且热爱科学研究。她在巴黎的一所私立学校读了一段时间，但我不想让她一直上中学，因为我觉得上课时间太长不利于她们健康成长。

我认为，在教育孩子时应重视她们的身体发育和体格锻炼，还不应忘记提高她们的艺术修养。现如今，大部分学校让孩子们用太多时间做读写练习，家庭作业也太繁重。我还发现这些学校缺少与科学课程相配套的实践环节。

我和大学里的几个朋友在这些问题上看法相近，于是组织了一个小团体，合作教育子女，每人负责教一门课程。我们的工作都很忙，孩子们的年龄也有大有小，不过我们的尝试也因此变得非常有趣。我们按照设想把理科和文科的知识有机结合在一起，课时不多，收效却很好。科学课程配合实践环节，激发起孩子们浓厚的学习兴趣。

这种做法持续了两年，事实证明，大部分孩子都能从中受益，特别是我的大女儿。经过这段学习，她已经能进入巴黎一所中学的高年级学习，而且相比同龄人更早地通过了业士考试，进入索邦大学继续深造。我的二女儿的早期教育没能按这种方法进行，她进入了一所中学，一开始修部分课程，后来修全部课程。她是个好学生，各方面的成绩都令人满意。

我很希望女儿们能接受合理的体育教育。除了户外散步，我还注意让她们多做体操和其他运动。法国还不太重视女孩在这方面的教育。我要求她们定时做体操，假期带她们去山里或海边。她们都很擅长划船和游泳，远足和骑自行车也不在话下。

当然，教育孩子只是我的职责之一，我的大部分时间还是在从事科学工作。总有一些女性问我该如何兼顾家庭和科学事业，我只能说很不容易，需要很大的决断力和自我牺牲精神。不过，女儿们长大后一直和我亲密无间，一家人彼此爱护理解，其乐融融。我们之间从未说过一句难听的话，做过一件自私的事。

1906年，我接下丈夫在索邦大学的教职时，只有一个空间狭窄、设备有限的临时实验室。皮埃尔在世时，有几位科学家获准在这间实验室和我们一起工作。在他们的帮助下，我得以继续此前的研究并取得了满意的成果。

1907年，我从安德鲁·卡耐基先生那里得到了宝贵的帮助，他每年向我的实验室捐助一笔研究经费，这使许多高级研究人员和学生能够将全部时间投入科研工作。基金会极大地鼓励了那些有志向和能力从事研究的人，确保他们能心无旁骛地搞科研。设立更多这样的基金会一定能推动科学的发展。

至于我自己，我又要花大量时间制备出几分克非常纯净的氯化镭。1907年，我重新测定了镭的原子量，1910年，我成功地分离出了纯净的镭金属。这项非常细致的工作是在实验室的一位化学家的协助下完成的。后来我们再未重复过这项操作，因为在分离过程中会有损失镭的危险，必须极为小心才能避免。就这样，我终于见到了这种神秘的白色金属，但我无法让它保持这种状态，因为我们要用它做进一步的实验。

至于钋，它在矿物中的含量比镭还要少，因此我一直没能把它分离出来。不过我的实验室已经制备出了纯度非常高的钋，还用它做了一些实验，其中尤为重要的是钋射线产生氦气的实验。

我特别注意改进实验室里的各种测量方法。我已经解释过精准测量在镭的发现中起到了多么重要的作用。我希望更有效的定量测定方法能帮我们做出新的发现。

我设计了一种方法，通过镭发出的一种名为“射气”的放射性气体来测定镭的质量，效果令人十分满意。我的实验室里经常使用这种方法，可以对极微量的镭（不到千分之一毫克）进行相当精确的测量。对于更大量的镭，我们则通过它发出的一种被称为伽马射线的穿透性射线进行测量，我的实验室里有一台适合做这种测量的设备。利用射线测定镭的质量比用天平更简单，结果也更准确。然而这种测定需要先有一个可靠的标准，因此我开始认真考虑制定镭的标准的问题。

镭的测量必须建立在可靠的基础之上，这样才能在实验室和科学研究中加以使用，这是要制定标准的一个重要原因。除此之外，镭越来越多地被用于医疗之中，因此有必要确保商业生产的镭的相对纯度。

皮埃尔在世的时候，法国科学家曾用我们实验室的镭的样品做过一些关于镭的生物学性能的实验。实验结果非常让人振奋，一个崭新的医学分支“镭疗法”（在法国被称为“居里疗法”）先是在法国，继而在其他国家迅速发展起来。为了提供医疗用镭，制镭工业诞生了。第一家工厂在法国建成，发展得非常成功，后来其他国家也建成了一些工厂，其中最大的一家在美国，因为美国蕴藏着大量含镭的钒钾铀矿。镭疗法和制镭工业共同发展，在治疗几种疾病特别是癌症上效果显著。在此背景下，一些大城市成立了应用这种新疗法的机构，其中有几家拥有几克镭。因为铀矿中镭的含量极少，生产成本很高，所以现在一克镭的价格高达七万美元。

我们的发现能够造福人类，不仅因为它有重大的科学价值，而且因为它能治疗让人类痛苦的恶疾，我想读者一定能够理解我因此感到光荣的心情。对于我们多年的艰苦工作来说，这真是一种最好的回报。

当然，只有准确地掌握镭的使用量，镭疗法才能成功，因此镭的测量不仅对理化研究有重要意义，在工业生产和医疗上也至关重要。

考虑到这些需要，各国科学家组成了一个委员会，一致决定将仔细称量的一定量的纯镭盐作为国际标准。接下来还要为每个国家制备次级标准，并把其放射性与基本标准加以比较。我受命于委员会，负责制备这个基本标准。

这是一项非常细致的工作，因为标准样品的重量很轻（21毫克氯化镭），我必须非常精确地称量出这个重量。我在1911年制备成功，一个几厘米长的细玻璃试管里装着曾用来测定镭的原子量的纯镭盐，这就是基本标准。委员会接受了它，把它保存在位于巴黎附近塞夫勒的国际度量衡局里。几个与基本标准比较过的次级标准经委员会批准后投入使用。在法国，通过测量装有镭的试管的放射性来对这些镭进行管理的工作是在我的实验室进行的，任何人都可以拿着镭来检测，在美国这项工作是由国家标准局负责的。

1910年底，政府要颁发给我荣誉军团勋章。以前也曾经要颁发给皮埃尔，但他一向反对接受任何荣誉，所以没有接受提名。我和丈夫在所有事情上都共同进退，在这件事上也不可能违背他的意愿。因此尽管政府一再坚持，我却坚辞不受。这一时期还有几位大学同事劝我参选法兰西科学院院士，皮埃尔去世前几个月也进入了科学院。我非常犹豫，因为按照惯例，候选人需要亲自拜访所有院士。但后来我考虑到如果当选，我的实验室将会获得很多资金，就同意了。我的参选引起了社会各界的关注，人们争议的焦点就在于女性能否进入科学院。很多院士坚决反对，最后选举的时候，我以几票之差落选。我非常讨厌那种游说拉票的做法，再也不想参选。我认为所有选举都应该是投票人自己的选择，根本不该受到私下活动的影响。现在有一些学院和协会正是这么做的，我没有提出任何申请，就让我成为了会员。

各种需要操心的事情加在一起，使我在1911年底生了一场大病，这一年，我第二次获得诺贝尔奖，这次是授予我一个人。这实在是一项非常难得的殊荣，是对我发现两种新元素并制备出纯镭的高度认可。尽管身体不适，我还是决定亲赴斯德哥尔摩领奖。这次旅程对体弱的我是一种折磨，我的大姐和女儿伊雷娜陪我前往。诺贝尔奖隆重的颁奖仪式给我留下了深刻印象。我受到了瑞典人民特别是妇女界人士的热情欢迎，感到非常欣慰，但此行劳累太甚，我回家后卧床了好几个月。生了这场重病，再加上考虑到女儿们的教育问题，我们就从索镇搬回了巴黎居住。

1912年，华沙科学学会在华沙建成了一座镭学实验室，我也有机会在其中起了些作用。学会请我担任实验室主任，我当时无法离开法国回波兰，但我很乐意尽一份责任，对实验室的科研工作做出安排。1913年，我的身体情况好转，赴华沙参加了实验室的落成典礼。祖国人民的热情让我感动，我永远不会忘记他们表现出的爱国精神，正是凭着这种精神，波兰人民在极为严酷的政治环境下做了许多有用的工作。

虽然身体还没有完全恢复，我又开始为在巴黎建一座合适的实验室而奔走了。我的努力终于有了结果，实验室于1912年破土动工。巴斯德研究所想和我们的实验室合作，经与索邦大学协商，双方决定共建镭学研究所，其中设立一个物理学实验室和一个生物学实验室，前者致力于研究放射性物质的物理和化学性质，后者研究其在生物学和医学方面的应用。但是因为资金不足，工程进展缓慢，直到1914年战争开始时还没有完全建成。

第三章

战争岁月

1914年，如往年一样，女儿们比我先离开巴黎，前往布列塔尼海滨的一座小屋度夏。我对陪伴她们的那位家庭女教师非常信赖，而且我的几个好友也带着家人去了那里。我的工作太忙，很少能和她们一起度过一个完整的假期。

我本打算在7月底动身去找她们，但是时局日益紧迫，战争动员令恐怕很快就会下达。在这种情况下我无法动身，只能留下来等待事态的发展。8月1日，动员令下达，紧接着德国对法国宣战。实验室里的工作人员和学生们都应征入伍了，只有我和一位患有严重心脏病不能入伍的技师留守。

接下来发生的事大家都耳熟能详，然而只有在1914年8月至9月间在巴黎生活过的人，才能真切地了解首都人民的心境，才能明白他们表现出了何等的沉着勇敢。动员令下达后，法国人民纷纷奔赴前线，保卫家园，前方传来的消息牵动着每个人的心。

一开始战局尚不明朗，后来，前方传来的消息越来越让人感到情况的严峻。

德军入侵弱小的比利时，比利时人奋勇抵抗却终告失败；接着德军一路穿过瓦兹河谷大举进犯巴黎。政府很快搬到了波尔多，巴黎面临被占领的危险，很多不能或不愿留下来的巴黎市民也随政府一起离开了。每列火车上都人满为患，载着有钱人前往乡下避难。不过在1914年这命运攸关的一年里，大部分巴黎市民都表现得非常镇定，给我留下了极深的印象。8月底9月初碧空如洗，巴黎的无数历史性建筑物岿然矗立在艳阳之下，这座伟大的城市在留守的市民眼中显得如此珍贵。

眼看德军就要进犯巴黎，我感到有必要把实验室里储备的镭转移到安全之处，于是奉政府指令把它送往波尔多保管。但是我不愿久留，立刻又返回了巴黎。我乘坐的是一辆运送政府官员和他们的行李的列车，我还清楚记得从车窗向外望去，能看到国家公路上有一条长长的车队，无数人正开车逃离首都。

到达波尔多时是晚上，我的镭装在铅制的保护箱里，非常沉重不便。我搬不动行李，只好在一个公共场所等待，这时恰好有一位和我同乘一列车的政府工作人员出现了。他好心帮我寻找住处，因为旅馆全部住满，最后设法为我在一户人家找了个房间住下。第二天一大早，我急忙把镭送到一个安全的地方，克服了各种困难，终于在傍晚时坐上了一辆返回巴黎的军方列车。在车站有一些人守在那里，向从巴黎来的人打探消息，我和他们聊了几句，他们发现有人主动想回巴黎，都表现得又惊讶又高兴，这种反应让我觉得很有意思。

返回巴黎的路程多次耽搁，有时列车在铁轨上一停就是几个小时，车上的士兵把配给的面包分出一些给乘客。最后终于回到巴黎时，我听说德军已经改变了进攻方向，马恩河战役开始了。

在这场伟大战役期间，我和所有巴黎居民一样，时而充满希望，时而心情沉重，我担心德军一旦占领巴黎，我和女儿们恐怕要分开很长时间了。但我认为自己必须坚守岗位。马恩河战役获胜后，巴黎被占领的危险暂时解除，我立刻把女儿们从布列塔尼接回巴黎，让她们继续上学。很多家庭认为留在乡下、远离前线才是明智之举，但我的两个女儿都急着想回巴黎，因为她们不愿和我分开，也不愿中断学业。

国难当头，每个人都有责任为国家贡献力量。政府对大学教师没有统一要求，大家都发挥主观能动性，以自己的方式行动起来。我想找到一种最有效的方式，做些有益的工作，让我的科学知识能够发挥最大效用。

1914年8月，战局瞬息万变，明显暴露出法国在国防方面的不足。战时医疗工作组织不力，引起公众的强烈不满。我对此非常关注，很快决定要在这个领域做一些贡献。我把大量时间精力投入其中，战争结束后还继续了一段时间。我的主要工作是为军队医院组织放射检查和治疗。但是在艰难的战争期间，我还必须把实验室迁至镭学研究所的新址，此外还要尽量继续教学工作。与此同时，我还要研究一些新问题，特别是与军事有关的问题。

众所周知，X射线为内科和外科医生检查伤病提供了非常有效的手段。利用X射线，可以发现并准确定位伤员身体里的子弹，对取出子弹大有帮助。X射线还能让医生看到骨头和内脏器官的损伤和病变，及时了解病人内伤的恢复状况。战争期间，X射线检查救了无数伤兵的命，同时使很多人免遭病痛的长期折磨。所有伤兵都有了更大康复的可能性。

但是在战争刚开始时，军方的卫生部并没有组织医院进行放射治疗，非军方医院在这方面也很落后，只有几家大医院有X射线设备，大城市才有专业技师，而且人数很少。在战争爆发后的几个月里，法国各地建了大量新医院，但一般都没有X射线设备。

为了满足这方面的需要，我首先收集了所有能在实验室和商店找到的X射线设备，在1914年8月至9月建了几座放射站，我招募了一些志愿者，培训他们操作设备。这些放射站在马恩河战役期间发挥了巨大作用。但它们无法满足巴黎所有地区医院的需要，于是我在红十字会的帮助下装配了一辆放射车，它本是一辆普通的旅行车，经改装后可以运送一整套X射线设备，车上还有一台发电机，利用汽车引擎带动它发电，就可以提供放射设备所需的电流。这辆放射车随叫随到，可以满足巴黎周边医院的需要。放射车经常出急诊，因为很多伤员的伤势太重，只能在没有X射线设备的医院就近医治。

这些初步工作的收效很大，因此，我们打算建更多放射站和放射车。一个名为“国家慈善会”的救济委员会给了我很大帮助，该组织出资出力，办事高效，使我的计划得以顺利落实。我在法国和比利时的军区以及法国的一些未被占领的地区共建成或改造了两百多个放射站，此外，我还在实验室装配了二十辆放射车供军方使用，用来改造的车辆都是各界人士慷慨捐赠的，还有人捐赠了X射线设备。这些放射车在军队中发挥了巨大作用。

战争刚开始的两年里，正规军方医院的X射线设备极少，这些民间放射设施发挥了重要作用。后来卫生部门看到放射医疗的巨大作用，就逐渐修建了许多放射站。但是军方的需求太大，依然需要民众通力合作，这种合作一直持续到战争结束后的一段时间。

我曾亲眼看到救护站和医院多么需要放射设备，若非如此，我大概也不会去做这些工作。感谢红十字会的帮助和卫生部的批准，使我能数次深入军区和法国其他地区考察。我去了北方军区和比利时战区的救护站，去了亚眠、加来、敦刻尔克、弗尔讷和波普林格。我还去了凡尔登、南锡、吕内维尔、贝尔福、贡比涅和维勒 - 科特。在远离前线的地区，我在许多任务繁重却缺少人手的医院里帮过忙。我帮过一些有困难的人，一直珍藏着他们热情的感谢信，作为那段时间的纪念。

我一般都在收到医院的请求后，开着一辆我留下自用的放射车出诊。我在医院给伤员做检查时会顺便搜集信息，了解该地区有什么需要。回到巴黎后，我就设法弄到他们需要的设备，再亲自回去安装，因为当地人自己做不了。接着我就寻找到一些合适的人选，教给他们详细的操作方法。经过几天的密集训练，操作员终于掌握要领，能够独立操作设备了。在教学过程中，我们给大量伤员做了检查，一开始，各地外科医生不了解X射线检查的用处，现在算明白了。我和他们相处融洽友好，日后开展工作的时候就方便多了。

有几次出门时，大女儿伊雷娜也和我一同前往。她已经十七岁了，刚刚高中毕业，进入索邦大学继续深造。她很想为国效力，学了一些看护和放射医疗的知识，给了我不少帮助。她在弗尔讷和伊普尔之间的战区以及亚眠战区做了许多救护工作。因为工作出色，军队长官给她写了表扬信，战争结束时政府还向她颁发了奖章。

那些年，在医院救治伤员的经历让我和女儿难以忘怀。救治伤员的旅途非常艰苦，我们常常不确定是否能继续前进，更不知在哪儿解决食宿。然而我们坚持不懈，又得到了许多好心人的帮助，最后各种困难都迎刃而解。不管去哪儿，我都要亲自安排一切，还要见很多军官以取得通行证和运输许可证。很多次，我在雇工的帮助下亲自把设备装到火车上，确保它们随车运走，而不是留在站台上好几天。到达目的地后，我还要在水泄不通的站台上把它们取出来。

开着放射车上路的时候，也会遇到一些问题。比如我必须找到安全的地方停车，为助手们解决吃住，还要设法找到车子的零配件等。因为司机短缺，我学会了开车，需要时就自己开。我凡事亲力亲为，每次都能迅速把X射线设施装配到位，中央医院的出诊则慢得多。军队长官们都很感谢我的帮助，特别感谢我在紧急情况下的及时响应。

我和女儿与各医院的医生护士相处非常融洽，一想到他们，我就满怀感激之情。他们投身于繁重的工作之中，却毫不计较、无怨无悔。我和女儿也努力效仿他们的精神，因此双方合作非常顺利，就像同志好友并肩战斗一般。

我在与比利时救护队合作时，几次遇到阿尔伯特国王和伊丽莎白王后来视察工作。国王和王后满怀奉献精神，对伤员关怀备至，他们的单纯热情让我们感佩不已。

最让我们感动的还是在接触和治疗伤员时，他们表现出的忍受病痛的坚毅精神。做X射线检查时需要挪动伤员的身体，难免带来疼痛，然而所有人都全力配合了我们的检查。我很快就认识了他们每一个人，经常和他们亲切交谈几句。没有做过X射线检查的伤员，在接触这种陌生的设备时难免感到不安，我就耐心地向他们讲解检查的作用。

我永远忘不了自己目睹的生命和健康遭到摧残的可怕场面。那些年，我无数次看到满身泥血的伤兵被抬进救护车，有些还只是孩子。很多人伤得太重救不活了，活下来的人也要忍受病痛的折磨，很久才能渐渐康复。任何人哪怕看到一次这种可怖的场面，就一定会憎恨战争。

我遇到的一个难题是如何找到受过训练的助手来操作X射线设备。战争开始时，人们对放射学所知甚少，设备在外行手中很快就损坏得不能用了。战争期间，大部分医院中操作放射设备的人并不需要有多少医学知识，只要有一定理解能力和学习能力、稍微懂一点电机知识的人都能掌握。教师、工程师和大学生都能成为合格的操作员。我要找的是暂时不用服兵役的人，或在人手紧缺的地方常驻的士兵。然而我找到的操作员常常没过多久就被军令调走了，我就得找人顶替他们的位置，因此我决定培训一些妇女来做这项工作。

我向卫生部建议在艾迪丝·卡维尔医院新成立的护士学校增加一个放射科，获得了批准。1916年，我在镭学研究所开设了放射课程，在战争结束前的几年间培养了一百五十名操作员。大部分学员只受过初等教育，但只要方法得当，就能学会。课程内容包括理论学习和大量实践训练，此外学校还会教她们一些解剖学知识。负责授课的是一些热心人士，其中包括我的女儿。从我们这里出去的学员后来都成了出色的医护人员，她们的工作得到了卫生部的衷心赞赏。她们只能担任医生的助手，不过有些人完全具备了独立工作的能力。

战争期间，我一直与放射医疗技术打交道，这种丰富经历使我对这门学科有了充分了解。我想把学到的这些知识与公众分享，就写了一本名为《放射学与战争》的小书。我写这本书是为了说明放射学的重要性，并将其在战争时期的发展与此前和平时期的应用做一比较。

现在，我要讲讲镭学研究所开设放射医疗服务的情况。

1915年，为了安全起见，存放在波尔多的镭被运回了巴黎，因为没时间做正常的科学研究，我决定用镭来治疗伤员，不过要注意不能损失这种宝贵的物质。因此，我们供给卫生部使用的不是镭本身，而是它定期发出的镭射气。射气的使用技巧可以方便地应用在较大的放射治疗机构中，而且在很多时候，用射气比直接用镭更好操作。遗憾的是，法国还没有国立的放射治疗机构，医院也不使用射气治疗病人。

我提议由我定期向医疗部门提供装在玻璃管里的镭射气，提议被接受了，于是我们从1916年开始提供“射气服务”，直到战争结束后还继续了一段时间。我没有助手，在很长时间里只能自己制备射气玻璃管，这项工作要求非常细致精确。有无数伤兵和生病的平民百姓接受过射气治疗。

巴黎遭轰炸期间，卫生部采取了特殊举措保护我的实验室，使我们储存的射气玻璃管免遭破坏。因为处理镭的过程很不安全（我时常感到身体不适，大概就是接触镭导致的），所以必须采取措施，确保工作人员制备射气时不受伤害。

战争期间，我的大部分精力放在了医护工作上，不过我也做了一些其他事情。

1918年，德国侵略者战败后，我在意大利政府的要求下，前往考察了该国放射性矿藏的储备情况。我在意大利逗留了一个月，一定程度上引起了该国政府对制镭项目的重视。

1915年，实验室搬进皮埃尔·居里路上的新楼。我缺少经费和人手，因此搬迁过程十分艰难，只能趁每次出门的间歇期开着我的放射车，亲自一点点把实验室设备搬到新址。后来我又花了很大工夫，对原材料进行分门别类、布置实验室。做这一切的时候，只有女儿和技师帮忙，可技师又经常生病。

我刚搬过去就想做的一件事是在实验室周围不大的空地上种树。我觉得春天夏天应该多看看绿叶，让眼睛得到充分休息，实验室的工作人员也会感到心情愉快。我们在能种树的地方都种上了椴树和梧桐树，还辟了一片花圃，种上了玫瑰花。德军开始炮轰巴黎的那天，我们一大清早就去了花市买花，一整天忙着栽花，忽然有几枚炮弹落在了附近，那种可怕的景象我至今记忆犹新。

我们排除万难，一点点布置好了新实验室。战后军人开始复员，让我欣慰的是，我的实验室赶在1919—1920学年开始前做好了招生准备。1919年春，我们为美国军人开设了特别课程，我的女儿指导实验课，他们都学得非常用功。

和许多人一样，我在战争岁月过得非常辛劳，几乎没休过假，只偶尔在女儿放假时去探望她们一两天。我的大女儿总是不肯休息，为了她的健康，我有时不得不强迫她休息几天。她当时正在索邦大学读书，前面已经说过，她在战时分担了许多我的工作。我的小女儿当时还在读高中。巴黎遭轰炸期间，她们都坚决不肯离开。

长达四年的战争是一场史无前例的浩劫。1918年秋，各国签订停战协定，此后各方人士为重建和平付出了巨大努力，然而和平至今尚未完全实现。悲惨的战争结束了，法国不必继续承受残酷的伤亡和损失，可谓一种巨大的解脱，但是战争的创伤未愈，人民的生活依然艰苦，还需要一些时日才能恢复往日的平静和幸福。

然而无数人牺牲换来的这场胜利竟使我的祖国终于得到了补偿。波兰在一个多世纪里一直被帝国侵略，领土被瓜分，人民被奴役，但波兰民族在饱受压迫、黯淡无光的岁月中一直坚持斗争，忠于自己的民族精神。如今全欧洲经受了暴风雨的洗礼，波兰人民实现了曾经遥不可及的复国之梦。我从未奢望自己有生之年能看到这一天，欣慰之情难以言表。在这种新局势下，我回到解放后的波兰首都华沙，与阔别多年的家人团聚。不过我看到，新生的波兰共和国的人民生活还非常艰苦，国家多年处于不正常状态，重建面临着种种复杂的问题。

战争摧毁了法国的很多地区，夺去了无数人的生命，全国上下百废待兴，需要假以时日才能恢复正常。各地的科学实验室，包括我们的镭学研究所在内，莫不如此。

战时成立的各种放射医疗组织，有些在战后依然存在。在卫生部的要求下，放射医学护士学校保留了下来。射气供应服务也没有废止，而且扩大了规模，交给镭学研究所巴斯德实验室的主任勒戈医生负责，现在已经发展成全国性的放射医疗服务。

战争期间入伍的工作人员和学生复员回来后，实验室的工作进行了改组。但国家依然物资短缺，实验室也缺少人手和资金，难以得到发展。我认为目前最应该做的是建立一家专门应用“镭疗法”的医院，此外还要在巴黎郊区建一座试验站，对大量原材料做实验分析，使我们更深入地认识放射性元素。

我已经不年轻了。近年来我得到了一些私人捐款，政府也做了种种努力，但我不知能否在有生之年，为今后的研究者建起一座镭学研究所，既是对皮埃尔·居里的一种纪念，更可以为人类的最高利益服务。

1921年，我得到了一笔非常宝贵的资助。在一位慷慨的美国女子威廉·布朗·梅洛尼夫人的倡议下，伟大的美国妇女募集到了一笔资金，成立了“玛丽·居里镭基金会”。她们还赠送给我一克宝贵的镭，完全由我自由用于科学研究。梅洛尼夫人邀请我和两个女儿一起赴美国，在白宫从美国总统手中接受这份礼物。

基金会的款项是在美国公开募集的，大家纷纷慷慨解囊。我非常感谢美国妇女们的这份情谊，于是，我们在5月初动身前往美国，启程前参加了在巴黎歌剧院为我们举行的送行仪式。

我忘不了在美国逗留的那几个星期。在白宫举行的欢迎会上，哈定总统致以了言辞恳切的演说。我参观了美国的各所大学院校，受到了热情欢迎，还被授予了这些院校的名誉学位。在公开集会上，很多美国人民来向我表示祝福，他们的深情厚谊让我感动不已。

我还参观了尼亚加拉大瀑布和大峡谷，深深折服于大自然鬼斧神工的创造。

遗憾的是，我的身体状况不好，导致此次美国之行的计划未能圆满实现。不过我已经增长了许多见闻和知识，女儿们也很享受这次意料之外的旅行。看到母亲的工作受到如此广泛的赞誉，她们感到十分自豪。我们在6月底启程返回欧洲，与这些好朋友分别真让人伤心不舍，这份情谊我们将永远感铭于心。

回国后，美国人民赠送的珍贵的镭给我的研究工作带来了很大便利，另外，这次美国之行的经历使我大受鼓舞，给了我许多干劲。但是要想实现我的目标，还缺少一些资金。我常常不由自主地思考一个基本的问题：科学家应该怎样看待自己的科学发现。

我和丈夫一直拒绝从我们的科学发现中获取物质利益，从一开始就毫无保留地公开了制备镭的流程。我们没有申请专利，也没有在镭的工业开发过程中牟利。我们在公开发表的论文中详细介绍了制镭方法，使制镭工业得以迅速发展。直至今日，制镭工业使用的依然是我们发明的工艺，处理矿物和分步结晶的方法跟我当初在实验室中用的方法别无二致，只是物质手段有所改进而已。

至于我们在研究的最初几年里从矿石中辛苦提炼出的那些镭，我把它们全部捐给了我的实验室。

镭在矿物中的含量极少，其价格非常高昂，又因这种物质能用于治疗疾病，所以制镭业的利润很大。因此，在我们宣布放弃从这项发现中获利时，就等于放弃了一大笔可以惠及子孙的财富。不过更值得考虑的是我们的很多朋友提出的反对意见，他们不无道理地认为，如果皮埃尔·居里和我保障了自己的权利，就能获得充足的资金，创建我们理想中的镭学研究所，而不必遭遇过去妨碍了我们、现在还在妨碍我的种种困难。可我依然相信我们的决定是正确的。

无疑，人类需要有讲求实际的人，这些人可以通过自己的工作最大获益，既不忘造福大众，又保护了自己的利益。但是人类也需要有梦想家，这些人毫无私心地追求一项事业，无暇关注自己的物质利益。当然，梦想家不配拥有财富，因为他们并不渴望财富。但是即使这样，一个组织合理的社会也该确保这些劳动者有充分的条件来完成他们的工作，确保他们能不为物质生活忧虑，自由地献身于研究。

第四章

美国之行

此前我提到过，我应一位美国女子梅洛尼夫人之邀前往美国，此行非常愉快。梅洛尼夫人是一份很有影响力的杂志《写真》的编辑，她提出要发动美国妇女赠送一克镭给我作为礼物，并在短短数月里成功实现了这个计划，于是她就邀请我前往美国亲自接受这份珍贵的礼物。

按照她的设想，这份礼物应该完全来自美国妇女界。几位知名女性和杰出科学家组成了一个委员会，先是收到了几笔大额捐款，然后他们发起了公开募捐，各个妇女组织积极响应，特别是女子大学和俱乐部更是反响热烈。有许多募捐者是曾经从镭射治疗中获益的人。通过这种方式，“玛丽·居里镭基金会”募集到了购买一克镭所需的十万多美元。哈定总统亲切地同意在白宫举行赠与仪式，亲手把这份礼物交给了我。

委员会邀请我和两个女儿在5月赴美，那个时间我还没有放假，但我征求了巴黎大学的同意后接受了邀请。

赴美的一切事务都无需我操心。4月28日，《我都知道》杂志举行了一场宴会，既是为了向镭学研究所致以祝贺，也是为了向美国人民表示衷心感谢，梅洛尼夫人赶来法国参加了宴会。5月4日，我们在瑟堡港登上了开往纽约的奥林匹克号邮轮。

委员会为我们安排了非常紧张的行程。我不仅要参加在白宫举行的仪式，还要去几个城市访问很多大学和学院，其中有好几所院校为基金会捐了款，而且都愿意授予我荣誉称号。美国人民很有活力和干劲，策划了许多活动，又因为美国幅员辽阔，人民都很习惯出远门。长途旅行和各种欢迎会很让人疲惫，不过一路上大家都对我极尽照顾，尽量不使我受累。我在美国受到了热烈的欢迎，还交到了一些真正的朋友，他们的诚挚和亲切让我不知如何感谢才好。

纽约港的壮观景色让我们赞叹不已，我们受到了来自学生团体、女童子军和波兰侨民代表的欢迎，收到了无数鲜花。随后，我们住进了城里一处安静的住所。第二天，卡耐基夫人在她府上举行了午餐会，我们在会上结识了接待委员会的一些成员。这栋美丽的府邸里有许多纪念她的丈夫安德鲁·卡耐基先生的陈设，这位大慈善家在法国也有很高的知名度。第三天，我们前往参观了距纽约几小时车程的史密斯学院和瓦萨学院。后来又参观了布林莫尔学院和曼荷莲学院，在旅途中，我们还参观了一些其他学校。

这些女子大学或学院都鲜明地体现出美国文化的特征。我访美的时间太短，无法对这些院校的教学水平做出准确评价，即便如此，我也注意到美国和法国在女子教育问题上存在着巨大的观念差异，在一些问题上美国做得更好。有两点尤其引起我的注意：第一是美国人非常注重学生的健康和身体素质；第二是学生可以自主安排生活，这使他们能在很大程度上发挥个体的主观能动性。

这些大学院校在建筑布局方面做得都很出色。校园往往很开阔，几栋大楼坐落各处，树林和草坪穿插其间。史密斯学院就建在一条迷人的河流旁边。学校里各种设施都很舒适清洁，大楼里有盥洗室和洗浴间，提供冷热水。所有大学都会组织学生参加各项体育运动，包括网球、棒球、体操、划船、游泳、骑马等。学校里有校医，负责学生们的身体健康。美国的母亲似乎普遍认为纽约这种大城市的环境不利于女孩受教育，而乡下亲近自然的生活不仅有利健康，也能让她们安心读书。

每所学院都有年轻女孩组织的学生会，委员由大家选举产生，负责拟定校内的行为规范。学生们在各方面表现十分活跃：她们参与教学工作、编印校报、唱歌演奏、撰写剧本并在校内外演出。这些剧作的题材和学生们的表演深深吸引了我。学生们来自不同的社会阶层，有些人家境殷实，有些要靠奖学金维持生活，不过学生会里的气氛很民主。学校里也有一些留学生，我曾经遇到过几个法国学生，她们对这里的学习和生活非常满意。

学院全部实行四年学制，其间学生们要通过各种考试。毕业后，有些学生选择继续深造以获得博士学位（美国的博士学位和法国的不太一样）。学院的实验室配备了许多先进的实验设备。

年轻女孩们蓬勃的朝气给我留下深刻印象，她们在各种场合都表现得很有活力，比如我去参观的那次。虽说这里的欢迎仪式有些军事化，但当她们演唱学生自己创作的迎宾曲时，当她们绽放着兴奋的笑容跑过草坪来迎接我时，我强烈地感受到了青春的率性和快乐。这种动人的景象给我留下了不可磨灭的印象。

回到纽约，在动身前往华盛顿之前，我参加了几个欢迎仪式，包括化学学会的午餐会、自然历史博物馆和矿物学俱乐部的欢迎会和在社会科学研究院举行的晚宴。我还参加了在卡耐基音乐厅举行的欢迎大会，各女子大学和学院的师生代表出席了大会。每到一处，都有来自社会各界的名流发表热情的欢迎辞，他们还授予了我各种荣誉，我对这些荣誉非常珍视，因为它们饱含着真诚的情谊。在致辞中，不同国家和民族之间的友谊是常被提及的话题，比如柯立芝副总统就高度评价了法国人和波兰人为年轻的美利坚共和国做出的贡献，他还强调，近年世界的动荡使这种友谊进一步增强。

5月20日，白宫为我举行了隆重的欢迎仪式，知识界和社会各界的支持和厚爱使现场气氛非常融洽。仪式简单却感人至深，除哈定总统和夫人之外，内阁官员、最高法院法官、陆海军高级将领、各国外交使节、妇女组织代表以及来自华盛顿和其他地区的社会名流纷纷出席，现场一派民主氛围。法国驻美大使朱塞朗先生首先致辞，接着是梅洛尼夫人代表美国妇女界讲话，然后是哈定总统演讲。最后由我致简短谢辞。来宾逐一与我握手致意，然后大家一起合影留念。白宫是举办这种仪式的绝佳场所，美丽的5月午后，白宫被环绕在开阔的绿地中间，更显得莹白无瑕、肃穆庄严。这个伟大国家的总统代表他的人民给予我极大的褒奖和认可，在我的心中留下了不可磨灭的印记。

总统也在演讲中对法国和波兰表示了感谢，这一点与副总统柯立芝不谋而合。不过他的演讲还表达了美国人民的厚爱，庄重的赠与仪式进一步彰显了这份情谊。

美国是慷慨的国家，一贯支持促进民生的事业。镭的发现在美国引起这么高的重视，并非只是因为它的科学价值和在医疗领域的应用，还因为镭的发现者毫无保留地把这一成果无偿贡献给了全人类。我们的美国友人也想褒奖这种激励法国科学界的奉献精神。

赠送给我的镭并没有出现在欢迎仪式上。总统阁下象征性地赠给我一把小小的金钥匙，它可以用来打开运送镭的箱子。

仪式结束之后，我在华盛顿继续逗留了几天，出席了法国大使馆、波兰公使馆和国家博物馆举办的令人愉快的欢迎会，还参观了几间实验室。

离开华盛顿，我们先后访问了费城、匹兹堡、芝加哥、布法罗、波士顿和纽黑文，游览了大峡谷和尼亚加拉瀑布。途经的一些大学院校——宾夕法尼亚大学、匹兹堡大学和芝加哥大学、西北大学、哥伦比亚大学、耶鲁大学、宾夕法尼亚女子医学院、史密斯学院、韦尔斯利学院——纷纷邀我前往参观并授予我荣誉学位。对此我感激不尽。另外，哈佛大学为我举行了欢迎会，在此一并致谢。

美国的大学在授予名誉学位时要举行隆重的仪式。原则上这样的仪式会在毕业典礼上举行，接受名誉学位的学者要亲自出席。但是一些学校破例为我单独举行了仪式。在美国，这种仪式比法国举行得更频繁，它们是校园生活的重要组成部分。一年一度的毕业典礼尤其隆重，学校官员、教授，和穿着学位服、戴着学位帽的毕业生在学校操场上列队停当，接着所有人进入颁发学士、硕士和博士学位的礼堂。仪式进行的时候有乐队演奏。接着，学校的管理者或特邀嘉宾上台讲话，阐述教育的理想和人道主义目标，有时还掺杂着一些无伤大雅的美式幽默。各个学校的仪式都很有感染力，有助于维系毕业生和母校之间的感情纽带。对于许多著名的美国大学来说，这种仪式尤为重要，因为这些学校办学全靠私人捐助。直到近些年，大部分州才都创建了自己的州立大学。

我有幸作为巴黎大学的代表，出席了耶鲁大学第十四任校长恩格尔先生的就职典礼。在费城，我参加了美国哲学学会和医师学会的会议。在芝加哥，我参加了化学学会的会议并做了报告，叙述了镭的发现过程。在出席这些会议时，我被授予了约翰·斯科特奖章、本杰明·富兰克林奖章和威拉德·吉布斯奖章。

美国的妇女组织为我举行的几场欢迎会得到了公众的广泛关注。一次是我之前提到的由纽约各大学妇女组织在卡耐基音乐厅举行的大会，类似的大会在芝加哥也举办了一次，东道主是波兰妇女协会。在匹兹堡和布法罗，我分别受到了卡耐基学会的妇女组织和加拿大大学妇女代表的欢迎。这些欢迎会和一次次的美好祝愿，使我切实感受到了她们对我的真挚感情。我意识到她们对女性在智力和活动力方面的前景充满信心。我感到这些女权主义的诉求与男性意见之间不存在任何冲突。在我看来，美国男性对这些诉求秉持赞同和鼓励的态度。这种环境十分有利于美国妇女开展社会活动，她们在教育事业、卫生事业和改善劳工待遇等方面尤为活跃。此外，一切公益事业都能得到妇女界的支持，梅洛尼夫人的计划能够赢得社会各阶层妇女的声援并成功实现就是一个明证。

令我深感遗憾的是，参观各实验室和科研机构的时间太有限了，虽然每次时间都很短，我却怀着极大的兴趣。无论走到哪里，我都发现美国人十分关心科学事业的发展和设备的完善。新实验室不断建成，旧实验室也配备了非常先进的设施。所有实验室都很宽敞，不像法国那样空间局促。在美国，建设实验室的资金往往来自私人捐赠，有的是直接赠与资金，也有的是通过设立各种基金会。美国的国家研究委员会也是私人出资设立的，其宗旨是鼓励科研事业的发展，确保科研工作与工业生产之间连接顺畅。

我怀着特别的兴趣参观了位于华盛顿的标准局，这个国家机构在科学计量及相关研究方面发挥着重要作用。赠送给我的那克镭就装在玻璃管中存放在那里。标准局的工作人员热心地承担起计量和装箱的工作，最后把它们送到我返程的邮轮上。

在华盛顿，我还参观了刚落成的一间实验室，该实验室用液态氢和液态氦制造低温环境，进行相关的科学研究。我有幸出席了落成典礼并为它揭幕。

在参观一些实验室时，我有幸和一些著名的美国科学家会面，这是我此行最愉快的经历之一。

美国有一些医院正在实践“镭疗法”。他们在实验室环境中提炼出镭射气，封装在小玻璃管中备用。这些医院有可观的镭储量，医疗条件也很好，可以接诊大量病人。我参观了几所这样的医院，令我遗憾的是，在法国还没有一所国立医院拥有类似条件。如果可能，我希望这一缺憾能在不远的将来得到弥补。

制镭工业起源于法国，但却在美国得到了长足的发展，这是因为美国拥有充足的钒钾铀矿储备。我参观了美国最大的几家制镭工厂，欣喜地看到人们在从事这项事业时的进取精神。工厂保存着一些胶片，记录了工人们每天在科罗拉多的广袤大地上采矿和运输的情形，还有他们从这些含镭量极低的矿石中提炼的过程。他们的艰苦努力非常令人敬佩，不过也可以看出，他们使用的依然是我在之前的章节中叙述过的工艺流程。

在参观制镭工厂和实验室的过程中，我被给予了极高的礼遇。之后，我在参观一家炼制新钍的工厂时也受到了热情的接待。这家工厂赠给我一些新钍，工厂的负责人还表示愿为我的科研工作提供帮助。

我还要描述一下这个国家的自然风光，这样才能完整说明此次美国之行留给我的印象。这真是一项让人望而却步的任务，因为展现在我面前的这个国度是如此辽阔多姿，很难用寥寥数语简单概括。我对美国的总体印象是，这个国家将拥有难以估量的未来。雄浑的尼亚加拉瀑布和壮美的大峡谷给我留下了异常鲜明的回忆。

6月28日，我在纽约港乘上了返程的邮轮。不到两个月前，正是这艘船载着我来到了这里。两个月的时间太短了，我对美国和美国人民实不敢妄加评论。我只能说，我和女儿受到的热情接待让我深深感动。东道主们希望让我们宾至如归，许多美国人告诉我，他们曾在法国受到过同样热情的接待。当我回到法国时，除了想向赠给我礼物的美国妇女组织表示感谢之外，还有一个深切的感受：美国和法国这两个伟大的国家齐心协力，一定会给人类创造一个和平的未来。

英文原版

The Autobiography of Marie Curie

Chapter Ⅰ

My Family

I have been asked by my American friends to write the story of my life. At first, the idea seemed alien to me, but I yielded to persuasion. However, I could not conceive my biography as a complete expression of personal feelings or a detailed description of all incidents I would remember. Many of our feelings change with the years, and, when faded away, may seem altogether strange; incidents lose their momentary interest and may be remembered as if they have occurred to some other person. But there may be in a life some general direction, some continuous thread, due to a few dominant ideas and a few strong feelings, that explain the life and are characteristic of a human personality. Of my life, which has not been easy on the whole, I have described the general course and the essential features, and I trust that my story gives an understanding of the state of mind in which I have lived and worked.

My family is of Polish origin, and my name is Marie Sklodowska. My father and my mother both came from among the small Polish landed proprietors. In my country this class is composed of a large number of families, owners of small and medium-sized estates, frequently interrelated. It has been, until recently, chiefly from this group that Poland has drawn her intellectual recruits.

While my paternal grandfather had divided his time between agriculture and directing a provincial college, my father, more strongly drawn to study, followed the course of the University of Petrograd, and later definitely established himself at Warsaw as Professor of Physics and Mathematics in one of the lyceums of that city. He married a young woman whose mode of life was congenial to his; for, although very young, she had, what was, for that time, a very serious education, and was the director of one of the best Warsaw schools for young girls.

My father and mother worshiped their profession in the highest degree and have left, all over their country, a lasting remembrance with their pupils. I cannot, even today, go into Polish society without meeting persons who have tender memories of my parents.

Although my parents adopted a university career, they continued to keep in close touch with their numerous families in the country. It was with their relatives that I frequently spent my vacation, living in all freedom and finding opportunities to know the field life by which I was deeply attracted. To these conditions, so different from the usual villeggiatura, I believe, I owe my love for the country and nature.

Born at Warsaw, on the 7th of November, 1867, I was the last of five children, but my oldest sister died at the early age of fourteen, and we were left, three sisters and a brother. Cruelly struck by the loss of her daughter and worn away by a grave illness, my mother died at forty-two, leaving her husband in the deepest sorrow with his children. I was then only nine years old, and my eldest brother was hardly thirteen.

This catastrophe was the first great sorrow of my life and threw me into a profound depression. My mother had an exceptional personality. With all her intellectuality she had a big heart and a very high sense of duty. And, though possessing infinite indulgence and good nature, she still held in the family a remarkable moral authority. She had an ardent piety (my parents were both Catholics), but she was never intolerant; differences in religious belief did not trouble her; she was equally kind to any one not sharing her opinions. Her influence over me was extraordinary, for in me the natural love of the little girl for her mother was united with a passionate admiration.

Very much affected by the death of my mother, my father devoted himself entirely to his work and to the care of our education. His professional obligations were heavy and left him little leisure time. For many years we all felt weighing on us the loss of the one who had been the soul of the house.

We all started our studies very young. I was only six years old, and, because I was the youngest and smallest in the class, was frequently brought forward to recite when there were visitors. This was a great trial to me, because of my timidity; I wanted always to run away and hide. My father, an excellent educator, was interested in our work and knew how to direct it, but the conditions of our education were difficult. We began our studies in private schools and finished them in those of the government.

Warsaw was then under Russian domination, and one of the worst aspects of this control was the oppression exerted on the schools and the children. The private schools directed by Poles were closely watched by the police and overburdened with the necessity of teaching the Russian language even to children so young that they could scarcely speak their native Polish. Nevertheless, since the teachers were nearly all of Polish nationality, they endeavored in every possible way to mitigate the difficulties resulting from the national persecution. These schools, however, could not legally give diplomas, which were obtainable only in those of the government.

The latter, entirely Russian, were directly opposed to the Polish national spirit. All instruction was given in Russian, by Russian professors, who, being hostile to the Polish nation, treated their pupils as enemies. Men of moral and intellectual distinction could scarcely agree to teach in schools where an alien attitude was forced upon them. So what the pupils were taught was of questionable value, and the moral atmosphere was altogether unbearable. Constantly held in suspicion and spied upon, the children knew that a single conversation in Polish, or an imprudent word, might seriously harm, not only themselves, but also their families. Amidst these hostilities, they lost all the joy of life, and precocious feelings of distrust and indignation weighed upon their childhood. On the other side, this abnormal situation resulted in exciting the patriotic feeling of Polish youths to the highest degree.

Yet of this period of my early youth, darkened though it was by mourning and the sorrow of oppression, I still keep more than one pleasant remembrance. In our quiet but occupied life, reunions of relatives and friends of our family brought some joy. My father was very interested in literature and well acquainted with Polish and foreign poetry; he even composed poetry himself and was able to translate it from foreign languages into Polish in a very successful way. His little poems on family events were our delight. On Saturday evenings he used to recite or read to us the masterpieces of Polish prose and poetry. These evenings were for us a great pleasure and a source of renewed patriotic feelings.

Since my childhood I have had a strong taste for poetry, and I willingly learned by heart long passages from our great poets, the favorite ones being Mickiewecz, Krasinski and Slowacki. This taste was even more developed when I became acquainted with foreign literatures; my early studies included the knowledge of French, German, and Russian, and I soon became familiar with the fine works written in these languages. Later I felt the need of knowing English and succeeded in acquiring the knowledge of that language and its literature.

My musical studies have been very scarce. My mother was a musician and had a beautiful voice. She wanted us to have musical training. After her death, having no more encouragement from her, I soon abandoned this effort, which I often regretted afterwards.

I learned easily mathematics and physics, as far as these sciences were taken in consideration in the school. I found in this ready help from my father, who loved science and had to teach it himself. He enjoyed any explanation he could give us about Nature and her ways. Unhappily, he had no laboratory and could not perform experiments.

The periods of vacations were particularly comforting, when, escaping the strict watch of the police in the city, we took refuge with relatives or friends in the country. There we found the free life of the old-fashioned family estate; races in the woods and joyous participation in work in the far-stretching, level grain-fields. At other times we passed the border of our Russian-ruled division （Congress Poland） and went southwards into the mountain country of Galicia, where the Austrian political control was less oppressive than that which we suffered. There we could speak Polish in all freedom and sing patriotic songs without going to prison.

My first impression of the mountains was very vivid, because I had been brought up in the plains. So I enjoyed immensely our life in the Carpathian villages, the view of the pikes, the excursions to the valleys and to the high mountain lakes with picturesque names such as “The Eye of the Sea.” However, I never lost my attachment to the open horizon and the gentle views of a plain hill country.

Later I had the opportunity to spend a vacation with my father far more south in Podolia, and to have the first view of the sea at Odessa, and afterwards at the Baltic shore. This was a thrilling experience. But it was in France that I become acquainted with the big waves of the ocean and the ever-changing tide. All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.

Thus passed the period of our school life. We all had much facility for intellectual work. My brother, Doctor Sklodowski, having finished his medical studies, became later the chief physician in one of the principal Warsaw hospitals. My sisters and I intended to take up teaching as our parents had done. However, my elder sister, when grown up, changed her mind and decided to study medicine. She took the degree of doctor at the Paris University, married Doctor Dluski, a Polish physician, and together they established an important sanatorium in a wonderfully beautiful Carpathian mountain place of Austrian Poland. My second sister, married in Warsaw, Mrs. Szalay, was for many years a teacher in the schools, where she rendered great service. Later she was appointed in one of the lyceums of free Poland.

I was but fifteen when I finished my high-school studies, always having held first rank in my class. The fatigue of growth and study compelled me to take almost a year’s rest in the country. I then returned to my father in Warsaw, hoping to teach in the free schools. But family circumstances obliged me to change my decision. My father, now aged and tired, needed rest; his fortune was very modest. So I resolved to accept a position as governess for several children. Thus, when scarcely seventeen, I left my father’s house to begin an independent life.

That going away remains one of the most vivid memories of my youth. My heart was heavy as I climbed into the railway car. It was to carry me for several hours, away from those I loved. And after the railway journey I must drive for five hours longer. What experience was awaiting me? So I questioned as I sat close to the car window looking out across the wide plains.

The father of the family to which I went was an agriculturist. His oldest daughter was about my age, and although working with me, was my companion rather than my pupil. There were two younger children, a boy and a girl. My relations with my pupils were friendly; after our lessons we went together for daily walks. Loving the country, I did not feel lonesome, and although this particular country was not especially picturesque, I was satisfied with it in all seasons. I took the greatest interest in the agricultural development of the estate where the methods were considered as models for the region. I knew the progressive details of the work, the distribution of crops in the fields; I eagerly followed the growth of the plants, and in the stables of the farm I knew the horses.

In winter the vast plains, covered with snow, were not lacking in charm, and we went for long sleigh rides. Sometimes we could hardly see the road. “Look out for the ditch!” I would call to the driver. “You are going straight into it,” and “Never fear!” he would answer, as over we went! But these tumbles only added to the gayety of our excursions.

I remember the marvelous snow house we made one winter when the snow was very high in the fields; we could sit in it and look out across the rose-tinted snow plains. We also used to skate on the ice of the river and to watch the weather anxiously, to make sure that the ice was not going to give way, depriving us of our pleasure.

Since my duties with my pupils did not take up all my time, I organized a small class for the children of the village who could not be educated under the Russian government. In this the oldest daughter of the house aided me. We taught the little children and the girls who wished to come how to read and write, and we put in circulation Polish books which were appreciated, too, by the parents. Even this innocent work presented danger, as all initiative of this kind was forbidden by the government and might bring imprisonment or deportation to Siberia.

My evenings I generally devoted to study. I had heard that a few women had succeeded in following certain courses in Petrograd or in foreign countries, and I was determined to prepare myself by preliminary work to follow their example.

I had not yet decided what path I would choose. I was as much interested in literature and sociology as in science. However, during these years of isolated work, trying little by little to find my real preferences, I finally turned towards mathematics and physics, and resolutely undertook a serious preparation for future work. This work I proposed doing in Paris, and I hoped to save enough money to be able to live and work in that city for some time.

My solitary study was beset with difficulties. The scientific education I had received at the lyceum was very incomplete; it was well under the bachelorship program of a French lyceum; I tried to add to it in my own way, with the help of books picked up at random. This method could not be greatly productive, yet it was not without results. I acquired the habit of independent work, and learned a few things which were to be of use later on.

I had to modify my plans for the future when my eldest sister decided to go to Paris to study medicine. We had promised each other mutual aid, but our means did not permit of our leaving together. So I kept my position for three and a half years, and, having finished my work with my pupils, I returned to Warsaw, where a position, similar to the one I had left, was awaiting me.

I kept this new place for only a year and then went back to my father, who had retired some time before and was living alone. Together we passed an excellent year, he occupying himself with some literary work, while I increased our funds by giving private lessons. Meantime I continued my efforts to educate myself. This was no easy task under the Russian government of Warsaw; yet I found more opportunities than in the country. To my great joy, I was able, for the first time in my life, to find access to a laboratory: a small municipal physical laboratory directed by one of my cousins. I found little time to work there, except in the evenings and on Sundays, and was generally left to myself. I tried out various experiments described in treatises on physics and chemistry, and the results were sometimes unexpected. At times I would be encouraged by a little unhoped-for success, at others I would be in the deepest despair because of accidents and failures resulting from my inexperience. But on the whole, though I was taught that the way of progress is neither swift nor easy, this first trial confirmed in me the taste for experimental research in the fields of physics and chemistry.

Other means of instruction came to me through my being one of an enthusiastic group of young men and women of Warsaw, who united in a common desire to study, and whose activities were at the same time social and patriotic. It was one of those groups of Polish youths who believed that the hope of their country lay in a great effort to develop the intellectual and moral strength of the nation, and that such an effort would lead to a better national situation. The nearest purpose was to work at one’s own instruction and to provide means of instruction for workmen and peasants. In accordance with this program we agreed among ourselves to give evening courses, each one teaching what he knew best. There is no need to say that this was a secret organization, which made everything extremely difficult. There were in our group very devoted young people who, as I still believe today, could do truly useful work.

I have a bright remembrance of the sympathetic intellectual and social companionship which I enjoyed at that time. Truly the means of action were poor and the results obtained could not be considerable; yet I still believe that the ideas which inspired us then are the only way to real social progress. You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.

All the experiences of this period intensified my longing for further study. And, in his affection for me, my father, in spite of limited resources, helped me to hasten the execution of my early project. My sister had just married at Paris, and it was decided that I should go there to live with her. My father and I hoped that, once my studies were finished, we would again live happily together. Fate was to decide otherwise, since my marriage was to hold me in France. My father, who in his own youth had wished to do scientific work, was consoled in our separation by the progressive success of my work. I keep a tender memory of his kindness and disinterestedness. He lived with the family of my married brother, and, like an excellent grandfather, brought up the children. We had the sorrow of losing him in 1902, when he had just passed seventy.

So it was in November, 1891, at the age of twenty-four, that I was able to realize the dream that had been always present in my mind for several years.

When I arrived in Paris I was affectionately welcomed by my sister and brother-in-law, but I stayed with them only for a few months, for they lived in one of the outside quarters of Paris where my brother-in-law was beginning a medical practice, and I needed to get nearer to the schools. I was finally installed, like many other students of my country, in a modest little room for which I gathered some furniture. I kept to this way of living during the four years of my student life.

It would be impossible to tell of all the good these years brought to me. Undistracted by any outside occupation, I was entirely absorbed in the joy of learning and understanding. Yet, all the while, my living conditions were far from easy, my own funds being small and my family not having the means to aid me as they would have liked to do. However, my situation was not exceptional; it was the familiar experience of many of the Polish students whom I knew. The room I lived in was in a garret, very cold in winter, for it was insufficiently heated by a small stove which often lacked coal. During a particularly rigorous winter, it was not unusual for the water to freeze in the basin in the night; to be able to sleep I was obliged to pile all my clothes on the bedcovers. In the same room I prepared my meals with the aid of an alcohol lamp and a few kitchen utensils. These meals were often reduced to bread with a cup of chocolate, eggs or fruit. I had no help in housekeeping and I myself carried the little coal I used up the six flights.

This life, painful from certain points of view, had, for all that, a real charm for me. It gave me a very precious sense of liberty and independence. Unknown in Paris, I was lost in the great city, but the feeling of living there alone, taking care of myself without any aid, did not at all depress me. If sometimes I felt lonesome, my usual state of mind was one of calm and great moral satisfaction.

All my mind was centered on my studies, which, especially at the beginning, were difficult. In fact, I was insufficiently prepared to follow the physical science course at the Sorbonne, for, despite all my efforts, I had not succeeded in acquiring in Poland a preparation as complete as that of the French students following the same course. So I was obliged to supply this deficiency, especially in mathematics. I divided my time between courses, experimental work, and study in the library. In the evening I worked in my room, sometimes very late into the night. All that I saw and learned that was new delighted me. It was like a new world opened to me, the world of science, which I was at last permitted to know in all liberty.

I have pleasant memories of my relations with my student companions. Reserved and shy at the beginning, it was not long before I noticed that the students, nearly all of whom worked seriously, were disposed to be friendly. Our conversations about our studies deepened our interest in the problems we discussed.

Among the Polish students I did not have any companions in my studies. Nevertheless, my relations with their small colony had a certain intimacy. From time to time we would gather in one another’s bare rooms, where we could talk over national questions and feel less isolated. We would also go for walks together, or attend public reunions, for we were all interested in politics. By the end of the first year, however, I was forced to give up these relationships, for I found that all my energy had to be concentrated on my studies, in order to achieve them as soon as possible. I was even obliged to devote most of my vacation time to mathematics.

My persistent efforts were not in vain. I was able to make up for the deficiency of my training and to pass examinations at the same time with the other students. I even had the satisfaction of graduating in first rank as “licenciée es sciences physiques” in 1893, and in second rank as “licenciée es sciences mathématiques” in 1894.

My brother-in-law, recalling later these years of work under the conditions I have just described, jokingly referred to them as “the heroic period of my sister-in-law’s life”. For myself, I shall always consider one of the best memories of my life that period of solitary years exclusively devoted to the studies, finally within my reach, for which I had waited so long.

It was in 1894 that I first met Pierre Curie. One of my compatriots, a professor at the University of Fribourg, having called upon me, invited me to his home, with a young physicist of Paris, whom he knew and esteemed highly. Upon entering the room I perceived, standing framed by the French window opening on the balcony, a tall young man with auburn hair and large, limpid eyes. I noticed the grave and gentle expression of his face, as well as a certain abandon in his attitude, suggesting the dreamer absorbed in his reflections. He showed me a simple cordiality and seemed to me very sympathetic. After that first interview he expressed the desire to see me again and to continue our conversation of that evening on scientific and social subjects in which he and I were both interested, and on which we seemed to have similar opinions.

Some time later, he came to me in my student room and we became good friends. He described to me his days, filled with work, and his dream of an existence entirely devoted to science. He was not long in asking me to share that existence, but I could not decide at once; I hesitated before a decision that meant abandoning my country and my family.

I went back to Poland for my vacation, without knowing whether or not I was to return to Paris. But circumstances permitted me again to take up my work there in the autumn of that year. I entered one of the physics laboratories at the Sorbonne, to begin experimental research in preparation for my doctor’s thesis.

Again I saw Pierre Curie. Our work drew us closer and closer, until we were both convinced that neither of us could find a better life companion. So our marriage was decided upon and took place a little later, in July, 1895.

Pierre Curie had just received his doctor’s degree and had been made professor in the School of Physics and Chemistry of the City of Paris. He was thirty-six years old, and already a physicist known and appreciated in France and abroad. Solely preoccupied with scientific investigation, he had paid little attention to his career, and his material resources were very modest. He lived at Sceaux, in the suburbs of Paris, with his old parents, whom he loved tenderly, and whom he described as “exquisite” the first time he spoke to me about them. In fact, they were so: the father was an elderly physician of high intellect and strong character, and the mother the most excellent of women, entirely devoted to her husband and her sons. Pierre’s elder brother, who was then professor at the University of Montpellier, was always his best friend. So I had the privilege of entering into a family worthy of affection and esteem, and where I found the warmest welcome.

We were married in the simplest way. I wore no unusual dress on my marriage day, and only a few friends were present at the ceremony, but I had the joy of having my father and my second sister come from Poland.

We did not care for more than a quiet place in which to live and to work, and were happy to find a little apartment of three rooms with a beautiful view of a garden. A few pieces of furniture came to us from our parents. With a money gift from a relative we acquired two bicycles to take us out into the country.

Chapter Ⅱ

Married Life

With my marriage there began for me a new existence entirely different from the solitary life that I had known during the preceding years. My husband and I were so closely united by our affection and our common work that we passed nearly all of our time together. I have only a few letters from him, for we were so little apart. My husband spent all the time he could spare from his teaching at his research work in the laboratory of the school in which he was professor and I obtained authorization to work with him.

Our living apartment was near the school, so we lost little time in going and coming. As our material resources were limited, I was obliged to attend to most of the housekeeping myself, particularly the preparation of meals. It was not easy to reconcile these household duties with my scientific work, yet, with good will, I managed it. The great thing was that we were alone together in the little home which gave us a peace and intimacy that were very enjoyable for us.

At the same time that I was working in the laboratory, I still had to take a few study courses, for I had decided to take part in the examination for a certificate that would allow me to teach young girls. If I succeeded in this, I would be entitled to be named professor. In August, 1896, after having devoted several months to preparation, I came out first in the examination.

Our principal distraction from the close work of the laboratory consisted in walks or bicycle rides in the country. My husband greatly enjoyed the out-of-doors and took great interest in the plants and animals of woods and meadows. Hardly a corner in the vicinity of Paris was unknown to him. I also loved the country and these excursions were a great joy for me as well as to him, relieving our mind from the tension of the scientific work. We used to bring home bunches of flowers. Sometimes we forgot all about the time and got back late at night. We visited regularly my husband’s parents where our room was always ready.

In the vacation we went on longer outings by means of our bicycles. In this way we covered much ground in Auvergne and in the Cevennes and visited several regions at the seashore. We took a great delight in these long all-day excursions, arriving at night always in a new place. If we stayed in one place too long, my husband began to wish to get back to the laboratory. It is also in vacation time that we visited once my family in the Carpathian Mountains. My husband learned some Polish in view of this journey to Poland.

But first of all in our life was our scientific work. My husband gave much care to the preparation of his courses, and I gave him some assistance in this, which, at the time, helped me in my education. However, most of our time was devoted to our laboratory researches.

My husband did not then have a private laboratory. He could, to some extent, use the laboratory of the school for his own work, but found more freedom by installing himself in some unused corner of the Physics School building. I thus learned from his example that one could work happily even in very insufficient quarters. At this time my husband was occupied with researches on crystals, while I undertook an investigation of the magnetic properties of steel. This work was completed and published in 1897.

In that same year the birth of our first daughter brought a great change in our life. A few weeks later my husband’s mother died and his father came to live with us. We took a small house with a garden at the border of Paris and continued to occupy this house as long as my husband lived.

It became a serious problem how to take care of our little Irene and of our home without giving up my scientific work. Such a renunciation would have been very painful to me, and my husband would not even think of it; he used to say that he had got a wife made expressly for him to share all his preoccupations. Neither of us would contemplate abandoning what was so precious to both.

Of course we had to have a servant, but I personally saw to all the details of the child’s care. While I was in the laboratory, she was in the care of her grandfather, who loved her tenderly and whose own life was made brighter by her. So the close union of our family enabled me to meet my obligations. Things were particularly difficult only in case of more exceptional events, such as a child’s illness, when sleepless nights interrupted the normal course of life.

It can be easily understood that there was no place in our life for worldly relations. We saw but a few friends, scientific workers, like ourselves, with whom we talked in our home or in our garden, while I did some sewing for my little girl. We also maintained affectionate relations with my husband’s brother and his family. But I was separated from all my relatives, as my sister had left Paris with her husband to live in Poland.

It was under this mode of quiet living, organized according to our desires, that we achieved the great work of our lives, work begun about the end of 1897 and lasting for many years.

I had decided on a theme for my doctorate. My attention had been drawn to the interesting experiments of Henri Becquerel on the salts of the rare metal uranium. Becquerel had shown that by placing some uranium salt on a photographic plate, covered with black paper, the plate would be affected as if light had fallen on it. The effect is produced by special rays which are emitted by the uranium salt and are different from ordinary luminous rays as they can pass through black paper. Becquerel also showed that these rays can discharge an electroscope. He at first thought that the uranium rays were produced as a result of exposing the uranium salt to light, but experiment showed that salts kept for several months in the dark continued the peculiar rays.

My husband and I were much excited by this new phenomenon, and I resolved to undertake the special study of it. It seemed to me that the first thing to do was to measure the phenomenon with precision. In this I decided to use that property of the rays which enabled them to discharge an electroscope. However, instead of the usual electroscope, I used a more perfect apparatus. One of the models of the apparatus used by me for these first measurements is now in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Philadelphia.

I was not long in obtaining interesting results. My determinations showed that the emission of the rays is an atomic property of the uranium, whatever the physical or chemical conditions of the salt were. Any substance containing uranium is as much more active in emitting rays, as it contains more of this element.

I then thought to find out if there were other substances possessing this remarkable property of uranium, and soon found that substances containing thorium behaved in a similar way, and that this behavior depended similarly on an atomic property of thorium. I was now about to undertake a detailed study of the uranium and thorium rays when I discovered a new interesting fact.

I had occasion to examine a certain number of minerals. A few of them showed activity; they were those containing either uranium or thorium. The activity of these minerals would have had nothing astonishing about it, if it had been in proportion to the quantities of uranium or thorium contained in them. But it was not so. Some of these minerals revealed an activity three or four times greater than that of uranium. I verified this surprising fact carefully, and could not doubt its truth. Speculating about the reason for this, there seemed to be but one explanation. There must be, I thought, some unknown substance, very active, in these minerals. My husband agreed with me and I urged that we search at once for this hypothetical substance, thinking that, with joined efforts, a result would be quickly obtained. Neither of us could foresee that in beginning this work we were to enter the path of a new science which we should follow for all our future.

Of course, I did not expect, even at the beginning, to find a new element in any large quantity, as the minerals had already been analyzed with some precision. At least, I thought there might be as much as one per cent of the unknown substance in the minerals. But the more we worked, the clearer we realized that the new radioactive element could exist only in quite minute proportion and that, in consequence, its activity must be very great. Would we have insisted, despite the scarcity of our means of research, if we had known the true proportion of what we were searching for, no one can tell; all that can be said now is that the constant progress of our work held us absorbed in a passionate research, while the difficulties were ever increasing. As a matter of fact, it was only after several years of most arduous labor that we finally succeeded in completely separating the new substance, now known to everybody as radium. Here is, briefly, the story of the search and discovery.

As we did not know, at the beginning, any of the chemical properties of the unknown substance, but only that it emits rays, it was by these rays that we had to search. We first undertook the analysis of a pitchblende from St. Joachimsthal. Analyzing this ore by the usual chemical methods, we added an examination of its different parts for radioactivity, by the use of our delicate electrical apparatus. This was the foundation of a new method of chemical analysis which, following our work, has been extended, with the result that a large number of radioactive elements have been discovered.

In a few weeks, we could be convinced that our prevision had been right, for the activity was concentrating in a regular way. And, in a few months, we could separate from the pitchblende a substance accompanying the bismuth, much more active than uranium, and having well defined chemical properties. In July, 1898, we announced the existence of this new substance, to which I gave the name of polonium, in memory of my native country.

While engaged in this work on polonium, we had also discovered that, accompanying the barium separated from the pitchblende, there was another new element. After several months more of close work we were able to separate this second new substance, which was afterwards shown to be much more important than polonium. In December, 1898, we could announce the discovery of this new and now famous element, to which we gave the name of radium.

However, the greatest part of the material work had yet to be done. We had, to be sure, discovered the existence of the remarkable new elements, but it was chiefly by their radiant properties that these new substances were distinguished from the bismuth and barium with which they were mixed in minute quantities. We had still to separate them as pure elements. On this work we now started.

We were very poorly equipped with facilities for this purpose. It was necessary to subject large quantities of ore to careful chemical treatment. We had no money, no suitable laboratory, no personal help for our great and difficult undertaking. It was like creating something out of nothing, and if my earlier studying years had once been called by my brother-in-law the heroic period of my life, I can say without exaggeration that the period on which my husband and I now entered was truly the heroic one of our common life.

We knew by our experiments that in the treatment of pitchblende at the uranium plant of St. Joachimsthal, radium must have been left in the residues, and, with the permission of the Austrian government, which owned the plant, we succeeded in securing a certain quantity of these residues, then quite valueless, -- and used them for extraction of radium. How glad I was when the sacks arrived, with the brown dust mixed with pine needles, and when the activity proved even greater than that of the primitive ore! It was a stroke of luck that the residues had not been thrown far away or disposed of in some way, but left in a heap in the pine wood near the plant. Some time later, the Austrian government, on the proposition of the Academy of Science of Vienna, let us have several tons of similar residues at a low price. With this material was prepared all the radium I had in my laboratory up to the date when I received the precious gift from the American women.

The School of Physics could give us no suitable premises, but for lack of anything better, the Director permitted us to use an abandoned shed which had been in service as a dissecting room of the School of Medicine. Its glass roof did not afford complete shelter against rain; the heat was suffocating in summer, and the bitter cold of winter was only a little lessened by the iron stove, except in its immediate vicinity. There was no question of obtaining the needed proper apparatus in common use by chemists. We simply had some old pine-wood tables with furnaces and gas burners. We had to use the adjoining yard for those of our chemical operations that involved producing irritating gases; even then the gas often filled our shed. With this equipment we entered on our exhausting work.

Yet it was in this miserable old shed that we passed the best and happiest years of our life, devoting our entire days to our work. Often I had to prepare our lunch in the shed, so as not to interrupt some particularly important operation. Sometimes I had to spend a whole day mixing a boiling mass with a heavy iron rod nearly as large as myself. I would be broken with fatigue at the day’s end. Other days, on the contrary, the work would be a most minute and delicate fractional crystallization, in the effort to concentrate the radium. I was then annoyed by the floating dust of iron and coal from which I could not protect my precious products. But I shall never be able to express the joy of the untroubled quietness of this atmosphere of research and the excitement of actual progress with the confident hope of still better results. The feeling of discouragement that sometimes came after some unsuccessful toil did not last long and gave way to renewed activity. We had happy moments devoted to a quiet discussion of our work, walking around our shed.

One of our joys was to go into our workroom at night; we then perceived on all sides the feebly luminous silhouettes of the bottles or capsules containing our products. It was really a lovely sight and one always new to us. The glowing tubes looked like faint, fairy lights.

Thus the months passed, and our efforts, hardly interrupted by short vacations, brought forth more and more complete evidence. Our faith growing ever stronger, and our work being more and more known, we found means to get new quantities of raw material and to carry on some of our crude processes in a factory, allowing me to give more time to the delicate finishing treatment.

At this stage, I devoted myself especially to the purification of the radium, my husband being absorbed by the study of the physical properties of the rays emitted by the new substances. It was only after treating one ton of pitchblende residues that I could get definite results. Indeed we know today that even in the best minerals there are not more than a few decigrammes of radium in a ton of raw material.

At last, the time came when the isolated substances showed all the characters of a pure chemical body. This body, the radium, gives a characteristic spectrum, and I was able to determine for it an atomic weight much higher than that of the barium. This was achieved in 1902. I then possessed one decigramme of very pure radium chloride. It has taken me almost four years to produce the kind of evidence which chemical science demands, that radium is truly a new element. One year would probably have been enough for the same purpose, if reasonable means had been at my disposal. The demonstration that cost so much effort was the basis of the new science of radioactivity.

In later years, I was able to prepare several decigrammes of pure radium salt, to make a more accurate determination of the atomic weight and even to isolate the pure radium metal. However, 1902 was the year in which the existence and character of radium were definitely established.

We had been able to live for several years entirely engrossed in the work of research, but gradually circumstances changed. In 1900, my husband was offered a professorship in the University of Geneva, but almost simultaneously he obtained a position of assistant professor at the Sorbonne, and I was made professor at the Normal Superior School for young girls at Sèvres. So we remained in Paris.

I became much interested in my work in the Normal School, and endeavored to develop more fully the practical laboratory exercises of the pupils. These pupils were girls of about twenty years who had entered the school after severe examination and had still to work very seriously to meet the requirements that would enable them to be named professors in the lycées. All these young women worked with great eagerness, and it was a pleasure for me to direct their studies in physics.

But a growing notoriety, because of the announcement of our discoveries, began to trouble our quiet work in the laboratory, and, little by little, life became more difficult. In 1903, I finished my doctor’s thesis and obtained the degree. At the end of the same year the Nobel Prize was awarded jointly to Becquerel, my husband and me for the discovery of radioactivity and new radioactive elements.

This event greatly increased the publicity of our work. For some time there was no more peace. Visitors and demands for lectures and articles interrupted every day.

The award of the Nobel Prize was a great honor. It is also known that the material means provided by this prize was much greater than is usual in prizes for science. This was a great help in the continuation of our researches. Unhappily, we were overtired and had a succession of failures of health for the one or the other of us, so that it was not until 1905 that we were able to go to Stockholm, where my husband gave his Nobel lecture and where we were well received.

The fatigue resulting from the effort exceeding our forces, imposed by the unsatisfactory conditions of our labor, was augmented by the invasion of publicity. The overturn of our voluntary isolation was a cause of real suffering for us and had all the effect of disaster. It was serious trouble brought into the organization of our life, and I have already explained how indispensable was our freedom from external distraction, in order to maintain our family life and our scientific activity. Of course, people who contribute to that kind of trouble generally mean it kindly. It is only that they do not realize the conditions of the problem.

In 1904, our second daughter, Eve Denise, came to us. I had, of course, to interrupt my work in the laboratory for a while. In the same year, because of the awarding of the Nobel Prize and the general public recognition, a new chair of physics was created in Sorbonne, and my husband was named as its occupant. At the same time I was named chief of work in the laboratory that was to be created for him. But in reality the laboratory was not constructed then, and only a few rooms taken from other uses were available to us.

In 1906, just as we were definitely giving up the old shed laboratory where we had been so happy, there came the dreadful catastrophe which took my husband away from me and left me alone to bring up our children and, at the same time, to continue our work of research.

It is impossible for me to express the profoundness and importance of the crisis brought into my life by the loss of the one who had been my closest companion and best friend. Crushed by the blow, I did not feel able to face the future. I could not forget, however, what my husband used sometimes to say, that, even deprived of him, I ought to continue my work.

The death of my husband, coming immediately after the general knowledge of the discoveries with which his name is associated, was felt by the public, and especially by the scientific circles, to be a national misfortune. It was largely under the influence of this emotion that the Faculty of Sciences of Paris decided to offer me the chair, as professor, which my husband had occupied only one year and a half in the Sorbonne. It was an exceptional decision, as up to then no woman had held such a position. The University by doing this offered me a precious mark of esteem and gave me opportunity to pursue the researches which otherwise might have had to be abandoned. I had not expected a gift of this kind; I never had any other ambition than to be able to work freely for science. The honor that now came to me was deeply painful under the cruel circumstances of its coming. Besides I wondered whether I would be able to face such a grave responsibility. After much hesitation, I decided that I ought at least to try to meet the task, and so I began in 1906 my teaching in the Sorbonne, as assistant professor, and two years later I was named titular professor.

In my new situation the difficulties of my life were considerably augmented, as I alone had now to carry the burden formerly weighing on my husband and me together. The cares of my young children required close vigilance; in this, my husband’s father, who continued to live with us, willingly took his share. He was happy to be occupied with the little girls, whose company was his chief consolation after his son’s death. By his effort and mine, the children had a bright home, even if we lived with our inner grief, which they were too young to realize. The strong desire of my father-in-law being to live in the country, we took a house with a garden in Sceaux, a suburb of Paris, from which I could reach the city in half an hour.

This country life had great advantages, not only for my father-in-law, who enjoyed his new surroundings, especially his garden, but also for my girls, who had the benefit of walks in the open country. But they were more separated from me, and it became necessary to have a governess for them. This position was filled first by one of my cousins, and then by a devoted woman who had already brought up the daughter of one of my sisters. Both of them were Polish, and in this way my daughters learned my native tongue. From time to time, some one of my Polish family came to see me in my grief, and we managed to meet in vacation time, at the seashore in France, and once in the mountains of Poland.

In 1910, we suffered the loss of my very dear father-in-law, after a long illness, which brought me many sorrowful days. I used to spend at his bedside as much time as I could, listening to his remembrances of passed years. His death affected deeply my elder daughter, who, at twelve, knew the value of the cheerful hours spent in his company.

There were few resources for the education of my daughters in Sceaux. The youngest one, a small child, needed principally a hygienic life, outdoor walks and quite elementary schooling. She had already shown a vivid intelligence and an unusual disposition for music. Her elder sister resembled her father in the form of her intelligence. She was not quick, but one could already see that she had a gift of reasoning power and that she would like science. She had some training in a private school in Paris, but I had not wanted to keep her in a lycée, as I have always found the class hours in these schools too long for the health of the children.

My view is that in the education of children the requirement of their growth and physical evolution should be respected, and that some time should be left for their artistic culture. In most schools, as they exist today, the time spent in various reading and writing exercises is too great, and the study required to be done at home too much. I also find these schools lacking, in general, in practical exercises to accompany the scientific studies.

With a few friends in the university circle who shared these views, we organized, therefore, a cooperative group for the education of our children, each of us taking charge of the teaching of a particular subject to all of the young people. We were all very busy with other things, and the children varied in age. Nevertheless, the little experiment thus made was very interesting. With a small number of classes we yet succeeded in reuniting the scientific and literary elements of a desirable culture. The courses in science were accompanied by practical exercises in which the children took great interest.

This arrangement, which lasted two years, proved to be very beneficial for most of the children; it was certainly so for my elder daughter. Following this preparation, she was able to enter a higher class in one of the colleges of Paris, and had no difficulty in passing her bachelor’s examination before the usual age, after which she continued her scientific studies in the Sorbonne. My second daughter, although not benefiting by a similar arrangement for her earlier studies, at first followed the classes of a college only partially, and later completely. She showed herself a good pupil, doing satisfactory work in all directions.

I wanted very much to assure for my children a rational physical education. Next to outdoor walks, I attach a great importance to gymnastics and sports. This side of a girl’s education is still rather neglected in France. I took care that my children did gymnastics regularly. I was also careful to have them spend vacations either in the mountains or at the seashore. They can canoe and swim very well and are not afraid of a long walk or a bicycle ride.

But of course the care of my children’s education was only a part of my duties, my professional occupations taking most of my time. I have been frequently questioned, especially by women, how I could reconcile family life with a scientific career. Well, it has not been easy; it required a great deal of decision and of self-sacrifice. However, the family bond has been preserved between me and my now grown-up daughters, and life is made brighter by the mutual affection and understanding in our home, where I could not suffer a harsh word or selfish behavior.

In 1906, when I succeeded my husband at the Sorbonne, I had only a provisional laboratory with little space and most limited equipment. A few scientists and students had already been admitted to work there with my husband and me. With their help, I was able to continue the course of research with good success.

In 1907, I received a precious mark of sympathy from Mr. Andrew Carnegie, who donated to my laboratory an annual income for research fellowships which enabled some advanced students or scientists to devote their whole time to investigation. Such foundations are very encouraging to those whose inclinations and talents are such as to warrant their entire devotion to research work. They ought to be multiplied in the interest of science.

As for myself, I had to devote again a great deal of time to the preparation of several decigrammes of very pure radium chloride. With this I achieved, in 1907, a new determination of the atomic weight of radium, and in 1910, I was able to isolate the metal. The operation, an extremely delicate one, was performed with the assistance of a distinguished chemist belonging to the laboratory staff. It has never been repeated since that time, because it involves a serious danger of loss of radium, which can be avoided only with utmost care. So I saw at last the mysterious white metal, but could not keep it in this state, for it was required for further experiments.

As for the polonium, I have not been able to isolate it, its quantity in the mineral being even much less than the quantity of radium. However, very concentrated polonium has been prepared in my laboratory, and important experiments have been performed with this substance, concerning especially the production of helium by radiation of polonium.

I had to devote special care to the improvement of the measuring methods in the laboratory. I have told how important precise measurements were in the discovery of radium. It is still to be hoped that efficient methods of quantitative determination may lead to new discoveries.

I devised a very satisfactory method for determining the quantity of radium by means of a radioactive gas produced by it and called “emanation”. This method, frequently used in my laboratory, permits of the measurement of very small quantities of radium (less than a thousandth of a milligramme) with a fair precision. More important quantities are often measured by their penetrating radiation, named Gamma-rays. For this we also possess in my laboratory a suitable equipment. It is easier and more satisfactory to measure the radium by the emitted rays than to weigh it in a balance. However, these measurements require the disposition of reliable standards. So the question of a radium standard had to be taken into careful consideration.

The measurements of radium had to be established on a solid basis, for the benefit of laboratories and scientific research, which, of course, is in itself an important reason, and moreover, the growing medical utilization of this substance made it necessary to control the relative purity of commercially produced radium.

The first experiments on the biological properties of radium were successfully made in France with samples from our laboratory, while my husband was living. The results were, at once, encouraging, so that the new branch of medical science, called “radium therapy” (in France, “Curietherapy”), developed rapidly, first in France and later in other countries. To supply the radium wanted for this purpose, a radium-producing industry was established. The first plant was created in France and worked very successfully, but afterwards manufactures were founded in other countries, the most important of which are now in America, where great quantities of radium ore, named “carnotite”, are available. The radium therapy and the radium production developed conjointly, and the results were more and more important, for the treatment of several diseases, and particularly of cancer. As a consequence of this, several institutes have been founded, in the large cities, for the application of the new therapy. Some of these institutes own several grammes of radium, the commercial price of a gramme being now about $70,000, the cost of production depending on the very small proportion of radium in the ore.

It may be easily understood how deeply I appreciated the privilege of realizing that our discovery had become a benefit to mankind, not only through its great scientific importance, but also by its power of efficient action against human suffering and terrible disease. This was indeed a splendid reward for our years of hard toil.

The success of the therapy depends, of course, on the precise knowledge of the quantity of radium which is used, so that the measurements of radium are as important for industry and for medicine as for physicochemical research.

Considering all these needs, a commission of scientific men of different countries was formed who agreed to take as a base an international standard, formed of a carefully weighed quantity of pure radium salt. Secondary standards were then to be prepared for each country, and compared to the basic standard by means of their radiation. I was appointed to prepare the primary standard.

This was a very delicate operation, as the weight of the standard sample, quite small (about 21 milligrammes of chloride), had to be determined with great precision. I performed the preparation in 1911. The standard is a thin glass tube, of a few centimeters in length, containing the pure salt which was used for the determination of atomic weight. It was accepted by the Commission and was deposited in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Sèvres, near Paris. Several secondary standards, compared with the primary one, have been put into service by the Commission. In France the control of radium tubes, by the measurement of their radiation, takes place in my laboratory, where any one may bring the radium to be tested; in the United States this is done in the Bureau of Standards.

Near the end of the year 1910, I was proposed for the decoration of the Legion of Honor. A similar proposal was made earlier in favor of my husband, who, however, being opposed to all honorary distinctions, did not accept the nomination. As my husband and I were too united in all things for me to act differently from him in this matter, I did not accept the decoration, in spite of the insistence of the Ministry. At that time also, several colleagues persuaded me to be a candidate for election to the Academy of Sciences, of Paris, of which my husband was a member during the last months of his life. I hesitated very much, as such a candidacy requires, by custom, a great number of personal visits to Academy members. However, I consented to offer myself a candidate, because of the advantages an election would have for my laboratory. My candidacy provoked a vivid public interest, especially because it involved the question of the admission of women to the Academy. Many of the Academicians were opposed to this in principle, and when the scrutiny was made, I had a few votes less than was necessary. I do not ever wish to renew my candidacy, because of my strong distaste for the personal solicitation required. I believe that all such elections should be based wholly on a spontaneous decision, without any personal efforts involved, as was the case for several Academies and Societies which made me a member without any demand or initiative on my part.

As a result of all the cares devolving on me, I fell seriously ill at the end of 1911, when, for the second time, I received, this time alone, the award of the Nobel prize. This was a very exceptional honor, a high recognition of the discovery of the new elements and of the preparation of pure radium. Suffering though I was, I went to Stockholm to receive the prize. The journey was extremely painful for me. I was accompanied by my eldest sister and my young daughter Irene. The ceremony of delivery of the Nobel prizes is very impressive, having the features of a national solemnity. A most generous reception was accorded me, specially by the women of Sweden. This was a great comfort to me, but I was suffering so much that when I returned I had to stay in bed for several months. This grave illness, as well as the necessities of my children’s education, obliged me to move my home from Sceaux to Paris.

During the year 1912, I had the opportunity of collaborating in the creation of a laboratory of radium at Warsaw. This laboratory was founded by the Scientific Society of Warsaw which offered me its direction. I could not leave France to go back to my native country, but I willingly agreed to occupy myself with the organization of the studies in the new laboratory. In 1913, having improved my health, I was able to attend an inauguration fete in Warsaw, where a touching reception was given, leaving me an unforgettable memory of national sentiment which succeeded in creating useful work under particularly difficult political conditions.

While still only partially recovered from my illness, I renewed my efforts for the construction of a suitable laboratory in Paris. Finally it was arranged for, and work began in 1912. The Pasteur Institute wished to be associated with this laboratory, and, in accord with the University, it was decided to create an Institute of Radium, with two laboratories, one of physics and one of biology, the first to be devoted to studies of the physical and chemical properties of the radioactive elements, the second to the study of their biological and medical applications. But, because of the lack of financial means, the construction work proceeded very slowly, and was not yet entirely finished when the war broke out in 1914.

Chapter Ⅲ

At War

In 1914, it happened, as it often had in other years, that my daughters had left Paris for their summer vacation before me. They were accompanied by their governess, in whom I had all confidence, and were living in a small house on the seashore in Brittany, at a place where there were also the families of several of our good friends. My work did not generally permit me to pass the entire vacation near them without interruption.

That year I was preparing to join them in the last days of July, when I was stopped by the bad political news, with its premonitions of an imminent military mobilization. It did not seem possible for me to leave under these conditions, and I waited for further events. The mobilization was announced on August 1st, immediately followed by Germany’s declaration of war on France. The few men of the laboratory staff and the students were mobilized, and I was left alone with our mechanic who could not join the army because of a serious heart trouble.

The historic events that followed are known to every one, but only those who lived in Paris through the days of August and September, 1914, can ever really know the state of mind in the capital and the quiet courage shown by it. The mobilization was a general wave of all France passing out to the border for the defense of the land. All our interest now centered on the news from the front.

After the uncertainties of the first days, this news became more and more grave.

First, it was the invasion of Belgium and the heroic resistance of that little country; then the victorious march of the German army through the valley of the Oise toward Paris; and soon the departure of the French government to Bordeaux, followed by the leaving of those Parisians who could not, or would not, face the possible danger of German occupation. The overloaded trains took into the country a great number of people, mostly of the well-to-do class. But, on the whole, the people of Paris gave a strong impression of calm and quiet decision in that fateful year of 1914. In the end of August and the beginning of September the weather was radiant, and under the glorious sky of those days the great city with its architectural treasures seemed to be particularly dear to those who remained in it.

When the danger of German attack on Paris became pressing, I felt obliged to put in security the supply of radium then in my laboratory, and I was charged by the government to take it to Bordeaux for safety. But I did not want to be away long, and hence decided to return immediately. I left by one of the trains that were carrying government staff and baggage, and I well remember the aspect of the national highway which is at intervals in view from the train; it showed a long line of motor-cars carrying their owners from the capital.

Arriving at Bordeaux in the evening, I was very embarrassed with my heavy bag including the radium protected by lead. I was not able to carry it and waited in a public place, while a friendly ministry employee who came by the same train managed to find a room for me in a private apartment, the hotels being overcrowded. The next morning I hurried to put the radium in a safe place, and succeeded, although not without difficulty, in taking a military train back to Paris in the evening of the same day. Having opportunity for exchanging a few sentences with persons on the place who wanted to ask information from people coming by the train, I was interested to notice how they seemed surprised and comforted to learn of some one who found it natural to return to Paris.

My trip back was troubled by delays; for several hours the train rested immovable on the rails, while the travelers accepted a little bread from the soldiers who were provided with it. Finally arriving in Paris, I learned that the German army had turned; the battle of the Marne had begun.

In Paris, I shared the alternating hope and grief of the inhabitants during the course of that great battle, and had the constant worry of foreseeing a long separation from my children in case the Germans succeeded in occupying the city. Yet I felt that I must stay at my post. After the successful outcome of the battle, however, any immediate danger of occupation being removed, I was able to have my daughters come back from Brittany to Paris and again take up their studies. This was the great desire of my children, who did not want to stay away from me and from their work, even if many other families thought it wiser to stay in the country, far from the front.

The dominant duty imposed on every one at that time was to help the country in whatever way possible during the extreme crisis that it faced. No general instructions to this were given to the members of the University. It was left to each to take his own initiative and means of action. I therefore sought to discover the most efficient way to do useful work, turning my scientific knowledge to most profit.

During the rapid succession of events in August, 1914, it was clearly proved that the preparation for defense was insufficient. Public feeling was especially aroused by the realization of the grave failings which appeared in the organization of the Health Service. My own attention was particularly drawn to this situation, and I soon found a field of activity which, once entered upon, absorbed the greatest part of my time and efforts until the end of the war, and even for some time thereafter. The work was the organization of radiologic and radio-therapeutic services for the military hospitals. But I also had to make the change, during these difficult war years, of my laboratory into the new building of the Institute of Radium and to continue, in the measure possible to me, regular teaching, as well as to investigate certain problems, especially interesting the military service.

It is well known that the X-rays offer surgeons and doctors extremely useful means for the examination of the sick and wounded. They make possible the discovery and the exact location of projectiles which have entered the body, and this is a great help for their extraction. These rays also reveal lesions of bones and of the internal organs and permit one to follow the progress of recovery from internal injuries. The use of the X-rays during the war saved the lives of many wounded men; it also saved many from long suffering and lasting infirmity. To all the wounded it gave a greater chance of recovery.

However, at the beginning of the war, the Military Board of Health had no organization of radiology, while the civil organization was also but little developed. Radiologic installations existed in only a small number of important hospitals, and there were only a few specialists in the large cities. The numerous new hospitals that were established all over France in the first months of the war had, as a rule, no installation for the use of X-rays.

To meet this need I first gathered together all the apparatus I could find in the laboratories and stores. With this equipment I established in August and September 1914 several stations of radiology, the operation of which was assured by volunteer helpers to whom I gave instruction. These stations rendered great service during the battle of the Marne. But as they could not satisfy the needs of all the hospitals of the Paris region, I fitted up, with the help of the Red Cross, a radiologic car. It was simply a touring motor-car, arranged for the transport of a complete radiologic apparatus, together with a dynamo that was worked by the engine of the car, and furnished the electric current necessary for the production of the rays. This car could come at the call of any of the hospitals, large or small, in the surroundings of Paris. Cases of urgent need were frequent, for these hospitals had to take care of the wounded who could not be transported to more distant places.

The first results of this work showed that it was necessary to do more. Thanks to special donations and to the help of a very efficient relief committee called “le Patronage National des Blessés”, I succeeded in developing my initiative to a considerable extent. About two hundred radiologic installations were established or materially improved through my efforts in the zone of the French and Belgian armies, and in the regions of France not occupied by the army. I was able, besides, to equip in my laboratory and give to the army twenty radiologic cars. The frames of these cars were donated by various persons who wished to be helpful; some of them offered also the equipment. The cars were of the greatest service to the army.

These privately developed installations were particularly important in the first two years of the war, when the regular military service possessed but few radiologic instruments. Later the Board of Health created, little by little, a considerable radiologic service of its own, as the utility of the stations was more clearly realized owing to the example given by private initiative. But the needs of the armies were so great, that my cooperation continued necessary to the end of the war, and even afterwards.

I could not have accomplished this work without seeing for myself the needs of the ambulance stations and hospitals. Thanks to the help of the Red Cross and to the agreement of the Board of Health, I was able to make several journeys to the army zones and to the other parts of France. Several times I visited the ambulance stations of the armies of the north and in the Belgian zone, going to Amiens, Calais, Dunkirk, Furnes, and Poperinghe. I went to Verdun, Nancy, Luneville, Belfort, to Compiegne, and Villers-Cotterets. In the regions distant from the front, I took care of many hospitals which had to do very intensive work with little aid. And I keep as a precious recollection of that time, many letters of warm recognition from those to whom I brought help in their difficulties.

The motive of my starting on a journey was usually a demand from surgeons. I went with a radiologic car which I kept for my personal use. In examining the wounded in the hospital, I could gain information of the special needs of the region. When back in Paris, I got the necessary equipment to meet these needs and returned to install it myself, for very often the people on the ground could not do it. I had then to find competent persons to handle the apparatus and show them how to do it, in full detail. After a few days of hard toil, the manipulator knew enough to work the apparatus himself, and at the same time a large number of wounded had been examined. In addition, the surgeons of the region had gained an idea of the usefulness of the radiologic examination (which few of them knew at that time), and friendly relations were established which made the later development of my work much easier.

On several of my trips I was accompanied by my elder daughter, Irene, who was then seventeen years old, and, having finished her preparatory studies, was beginning higher studies at the Sorbonne. Because she greatly desired to be useful, she now studied nursing and learned radiology, and did her best to help me under the most varied circumstances. She did ambulance work at the front between Furnes and Ypres, and also at Amiens, receiving, from the Chiefs of Service, testimonials of work satisfactorily performed and, at the end of the war, a medal.

Of the hospital life of those years, we keep many a remem-brance, my daughter and I. Traveling conditions were extraordinarily difficult; we were often not sure of being able to press forward, to say nothing of the uncertainty of finding lodgings and food. However, things always ended in arranging themselves, thanks to our persistence and to the good will we met. Wherever we went I had to look after each detail myself and see innumerable military chiefs to obtain passes and permissions for transportation. Many a time I loaded my apparatus on to the train myself, with the help of the employees, to make sure that it would go forward instead of remaining behind several days at the station. And on arrival I also went to extract them from the encumbered station.

When I traveled with the radiologic car, other problems presented themselves. I had, for instance, to find safe places for the car, to get lodgings for the assistants and to secure the automobile accessories. Since chauffeurs were scarce, I learned to drive the car, and did it when necessary. Owing to all this personal supervision, my installations were usually swiftly made, whereas appeal to the Central Health Service was answered slowly. So the military chiefs greatly appreciated the assistance they could get from me, especially in cases of urgent need.

We both, my daughter and myself, have pleasant and grateful memories of the personnel of the hospitals, and were on the best terms with the surgeons and nurses. One could not but admire these men and women who were giving their services without counting, and whose task was often overwhelming. Our collaboration was easy, for my daughter and I tried to work in their spirit; and we felt that we were standing side by side with friends.

While we were attached to the Belgian Ambulance Service, we were present several times during visits of King Albert and Queen Elizabeth. We appreciated deeply their devotion, their solicitude for the wounded, their extreme simplicity, and the cordiality of their behavior.

But nothing was so moving as to be with the wounded and to take care of them. We were drawn to them because of their suffering and because of the patience with which they bore it. Almost everyone did his best to facilitate the X-ray examination, notwithstanding the pain caused by any displacement. One learned very soon to know them individually and to exchange with them a few friendly words. Those who were not familiar with the examination, wanted very much to be reassured about the effect of the strange apparatus they were going to experience.

I can never forget the terrible impression of all that destruction of human life and health. To hate the very idea of war, it ought to be sufficient to see once what I have seen so many times, all through those years: men and boys brought to the advanced ambulance in a mixture of mud and blood, many of them dying of their injuries, many others recovering but slowly through months of pain and suffering.

One of my difficult problems was to find the necessary trained assistants to operate my apparatus. At the beginning of the war there was little knowledge of radiology, and apparatus in the hands of those who did not understand how to handle it deteriorated quickly and was soon useless. The practice of radiology in most hospitals in war-time does not require much medical knowledge; it can be sufficiently grasped by intelligent persons who know how to study and who have some notion of electrical machinery. Professors, engineers, or university students often made good manipulators. I had to look for those who were temporarily free from military service, or who happened to be stationed in the locality where I needed them. But even after I had secured them, these operators were often transferred by military orders, and I had to search again for others to fill their places. For this reason, I determined to train women to do this work.

Accordingly, I proposed to the Health Service to add a department of radiology to the Nurses’ School which had just been founded at the Edith Cavell Hospital. This they agreed to do. And so, in 1916, the course was organized at the Radium Institute, and provided in the following years of war for the training of one hundred and fifty operators. Most of the pupils who applied had only an elementary education, but could succeed if working in a proper way. The course comprised theoretical studies and very extended practical training; it included also some instruction in anatomy. It was given by a few persons of good will, among them my daughter. Our graduates formed an excellent personnel very genuinely appreciated by the Board of Health. Theoretically, they were supposed to serve as aides to physicians, but several of them proved capable of independent work.

My continued and various experiences in war, radiology gave me a wide knowledge of that subject, which I felt should be made more familiar to the public. So I wrote a small book called Radiology and the War, in which I aimed to demonstrate the vital importance of radiology and to compare its development during war time with its use in the previous time of peace.

I come now to the account of the founding of the service of radium therapy at the Radium Institute.

In 1915, the radium, which had been safely deposited in Bordeaux, was brought back to Paris, and not having time for regular scientific research, I decided to use it to cure the wounded, without, however, risking the loss of this precious material. I proceeded to place at the disposal of the Health Service not the radium itself, but the emanation which can be obtained from it at regular intervals. The technique of the use of the emanation can readily be employed in the larger radium therapy institutes, and, in many ways, is more practicable than the direct use of radium. In France, however, there was no national institute of radium therapy, and the emanation was not used in hospitals.

I offered to furnish regularly to the Health Service bulbs of radium emanation. The offer was accepted, and the “Emanation Service”, started in 1916, was continued until the end of the war and even longer. Having no assistants, I had, for a long time, to prepare these emanation bulbs alone, and their preparation is very delicate. Numbers of wounded and sick, military and civil, were treated by means of these bulbs.

During the bombardment of Paris, the Health Board took special measures to protect from shells the laboratory in which the bulbs were prepared. Since the handling of radium is far from being free of danger (several times I have felt a discomfort which I consider a result of this cause), measures were taken to prevent harmful effects of the rays on the persons preparing emanation.

While the work in connection with the hospitals remained my major interest, I had many other preoccupations during the war.

After the failure of the German offensive in the summer of 1918, at the request of the Italian government, I went to Italy to study the question of her natural resources in radioactive materials. I remained a month and was able to obtain certain results in interesting the public authorities in the importance of this new subject.

It was in 1915 that I had to move my laboratory to the new building in the rue Pierre Curie. This was a trying and complicated experience, for which, once more, I had no money nor any help. So it was only between my journeys that I was able, little by little, to do the transportation of my laboratory equipment, in my radiologic cars. Afterwards, I had much work in classifying and distributing my materials, and arranging the new place in general, with the help of my daughter and of my mechanic, who, unfortunately, was often ill.

One of my first cares was to have trees planted in the limited grounds of my laboratory. I feel it very necessary for the eyes to have the comfort of fresh leaves in spring and summer time. So I tried to make things pleasant for those who were to work in the new building. We planted a few lime trees and plane trees, as many as there was room for, and did not forget flowerbeds and roses. I well remember the first day of bombardment of Paris with the big German gun; we had gone, in the early morning, to the flower-market, and spent all that day busy with our plantation, while a few shells fell in the vicinity.

In spite of the great difficulties, the new laboratory was organized little by little, and I had the satisfaction of having it quite ready for the beginning of the school-year 1919-20, the period of demobilization. In the spring of 1919, I organized special courses for some American soldier students, who also studied with much zeal the practical exercises directed by my daughter.

The entire period of the war was for me, as for many others, a period of great fatigue. I took almost no vacation, except for a few days, now and then, when I went to see my daughters on their holidays. My older daughter would scarcely take any, and I was obliged to send her away sometimes to preserve her health. She was continuing her studies in the Sorbonne, and besides, as said before, was helping me with my war work, while the younger daughter was still in the preparatory college. Neither of them wished to leave Paris during the bombardment.

After more than four years of a war which caused ravages without precedent, the armistice came at last, in the autumn of 1918, followed by laborious efforts to reestablish peace, which is not yet general nor complete. It was a great relief to France to see the end of that dark period of cruel losses. But the griefs are too recent and life still too hard for calm and happiness yet to be restored.

Nevertheless, a great joy came to me as a consequence of the victory obtained by the sacrifice of so many human lives. I had lived, though I had scarcely expected it, to see the reparation of more than a century of injustice that had been done to Poland, my native country, and that had kept her in slavery, her territories and people divided among her enemies. It was a deserved resurrection for the Polish nation, which showed herself faithful to her national memories during the long period of oppression, almost without hope. The dream that appeared so difficult to realize, although so dear, became a reality following the storm that swept over Europe. In these new conditions I went to Warsaw and saw my family again, after many years of separation, in the capital of free Poland. But how difficult are the conditions of life of the new Polish republic, and how complicated is the problem of reorganization after so many years of abnormal life!

In France, partly devastated and suffering from the loss of so many of her citizens, the difficulties created by the war are not yet effaced, and the return to normal work is being attained only gradually. The scientific laboratories feel this state of affairs and the same condition prevails for the Radium Institute.

The various radiologic organizations created during the war still partially exist. The Radiographic Nurses’ School has been maintained at the request of the Board of Health. The emanation service, which could not be abandoned, is also continued in a considerably enlarged form. It has passed under the direction of Doctor Regaud, Director of the Pasteur Laboratory of the Radium Institute, and is developing into a great national service of radium therapy.

The work of the laboratory has been reorganized, with the return of the mobilized personnel and the students. But in the restrained circumstances under which the country still exists, the laboratory lacks ways and means for its efficient development. Particularly are wanted an independent hospital for “radium therapy” , and an experimental station, outside of Paris, for experiments on great quantities of material, such as are needed for the progress of our knowledge of radioactive elements.

I myself am no longer young, and I frequently ask myself whether, in spite of recent efforts of the government aided by some private donations, I shall ever succeed in building up for those who will come after me an Institute of Radium, such as I wish to the memory of Pierre Curie and to the highest interest of humanity.

However, a precious encouragement came to me in the year 1921. On the initiative of a generous daughter of the United States, Mrs. W. B. Meloney, the women of that great American country collected a fund, the “Marie Curie Radium Fund”, and offered me the gift of a gramme of radium to be placed entirely at my disposal for scientific research. Mrs. Meloney invited me with my daughters to come to America and to receive the gift, or the symbol of it, from the hands of the President of the great republic, at the White House.

The fund was collected by a public subscription, as well by small as by important gifts, and I was very thankful to my sisters of America for this genuine proof of their affection. So I started for New York at the beginning of May, after a ceremony given in my honor at the Opera of Paris to greet me before my departing.

I keep a grateful memory of my sojourn in the United States for several weeks, of the impressive reception at the White House where President Harding addressed me in generous and affectionate words, of my visits to the universities and colleges which welcomed me and bestowed on me their honorary degrees, of the public reunions where I could not but feel the deep sympathy of those who came to meet me and to wish me good luck.

I had also the opportunity of a visit to the Niagara Falls and to the Grand Canyon, and admired immensely these marvelous creations of nature.

Unhappily, the precarious state of my health did not permit of the complete fulfillment of the general plan established by my visit to America. However, I saw and learned much, and my daughters enjoyed to a full extent the opportunities of their unexpected vacation and the pride in the recognition of their mother’s work. We left for Europe at the end of June, with the real sorrow of parting from excellent friends whom we would not forget.

I came back to my work, made easier by the precious gift, with an even stronger desire to carry it forward with renewed courage. But as my aims are still wanting support in essential parts, I am frequently compelled to give thought to a very fundamental question concerning the view a scientist ought to take of his discovery.

My husband, as well as myself, always refused to draw from our discovery any material profit. We have published, since the beginning, without any reserve, the process that we used to prepare the radium. We took out no patent and we did not reserve any advantage in any industrial exploitation. No detail was kept secret, and it is due to the information we gave in our publications that the industry of radium has been rapidly developed. Up to the present time this industry hardly uses any methods except those established by us. The treatment of the minerals and the fractional crystallizations are still performed in the same way, as I did it in my laboratory, even if the material means are increased.

As for the radium prepared by me out of the ore we managed to obtain in the first years of our work, I have given it all to my laboratory.

The price of radium is very high since it is found in minerals in very small quantities, and the profits of its manufacture have been great, as this substance is used to cure a number of diseases. So it is a fortune which we have sacrificed in renouncing the exploitation of our discovery, a fortune that could, after us, have gone to our children. But what is even more to be considered is the objection of many of our friends, who have argued, not without reason, that if we had guaranteed our rights, we could have had the financial means of founding a satisfactory Institute of Radium, without experiencing any of the difficulties that have been such a handicap to both of us, and are still a handicap to me. Yet, I still believe that we have done right.

Humanity, surely, needs practical men who make the best of their work for the sake of their own interests, without forgetting the general interest. But it also needs dreamers, for whom the unselfish following of a purpose is so imperative that it becomes impossible for them to devote much attention to their own material benefit. No doubt it could be said that these idealists do not deserve riches since they do not have the desire for them. It seems, however, that a society well organized ought to assure to these workers the means for efficient labor, in a life from which material care is excluded so that this life may be freely devoted to the service of scientific research.

Chapter Ⅳ

A Visit to America

My beautiful voyage to the United States of America resulted, as is known, from the generous initiative of an American woman, Mrs. Meloney, editor of an important magazine, the Delineator, who, having planned the gift of a gramme of radium to me by her countrywomen, succeeded in a few months in bringing this plan to execution, and asked me to come over and receive the gift personally.

The idea was that the gift would come exclusively from the American women. A committee including several prominent women and distinguished scientific men received some important gifts, and made an appeal for a public subscription, to which a great number of women’s organizations, especially colleges and clubs, responded. In many cases gifts came from persons who had experienced the benefit of radium therapy. In this way was collected the “Marie Curie Radium Fund” of more than one hundred thousand dollars for the purchase of a gramme of radium. The President of the United States, Mr. Harding, kindly agreed to deliver the gift in a ceremony at the White House.

The Committee invited me and my daughters to the United States in May, and even though it was not vacation time for me, I accepted the invitation with the consent of the University of Paris.

All care of the voyage was taken away from me. Mrs. Meloney came to France in time to be present at a manifestation organized on the 28th of April in favor of the Radium Institute of Paris by the magazine Je Sais Tout, and accompanied by sincere expressions of sympathy for the American nation. On May 4th, we took passage at Cherbourg on the Olympic for New York.

The program of my voyage prepared by the Committee seemed very intimidating. It was announced that I would not only attend the ceremony at the White House, but also visit many universities and colleges in several towns. Some of these institutions had contributed to the Fund; all desired to offer me honors. The vitality and the activity of the American nation produces programs on a large scale. On the other hand, the wideness of the country has developed in American citizens the custom of long travel. But during all that travel I was protected with the greatest care, in order to lighten as far as possible the inevitable fatigue of the voyage and the receptions. America not only gave me a generous welcome, but also true friends whom I could not thank enough for their kindness and their devotion.

After having admired the grand view of the harbors of New York, and having been greeted by groups of students, Girl Scouts, and Polish delegates, and welcomed by many gifts of flowers, we took possession of a peaceful apartment in town. The following day I made the acquaintance of the Reception Committee at a luncheon given by Mrs. Carnegie in her beautiful home still filled with memories of her husband, Andrew Carnegie, whose philanthropic achievements are well known in France. The following day we went for a visit of a few days to Smith College, and Vassar College, a few hours from New York. Later I also visited the colleges of Bryn Mawr and Wellesley, and I saw some others on my way.

These colleges, or universities for women, are very characteristic of American life and culture. My short visit could not permit me to give an authorized opinion on the intellectual training, but even in such a visit as I made one may notice important differences between the French and American conception of girls’ education, and some of these differences would not be in favor of our country. Two points have particularly drawn my attention: the care of the health and the physical development of the students, and the very independent organization of their life which allows a large degree of individual initiative.

The colleges are excellent in their construction and organization. They are composed of several buildings, often scattered in very large grounds between lawns and trees. Smith is on the shore of a charming river. The equipment is comfortable and hygienic, of extreme cleanliness, with bathrooms, showers, distribution of cold and hot water. The students have cheerful private rooms and common gathering rooms. A very complete organization of games and sports exists in every college. The students play tennis and baseball; they have gymnasium, canoeing, swimming, and horseback riding. Their health is under the constant care of medical advisers. It seems to be a frequent opinion of American mothers that the existing atmosphere of cities like New York is not favorable to the education of young girls, and that a life in the country in the open air gives more suitable conditions for the health and the tranquility of studying.

In every college the young girls form an association and elect a committee which has to establish the internal rules of the college. The students display a great activity: they take part in educational work; they publish a paper; they are devoted to songs and music; they write plays, and act them in college and out of it. These plays have interested me very much in their subjects and the execution. The students are also of different social conditions. Many of them are of wealthy families, but many others live on scholarships. The whole organization may be considered as democratic. A few students are foreigners, and we have met some French students very well pleased with the college life and the studies.

Every college takes four years of study with examinations from time to time. Some students afterwards do personal work, and acquire the degree of Doctor, which does not exactly correspond to the same title in France. The colleges have laboratories with many good facilities for experimentation.

I have been strongly impressed by the joy of life animating these young girls and expanding on every occasion, like that of one of my visit. If the ceremonies of the reception were performed in a nearly military order, the spontaneity of youth and happiness expressed itself in the songs of greeting composed by the students, in the smiling and excited faces, and in the rushing over the lawns to greet me at my arrival. This was indeed a charming impression which I could not forget.

Back in New York, several ceremonies awaited me before my leaving for Washington. A luncheon of the Chemists, a reception at the Museum of Natural History and the Mineralogical Club, a dinner at the Institute of Social Sciences, and a great meeting at Carnegie Hall, where many delegations represented the faculties and students of women’s colleges and universities. At all these receptions I was greeted in warm addresses by prominent men and women, and I received honors very precious to me because of the sincerity of the givers. Neither has the part of national friendships been forgotten; the address of Vice-President Coolidge was a noble recognition of the past where French and Polish citizens have been helpful to the young American Republic, and is also a statement of fraternity strengthened by the tempest of the last years.

It was in this atmosphere of affection created by the convergence of intellectual and social sympathies that there took place on May 20th the beautiful ceremony at the White House. It was a deeply moving ceremony in all its simplicity, occurring before a democratic gathering including the President and Mrs. Harding, cabinet officers, Judges of the Supreme Court, high officers of Army and Navy, foreign diplomats, representatives of women’s clubs and societies, and prominent citizens of Washington and other cities. It comprised a short presentation by the French ambassador, M. Jusserand, a speech by Mrs. Meloney for the American women, the address of President Harding, a few words of gratitude said by me, a defile of the guests, and a group picture for a souvenir, all this in the admirable setting of the White House, peaceful and dignified, white indeed between its green lawns with wide prospects on that beautiful afternoon of May. A remembrance never to be forgotten was left by this reception in which the chief representative of a great nation offered me homage of infinite value, the testimonial of the recognition of his country’s citizens.

The address of the President had been inspired by the same sentiments as that of Vice-President Coolidge, as far as concerned his appreciation of France and Poland. This address gave also an expression of the American feeling which was emphasized by an exceptional solemnity in the delivering of the gift.

The American nation is generous, and always ready to appreciate an action inspired by considerations of general interest. If the discovery of radium has so much sympathy in America, it is not only because of its scientific value, and of the importance of medical utilization; it is also because the discovery has been given to humanity without reservation or material benefits to the discoverers. Our American friends wanted to honor this spirit animating the French science.

The radium itself was not brought to the ceremony. The President presented me with the symbol of the gift, a small golden key opening the casket devised for the transportation of the radium.

Our sojourn at Washington following the principal ceremony included a very agreeable reception at the French Embassy and the Polish Legation, a reception at the National Museum, and some laboratory visits.

The itinerary of our journey from Washington included visits to the cities of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Buffalo, Boston, and New Haven, a visit to the Grand Canyon, and to Niagara Falls. On that trip I was the guest of several universities which did me the honor of bestowing honorary degrees on me. I have to thank for these the universities of Pennsylvania, of Pittsburgh, of Chicago, the Northwestern University, Columbia University, Yale University, the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, the University of Pennsylvania, Smith College, and Wellesley College, while I thank Harvard University for her reception.

The delivery of honorary degrees in American universities is accompanied by solemnities. In principle, the presence of the candidate is required, and the delivery takes place at the annual commencement, but, in some cases, special ceremonies were organized in my favor. The university ceremonies in America are more frequent than in France, and play a more important part in the university life. Especially is this true at the annual commencement, which begins with an academic procession over the grounds of the university, the procession including the officials, the professors, and graduates in academic caps and gowns. Afterwards all assemble in a hall where are announced the diplomas corresponding to the grades of bachelor, master, and doctor. There is always a musical part in the program, and addresses are delivered by the officials of the university or invited orators. These addresses are naturally devoted to dignifying the ideals and the humanitarian purposes of education; but in certain cases it seems permitted to introduce a point of American humor. These ceremonies are on the whole very impressive, and certainly contribute to keeping a bond between the university and the alumni. This is a favorable circumstance for those great American universities which are sustained entirely on private foundations. It is only in more recent times that most States have created universities supported by the State.

At Yale University I had the pleasure of representing the University of Paris at the inauguration of President Angell, fourteenth president of the University. I was also pleased to attend at Philadelphia a meeting of the American Philosophical Society and a meeting of the College of Physicians, and at Chicago a meeting of the American Chemical Society at which I delivered a lecture on the Discovery of Radium. The medals of John Scott, Benjamin Franklin, and Willard Gibbs have been presented to me by these societies.

Several meetings organized in my honor by the American women’s organizations have particularly interested the American public. I have already mentioned the meeting of the University Women at Carnegie Hall of New York; a similar meeting was held at Chicago, where I was also received by the Association of Polish Women. I was also greeted by women’s organizations in the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, and by a delegation of Canadian university women at Buffalo. In all these meetings it was impossible not to recognize the sincerity of the emotion in the women who gave me their best wishes, at the same time expressing their confidence in the future of feminine intelligence and activity. I did not feel any opposition between these feministic aspirations and the masculine opinion. As far as I could notice, the men in America approve of these aspirations and encourage them. This is a very favorable condition for the social activity of the American women which reveals itself in a strong interest in work for education, for hygiene, and for the improvement of conditions of labor. But any other unselfish purpose may rely on their support, as is proved by the success of Mrs. Meloney’s plan, and by the sympathy this plan encountered in women of all social conditions.

I could not, to my deep regret, give time enough to the visit to laboratories and scientific institutes. These too brief visits were of great interest to me. I found everywhere the greatest care for developing scientific activity and for improving the facilities. New laboratories are in building, and in older laboratories very modern equipment may be found. The available room never gives that impression of insufficiency from which we suffer too often in France. The means are provided by private initiative expressed in gifts and foundations of various kinds. There exists also a National Council of Research established by private funds for stimulating and improving scientific work, and for assuring its connection with industry.

I have visited with special interest the Bureau of Standards, a very important national institution at Washington for scientific measurements and for study connected with them. The tubes of radium presented to me were at the Bureau, whose officials had kindly offered to make the measurements, and to take care of the packing and delivery to the ship.

A new laboratory has been created at Washington for researches on very low temperatures with the use of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium. I had the honor of dedicating this laboratory to its service.

I had the great pleasure of meeting in their laboratories several very important American scientific men. The hours I spent in their company are among the best of my travel.

The United States possesses several hospitals for “radium therapy”. These hospitals are generally provided with laboratories for the extraction of radium emanation which is sealed up in small tubes for medical use. These institutions own important quantities of radium, have a very good equipment, and treat a great number of patients. I have visited some of them, and this made me feel more deeply, if possible, the regret of not having in France even one national institute capable of rendering the same services. I hope that this lack will be filled in the near future.

The industry of radium has been started in France, but it is in America that it has had its greatest development, owing to the presence of a sufficient supply of the ore carnotite. I was very much interested in my visit to the most important of the factories, and I gladly recognize the spirit of initiative in this undertaking. The factory owns a collection of documentary films which enable one to appreciate the effort made each day in collecting the ore scattered in the immense fields of Colorado, in carrying and concentrating this ore originally very poor in radium. On the other hand, the means of extraction of radium are still the same which have been described in earlier chapters.

The greatest courtesy was paid to me in my visit to the radium plant and laboratory. I found the same reception at a factory of mesothorium which presented me with some material, and where the officials expressed the desire to help in my scientific work.

To make complete these travel impressions, it would be necessary to speak of the nature of the country. I recoil before the task, being incapable of expressing in a few words the immensity and the variety of the spaces which opened before my eyes. The general impression is one of unlimited possibilities for the future. I keep a particularly vivid remembrance of the great falls of Niagara, and of the magnificent colors of the Grand Canyon.

On June 28th, I embarked in New York on the same ship which had brought me to the United States less than two months before. I would not take the liberty, after so short a period of time, of giving an opinion on America and the Americans. I would only say how deeply I have been touched by the warm reception which was tendered everywhere to me and my daughters. Our hosts wanted to make us feel that we were not with strangers; and, on the other hand, many of them assured me that they felt in entirely friendly surroundings when on the soil of France. I got back to France with a feeling of gratitude for the precious gift of the American women, and with a feeling of affection for their great country tied with ours by a mutual sympathy which gives confidence in a peaceful future for humanity.

- The End -

附录一

居里夫人书信选

1885年12月10日，身为家庭教师的玛尼娅[1]写给表姐亨丽埃塔·米哈沃夫斯卡的信：

亲爱的亨丽埃塔，别后我的日子如同坐牢。如你所知，我在律师B家里找了份工作。即使是我最仇恨的敌人，我也不愿他生活在这样的地狱里。到后来我和B夫人的关系变得冷淡极了，我再不能忍受，就把想法告诉了她。她也非常讨厌我，这一点我们倒是非常互相理解。

和许多有钱人家一样，这家人当着外人就讲法语——烟囱清洁工说的那种法语。他们可以六个月不付账单，对灯油钱斤斤计较，却又经常随意乱花钱。他们雇了五个仆人，假装思想开明，实则极端愚蠢。最讨厌的是语气甜得腻人，却总说些诋毁人的话，任何人都难逃他们的中伤……住在这里，我算是对人类有了更多了解。我知道了小说里描写的人物真的存在，也知道了不要与那些被金钱腐蚀的人有任何来往。

1886年2月3日，玛尼娅受雇成为Z家的家庭教师，她写给表姐亨丽埃塔的信：

我在Z先生和夫人家中已经生活了一个月，渐渐适应了这份新工作。到目前为止一切顺利。Z家人都很好。我和这家的长女布朗卡成了朋友，她给我的生活带来了不少乐趣。我的学生安德琪娅快十岁了，是个听话的孩子，但是太过散漫骄纵。不过世上本没有什么完美之人……

在这个乡下地方，人们都不工作，只想着找乐子。这家人不怎么参加集体舞会，所以总被人说闲话。我刚到这里一星期就有人说我坏话了，因为我谁都不认识，就谢绝了在卡尔瓦茨家举办的一场舞会——这一家正是此地流言蜚语的中心。我完全不后悔，因为Z先生和夫人直到第二天下午一点才从那个舞会回来，我很高兴不必受此折磨，尤其是这段时间，我感到自己的身体有些虚弱。

主显节前夜召开了一场舞会。我参加了，见识到了几位应该出现在讽刺漫画中的人物，觉得有趣极了。这里的年轻人乏善可陈，女孩大多头脑迟钝，三缄其口，再有一些很喜欢卖弄风情。我看有几个姑娘似乎还算聪明，不过到现在为止，我觉得我的布朗卡（Z小姐）是一颗宝贵的明珠，她明智颖悟，对人生也有了解。

我每天工作七小时：四个小时陪安德琪娅，三个小时陪布朗卡。工作颇多，但没关系。我的房间在楼上，宽敞、安静、舒适。Z家有好几个儿女，三个儿子在华沙，其中一个读大学，两个读寄宿学校。住在家里的有十八岁的布朗卡、十岁的安德琪娅、三岁的斯塔斯，还有六个月的小女孩马雷舍娜。斯塔斯好玩极了，他的嬷嬷告诉他上帝无处不在，他就仰起苦恼的小脸问：“他会来抓我吗？他会咬我吗？”我们都被他逗笑了。

1886年4月5日，玛尼娅写给亨丽埃塔的信：

我过的是家庭教师的典型生活，每天教课之余读一点书。但是这并不容易，因为总有新客人到来，打乱我正常的时间安排。有时这让我很生气，因为我的安德琪娅总是借着上课被打乱的机会使劲儿玩，而且过后简直没办法让她安下心来。今天她又闹了，不肯按时起床，最后我只能拉着她的手把她拽下床，表面镇静，心里火冒三丈。你无法想象这种小事对我的影响，这样一桩蠢事能让我沮丧好几个小时。但是我必须克制自己……

……大家在一起聊什么？无非是闲言碎语。谈话的主题永远是邻居、跳舞和聚会。就拿跳舞来说，你很难找到比这里的女孩跳得更好的人了。她们都很会跳舞，人也不坏，有些甚至算得上聪明，但是她们所受的教育完全对头脑无益，而且此地无休止的愚蠢聚会已将她们的聪敏消磨殆尽。至于青年男子，几乎没什么有头脑的、像样的……对于此地的青年男女，“实证主义”或“劳工问题”之类的字眼只让他们厌烦——他们大多根本没听说过。相形之下，Z家人颇有教养。Z先生是个老派人，但是明智通达，富有同情心。他的妻子比较难相处，不过只要你知道怎么应付，她还是很和善的。我想她挺喜欢我。

真希望你能看看我的模范行为！我每个礼拜日和假日都去教堂，从未借口头疼或伤风来逃避。我几乎从不谈论女性接受高等教育的问题，言谈总是尽量得体，说些与自己身份相称的话。

复活节我要回华沙几天。想到这儿，我的每个细胞都在欢快地腾跃，几乎忍不住要高兴地喊出声……

1886年9月3日，玛尼娅写给亨丽埃塔的信：

……我这个夏天本该放假，但不知要去哪儿，我不愿意花钱去喀尔巴阡山旅行，所以就留在了斯茨祖基。我给安德琪娅教很多时辰的课，和布朗卡一起读书，每天还花一个小时给这里一个工人的儿子讲课，帮他准备进学校念书。此外，布朗卡和我每天给一些农民的孩子教两个小时课，我们有十个学生，可以算是一个班了。这些孩子很愿意学习，但我们依然教得艰难。让我感到安慰的是，他们的成绩在渐渐进步，甚至可以说进步得挺快。我每天都过得挺充实，因为自己教课，也要自学一些知识……

1886年12月，玛尼娅写给亨丽埃塔的信：

现在我的农家学生人数已达到十八个。他们当然不能一起来上课，因为我教不过来，即便如此，我每天也要花两个小时上课。每个星期三和星期六，我会多教他们上一会儿，连着教五个小时。当然，我能这样做是因为我的房间在二层，楼梯有一个通往庭院的独立的门，而且这项工作不会妨碍我在Z家的职责，也不会打扰到任何人。这些孩子带给我莫大的快乐和安慰……

……要做的事情太多，有时我上午八点到十一点半，下午两点到七点半一直在不停工作。十一点半到下午两点散步、吃午饭。喝过下午茶，如果安德琪娅表现好，我就和她一起读书，如果表现不好，我就和她谈话，或是做我的针线活——我上课时候总是带着我的活计。晚上九点，如果没有意外的杂事干扰，我就开始读书、工作……我已经养成了早上六点起床的习惯，这样可以多做一些工作，但是并不总能做到。现在有一位非常和善的老人住在这里，他是安德琪娅的教父。Z夫人让我向他请教如何下象棋，算是陪他消遣。我还要在他们玩牌时凑一手，这些都会占用我的读书时间。

现在我正在读这些书：

（一）丹尼尔的《物理学》，已读完第一卷。

（二）斯宾塞的《社会学》，法文版。

（三）保罗·伯格的《解剖学与生理学课程》，俄文版。

我同时读几本书：一直研究同一个题目会使我可怜的头脑疲倦，它已经超负荷工作了。当我觉得自己读书效率不高时，就做些代数和三角习题，这要求注意力非常集中，能够把我拉回正路。

可怜的布罗尼娅从巴黎来信了，考试非常难，她很用功，我担心她的身体。

……我对将来的打算？没有打算，或者说都太平淡了，不值一提。我想尽力撑下去，实在撑不住的时候就告别这个世界。我走了世界也不会有太大损失，对我的哀悼也将如对其他人那般短暂。

这就是我目前唯一的计划。有人说，无论如何我都必须经历那种叫恋爱的热病，这完全不在我的计划内。如果说我曾有过其他计划，它们也已烟消云散，我将它们埋葬、封锁、遗忘……因为你知道，当你试图撞破墙壁时，你会发现墙总是比头坚硬……

玛尼娅经历过生活的种种挫折，物质上又极为拮据——她帮助别人，自己却捉襟见肘。她试图忘记自己的命运，忘记自己陷入的这种没有指望的生活。她把心投向家人，不是请求他们帮助，也不是倾诉痛苦，而是在每封信里毫无保留地给出自己的建议和支持，她希望他们拥有充实的人生。1887年3月9日，她写给哥哥约瑟夫的信：

我想你如果借上几百卢布，就能留在华沙，而不必在外省小地方葬送前程。首先，我亲爱的小哥哥，如果我写了些傻话，你可不要生气，你要记得，我是在如我们约好的那样说出真实的想法……听我说，亲爱的，人们都说在小地方工作不利于学知识和做研究。你会被推进一个深坑，再无前程可言。一个人就算再有决心，没有药房、医院和书籍，也难免变得迟钝。如果这种事发生在你身上，亲爱的，你会看到我有多么痛苦。现在我已经失去了做一番事业的希望，雄心都寄托在了你和布罗尼娅的身上。至少你们两个必须按照天赋的指引生活。我们这一家无疑是有天赋的，不能被埋没，必须通过我们中的某个人显现出来。我越是为自己惋惜，就越是对你们抱有希望……

你或许会取笑我，对我这番规劝不以为然。我过去很少以这种语气对你说话或给你写信，但这番话是肺腑之言，自从你最开始从事研究时我就有了这些想法。而且你想想，你若在父亲身边，他会多高兴！他最爱你，超过爱我们所有人。想象一下，如果海拉嫁给了M.B.，你也远离了华沙，我们的老父亲该多么孤单！他会很难过的。而若按我说的去做，你们一起生活，那就十分完美了。不过出于节约精神，不要忘记给我们留一个小角落，让我们回去时能有地方住。

1887年4月4日，玛尼娅写给刚产下一个死婴的亨丽埃塔的信：

一位母亲历尽难关，最后却是一场空，该有多么痛苦！若能以基督徒顺应天命之心说：“上帝既如此安排，便理当如此”，这种可怕的痛苦或许能减半吧。唉，可惜这安慰并不适用于所有人。我能看出接受这种解释的人多么幸福，然而奇怪的是，我越是明白他们的幸运，就越是不理解他们的信仰，越是无法对他们的幸福产生共鸣。

……原谅我的这些大道理吧，你抱怨说你那边的人们精神太落后保守，我便有了这番感想。别太苛刻了，因为社会和政治上的保守往往来自宗教上的保守，后者是很多人的福祉，尽管我们已经不能理解。就我而言，我永远不会主动鼓动别人丢掉信仰。我愿所有人都保持自己的信仰，只要是真诚的就好。只有伪善让我厌恶，可惜伪善无处不在，真诚倒是少有……我憎恨伪善，但我尊重真诚的宗教情感，即使它们常常伴随着心智的局限……

1887年5月20日，玛尼娅写给约瑟夫的信：

我现在还不知道我的学生安德琪娅是不是参加考试，但我已经开始担心了。她的注意力和记忆力都太不可靠了……朱勒克也是一样。教他们真像是在沙上造屋，他们学会新的，就忘了前一天教的内容。有时这简直是一种折磨。而且我也很为自己担忧：我一直觉得自己正在变蠢，因为日子过得那么快，我却没什么显著的进步。圣母月要做很多弥撒，我不得不中断给农家学生上课。不过我是很容易满足的，我只想确定自己是个有用之人……

我能想象海拉（不久前解除了婚约的姐姐）的自尊心一定很受伤。真的，这事让人看清楚了男人！如果他们不想娶一个贫寒的女子，就让他们见鬼去吧！没人求他们什么，他们为什么要招惹一个无辜的女孩，为什么要扰乱她的平静？

……真希望从你那里听到些让人宽慰的消息！我常想你的业务如何，你是否后悔留在了华沙。说实话，我不该总是为此惶惶不安，因为你一定能做得很好，我坚信你能。“小女人”总有很多琐屑烦恼，但是我，即使是现在的我，也保留着一丝希望，希望自己不至于一无所成……

1887年12月10日，玛尼娅写给亨丽埃塔的信：

不要相信我快要结婚的说法，纯属无稽之谈。这个谣言传遍了乡下，甚至传到了华沙，虽然不是我的错，可我还是担心会给我带来麻烦。我将来的计划真的很渺小，现在我只梦想拥有一个属于自己的角落，让我能和父亲住在一起。可怜的父亲很想念我，希望我回家，他盼着我呢！我愿用自己的一半生命来换取独立和一席栖身之地。如果能离开斯茨祖基——在一段时间之内做不到——我要在华沙谋生，在女子学校找一份教书的工作，再另外给人讲课，挣够需要的钱。这就是我的全部希望。人生不该总那么忧愁……

1888年3月18日，玛尼娅写给约瑟夫的信：

亲爱的小约琪奥，我要把我的最后一张邮票贴在这封信上。鉴于我已经身无分文——真的是一分都没有，假期之前我大概不会再给你写信了，除非一张邮票从天而降来到我手中。

我写这封信的真正目的是祝你生日快乐，如果你收到得太迟，那是因为我没有钱和邮票，这件事让我很苦恼，可我还没有学会开口去要。

……我亲爱的约琪奥，真希望你知道我有多难过，多想回华沙待上几天！我的衣服自不必说都破损了，需要修补，便是我的灵魂也是破损的！唉，我真想从这里抽身而出，离开这种冰冷苛刻的氛围，不必时刻留意自己的一言一行，哪怕几天也好！……我想离开几天，就像在炎炎夏日需要洗个冷水澡一般迫切。此外，我还有其他想换个环境的理由。

布罗尼娅已经很久没给我写信了。不必说，她也没有邮票……如果你能弄到邮票，请一定给我写信。给我写信吧，写很长很长的信，告诉我家里发生的一切。父亲和海拉的信里只有诉苦，我不知道情况是不是真那么糟，但感到很痛苦担心。我自己也有很多烦心事，但我实在不愿提。如果不是必须顾及布罗尼娅，我会立刻辞掉Z家的工作，再找别的事做，不管这里的薪水有多高。

1888年10月25日，玛尼娅写给友人卡琪娅的信（卡琪娅刚刚宣布订婚，玛尼娅要去她家住几日）：

……你对我说什么知心话，我都不会觉得过分或可笑。我是你认定的小妹妹，怎么会不关心你的心事，不把它们当成自己的事呢？

至于我，我很愉快，总是用笑声来掩藏内心深处的不愉快。我发现那些像我一样敏感又无法改变自己本性的人，都会尽量掩饰自己，我也学会了这样做。但你觉得这样做有任何作用，任何好处吗？完全没有！我性格中活泼的部分总是渐渐跑出来，然后——唉，我就会过分激动地说出一些让自己后悔的话。

我写得有些苦涩，卡琪娅，但你知道我的情况……你说你刚刚经历了一生中最幸福的一个星期，可我呢，你不会知道假期的几个星期我经历了什么。有段时间难过极了，唯一让我欣慰的是我挺过来了，问心无愧，未曾低头（你看，我在生活中还是没有放弃过去让梅耶尔小姐痛恨的那种姿态）。

……你可能会说我变得多愁善感了，卡琪娅。别担心，我不会染上那种不符合我天性的毛病——只是我最近变得很神经质。有些人想方设法使我变成了这样。不过等我去见你的时候，我还会像过去那样快活自由。我们有多少事要告诉对方啊！我得带上链子，锁住我们的嘴，不然我们一定会说到天亮才上床睡觉。你母亲还会像过去那样给我们柠檬水和巧克力冰淇淋吗？

1888年10月，玛尼娅写给约瑟夫的信：

我忧伤地看了看日历，今天我已经用掉五张邮票了，还没算信纸。很快我就要没办法跟你们说话了！

我正在靠一本书学化学，你可以想象我的收获很少，但是又能怎么办呢？我没有地方做实验或做其他实际工作。

布罗尼娅从巴黎给我寄了一本小相册，精美极了。

1888年12月25日，玛尼娅写给亨丽埃塔的信：

我的心境陷入黯淡，此处终日相伴的只有可怕的西风、洪水和泥泞。今日天气稍霁，但是烟囱里依然风声呼啸。完全没有结冰的迹象，冰鞋凄凉地挂在壁橱里。你大概不知道，在我们这个乡下小地方冰霜意味着什么，其重要性不亚于在你们加利西亚的保守党和进步党之争……看了这番话，你可别觉得你讲的事情让我厌烦，恰恰相反，知道这世上有些地方的人们会行动甚至会思考，真让我感到欣慰。你生活在运动的中心，而我的生活则奇怪地像污浊河水中的蛞蝓一般。幸运的是，我大概不久就能摆脱这种浑浑噩噩的生活了。

不知道你再见到我时，会如何评价我在人们中间度过的这几年，它们对我是好是坏。大家都说我在斯茨祖基的这段时间变了很多。这并不意外，我来时还不到十八岁，在这里经历了多少事！有些日子一定是我一生的低谷……我感到一切都很激烈，一种作用于身体的激烈，我就激励自己，然后我天性中的强健占据了上风，好像从一场噩梦中醒来……第一条原则：不要让任何人或任何事打倒你。

我计算着还有多少小时、多少天才放假，才能回到自己人身边。我要新的感受，要改变、要运动、要生活。有时候这种念头如此强烈，让我想放纵自己去做蠢事，只要能摆脱这一成不变的生活就好。幸好我有太多事情要做，这种冲动很少出现。这是我在这里的最后一年，我必须更努力，让孩子们能考出好成绩……

玛尼娅在Z家的工作正在接近尾声，她必须另谋一份工作。1889年3月14日，玛尼娅写给好友卡琪娅的信：

离复活节还有五个星期……对我来说这是个非常重要的日子，因为我的未来将在那天决定。除了F家的职位之外，还有另一家想请我。我在二者之间犹豫不决，不知如何选择。

……我现在只想着复活节！我的脑子里塞满了计划，简直像是要燃烧起来。我不知道自己将会怎样。看，你的玛尼娅最后变成了一个爱胡思乱想的人……

玛尼娅去波罗的海海滨一个阴郁的地方见她的新雇主。1889年7月14日，她写给卡琪娅的信：

虽然有一些不祥的预感，我的旅途其实挺顺利……没人偷我，甚至没人试图那么做。我换了五次车，没有一次出错。我吃光了赛德尔基香肠，只剩下了一些面包卷和牛奶。一路上都有好心人护着我，使我事事方便。我担心他们好心到帮我吃掉我的食物，所以没有让他们看见我的赛德尔基。

F先生和夫人到车站接我。他们非常亲切，孩子们也招人喜欢。一切都会顺利的，必须顺利！

姐姐布罗尼娅请玛尼娅来年到她的新家去住。1890年3月12日，玛尼娅从华沙写给姐姐的信：

亲爱的布罗尼娅，我过去很蠢，现在很蠢，将来也会一直蠢下去，或者用时下流行的说法：我过去未曾幸运，现在不幸运，将来也永远不会幸运。我曾梦想在巴黎获得救赎，但是从很久以前就已经不抱希望了。现在这个可能性出现在我面前，我竟不知该如何是好……我害怕对父亲提起，我相信我们明年搬到一起住的计划更合他的心意，他很期盼，我也想给他的晚年带去一点幸福。可是另外，我一想到自己的才能将被毁掉，就感到痛心，我想我的才能一定是有价值的。还有一件事，我答应海拉在一年内接她回家，给她在华沙找个工作。你不知道我多替她难过！她一直是家里“小孩”，我感到自己有责任照顾她，这个可怜的小东西多需要照顾啊……

但是布罗尼娅，我求你尽力为约瑟夫争取利益，S夫人能帮他摆脱困境，就算你觉得去请求她并非你分内之事，我也恳请你克服这种想法。毕竟《圣经》说得明白：“敲门，门就敞开。”即使不得不牺牲一点自尊，又有什么关系？深情的请求是不会让人反感的。我很清楚这封信该如何写，你必须向这位女士说明，这笔钱的数目不大，只需几百卢布，约瑟夫就可以在华沙做研究并开业。你要说明此事将决定他的前程，没有她的帮助，他的才能就会被毁掉……总之你要把这些话都写上，而且要细细地写，因为亲爱的布洛涅茨卡，如果你只提借钱的事，她不会放在心上，事情是办不成的。你可能会觉得自己惹人厌，有什么大不了？只要能达到目的，又有什么关系！而且这个请求很过分吗？人们不是常常更惹人厌吗？有了这笔资助，约瑟夫就能成为对社会有用的人，如果去了外省他就完了。

我对你说了好多烦心事——关于海拉、约瑟夫、父亲，还有我已经毁掉的前程。我的心境是那么灰暗，那么悲哀，我觉得自己真不该对你说这些事，破坏你的快乐，因为你是我们中唯一称得上幸运的人。请原谅我，你看，有这么多事让我伤心，这封信很难愉快地结尾了。

让我轻轻拥抱你吧。下一封信我会写得更长、更愉快，但是今天我感到在这世界上特别难过。请温柔地想念我吧，或许我在这里也能感受到。

1891年9月23日，玛尼娅结束了一段束缚自己已久的脆弱感情，写给布罗尼娅的信：

……现在，布罗尼娅，我请你给我一个确切的回答，决定你是否真的能让我住到你家，因为我现在能去了。我的钱足够支付自己的一切开销。所以如果供我吃饭不至于让你太难办，就请写信告诉我。这个夏天我经历了一些将影响我一生的残酷折磨，巴黎将使我重新振作起来，对我是一大幸事。但是另外，我不想给你添麻烦。

既然你快分娩了，我在你家或许能帮上些忙。不管怎样，请写信告诉我你的决定。如果我能去，请让我知道，再告诉我必须通过哪些入学考试，最晚什么时候入学。想到或许能离开，我感到紧张不安，所以在得到你的答复之前，我已经不能再说任何事了。求你马上给我回信，爱你们两个。

你把我安排在哪儿都可以，我不会打扰你们，保证不给你们添麻烦，不招你们厌烦。我恳求你回复我，不过一定要实话实说。

1892年3月12日，玛尼娅在巴黎一所大学求学，经济拮据的她写给哥哥约瑟夫的信：

你肯定已经听父亲说了，我决定搬到离学校更近的地方住，这样做有几个必要的原因，最看重的当然是地点便利。这个计划现在已经实现：事实上，这封信正是在弗拉特路3号的新住处写的。我的房间很小，很合适也很便宜。从这里到化学实验室只需一刻钟，到索邦只需20分钟。当然，没有德鲁斯基夫妇的帮助，我是没法把事情安排得这样妥当的。

我比刚来巴黎时用功多了：住在德意志路时我的小姐夫总是不停打扰我。只要我在家，他就非要拉着我愉快地聊天，因为这件事，我不得不跟他吵。我搬走几天，布罗尼娅和他觉得对不起我，就跑来看我。我们像单身时那样喝茶，然后一起下楼去看望S一家，他们也住在这里。

你的妻子有没有像答应我的那样好好照顾父亲？只是让她注意别把我完全排除出这个家！父亲已经开始用很慈爱的语气谈到她，我担心他不久就会把我忘了……

1893年4月16日，玛丽写给父亲斯克洛多夫斯卡先生的信：

上星期日我去了勒兰西，离巴黎很近，周围漂亮宜人。丁香树和果树——甚至包括苹果树——都在盛开，空气中充满花香。

在巴黎，四月初树就绿了。现在叶子都发芽了，栗树也已开花。天气热得像夏天，满眼都是绿色。我的屋子已经开始闷热，幸好这间屋子只租到7月8日，到七月备考期间我就不住在这里了。

越临近考试，我越担心自己没准备好。如果实在不行，我就等到11月再考，但是那样会让我丢掉一个夏天，我可不希望那样。结果如何，只能走着看吧……

1893年9月15日，玛丽获得了六百卢布的奖学金，她写给哥哥约瑟夫的信：

……我已租好住处，在一条干净体面的街道七层楼上，我住着很合适。请转告父亲，我本打算租房的那个地方物价太高，现在这间屋子我很满意，窗户可以关紧，特别是屋里铺的是木地板而不是瓷砖，好好安排一下，冬天不会冷的。与去年的住处相比，此处简直太好。一年房租是一百八十法郎，比父亲跟我说的那个地方便宜六十法郎。

不用说，我很高兴能回到巴黎。与父亲再次分离虽然痛苦，但我看得出他身体很好，很有活力，即使没有我也没问题，何况你们也住在华沙。至于我，我的人生到了重要关头，所以我觉得自己可以问心无愧地留在这里。

现在我正在不停地学习数学，这样就能在开课时跟上进度。我每个星期三上午给一个法国同学上课，帮他准备我刚刚通过的那门考试。告诉父亲我已渐渐习惯这份工作，不像开始时那么觉得辛苦了，所以我不打算放弃。

今天我开始布置今年要住的这个小角落了，进展很慢，但我有什么办法？所有事情都必须亲自动手，不然太花钱。我必须把家具都摆放到位——我称它们为家具，其实加起来价值不超过二十法郎。

我很快就会给约瑟夫·博古斯基写信，询问关于他的实验室的情况，我未来的职业就系于此。

1894年3月18日，玛丽写给哥哥的信：

……我很难把我的生活细细讲给你听，因为太单调了，而且实话说也很没意思。不过我自己并不觉得单调，唯一的遗憾是日子太短，时间过得太快。人们总是看不到已经完成了多少工作，只看到还有多少没完成，所以如果不热爱自己的工作，就很容易灰心失望。

我希望你的博士论文能通过……我们的生活似乎都很不容易。可是那又如何？我们必须坚持下去，最重要的是要有自信。要相信我们在某件事情上是有天赋的，无论付出什么代价，必须把那件事做成。或许在我们最没有料到的时候，一切都会变得顺利起来……

1894年，皮埃尔·居里与玛丽·斯克洛多夫斯卡相遇。8月10日，他写给玛丽的信：

没有什么比得到你的消息更让我高兴。我原以为两个月都收不到你的信，十分难过，我的意思是很高兴收到你的这封短信。

我希望你尽量多呼吸新鲜空气，十月份回到我们身边来。至于我，我想我哪儿也不会去，我会一直留在乡下，整天在敞开的窗户前或花园里度过。

我们答应过彼此至少要做好朋友，不是吗？只愿你不改变心意！因为没有什么承诺是牢靠的，而这种事情是不能勉强的。如果我们能一生相伴，一起沉浸在我们的梦里：你的爱国之梦，我们的博爱之梦和科学之梦，那该多美好，只是我不敢奢望如此。

在所有这些梦里，我想只有最后一个是真实合理的。我是说，我们无力改变社会秩序，就算有力量，我们也不知该如何采取行动，无论朝哪个方向走，我们都不能确保我们的行动是否弊大于利，是否延迟了某些不可避免的变化。相反，若从科学角度出发，我们倒有希望做些实事。这块土地是坚实的，无论我们做出多么微小的发现，都是知识的收获。

不知道将来会是怎样：我们已经决定了要做好朋友，但你若在一年内就离开法国，两个人再也无法见面，这份友谊可就真的变成柏拉图式了。你留在我身边不是更好吗？我知道这个问题会让你生气，你不想再谈它了——是啊，我也觉得自己各方面都太配不上你了。

我本想问问你，去弗里堡时是否愿意见我一面，但如果我没弄错，你在那里只待一天，那么你当然是要去见你的朋友科瓦斯基夫妇了。

你忠诚的皮埃尔·居里

如果你能回信，向我保证会在十月份回来，我会很高兴的。回信请直接寄索镇（塞纳区）萨布隆街13号皮埃尔·居里收，这样我能快些收到。

1894年8月14日，皮埃尔·居里写给玛丽·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

我无法下决心去见你。我犹豫了一整天，最后只得出了这个否定的答案。我从你的信中得到的第一印象是你不希望我去。第二印象是你依然很好心地允许我和你共度三天。我已经准备动身了，却突然为自己这样不顾你心意地追求你而感到羞愧。最后我决定不去，因为我几乎可以肯定自己的出现会使令尊不悦，破坏他和你相伴的快乐。

现在太迟了。我很后悔没去。如果一起度过三天，我们的友谊会加深吧？它会给我们力量，让我们在接下来两个半月的分离中不忘记彼此吧？

你相信宿命吗？你还记得四旬节狂欢日那天吗？我突然在人群里找不到你了。我觉得我们的友谊也会像这样遽然中断，尽管谁都不愿如此。我不是宿命论者，但是依我们的性格，结果可能就会是这样。我永远不会抓住机会行动。

这对你或许倒是好事，因为我不知为何总想把你留在法国，让你远离自己的祖国和家人，却没什么好东西能够给你，换取你这样的牺牲。

你说你完全自由，是不是有点太自负了？至少我们都是自己情感的奴隶，都要服从于所爱之人的偏见，而且我们都必须谋生，因此难免成为社会机器的一个零件，凡此种种。

最痛苦的是我们不得不对周围社会的偏见让步，让步多少，要看我们是坚强还是软弱。如果让步不够，就会被社会击垮，如果让步太多，就会自感可耻可厌。我现在早已远离了自己十年前的原则。那时我相信人在各方面都要做到极致，丝毫不能屈从于环境。我认为人必须放大自己的优点和缺点，我只穿工人的那种蓝衬衫，等等。

所以你看，我已经老了，变得软弱多了。我愿你过得快乐。

你忠诚的朋友皮埃尔·居里

1894年9月7日，皮埃尔·居里写给玛丽·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

……你可以想象，你的来信让我担心。我强烈建议你十月返回巴黎。如果你今年不回来，我会非常难过，但我劝你回来却并非出自朋友的私心，而是因为我相信你在这里能更好地做研究，能从事一份更踏实、更有用的工作。

如果有人拿头去撞石头墙，想要把墙撞倒，你会怎么想？这种行为可能出自最良好的意愿，但事实上是愚蠢可笑的。我相信在当今这个世界，有些问题已经无法局部解决，需要一个更普遍的解决方案。当一个人走入没有出口的道路时，可能会做出许多有害的事情。我还相信这个世界本无公正可言，只有最强大或者说最有效率的体系才能占上风。人们被工作弄得疲惫不堪，生活悲惨，尽管我们憎恶这种现象，它却不会因此消失。它若消失，大概是出于这样的原因：人是一种机器，从经济效益的角度来看，让一种机器无需强迫地正常运转是最有利的。

你对自私的看法令人惊讶！我在二十岁的时候遭遇很大的不幸，在极可怕的情形下失去了一位深爱的童年挚友。我没有勇气告诉你事情的全部经过。我日夜执着于一个念头，以折磨自己为乐。后来我诚心诚意地发誓过修道士的生活，我要求自己从此仅对事物感兴趣，再也不想我自己或全人类的事情。此后我常问自己，这种对人生的舍弃，是否只是为了让自己遗忘的方法。

在贵国通信是否自由？我很怀疑，所以我想以后切莫再发宏论，尽管你我纯属哲学探讨，却可能被恶意曲解，给你惹上麻烦。

如果你愿意，请给我写信，寄至萨布隆街13号。

你忠诚的朋友皮埃尔·居里

1894年9月17日，皮埃尔·居里写给玛丽·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

你的来信让我不安。你感到你很烦恼，拿不定主意。你寄自华沙的信让我稍微安心，我觉得你重新找到了平静。你的照片让我非常高兴。你真太好了，愿意把它寄给我！我由衷地感谢。

你终于要回巴黎了，我真高兴。我希望我们至少能做形影不离的朋友，你同意吗？

如果你成了法国人，就很容易在中学或女子师范学校谋到教职。你喜欢这种工作吗？

你极忠诚的朋友皮埃尔·居里

我把你的照片给哥哥看了。我是不是不该这样做？他很喜欢。他还说：“她看起来很坚决，甚至有些顽固。”

皮埃尔向心爱的玛丽求婚。1895年7月14日，玛丽的哥哥约瑟夫给她寄来了一封信，深情地表达了斯克洛多夫斯卡一家对她的谅解：

……你现在是居里先生的未婚妻了，我要先向你表示最诚挚的祝愿，愿你和他在一起获得幸福和快乐——我和其他了解你美好心灵和性格的人，都觉得你应该得到这种幸福。

……我认为你听从自己的心意是对的，任何公正的人都不会因此责怪你。我很了解你，相信你的心依然完全属于波兰，也相信你心里永远是这个家的一员。我们也会永远爱你，永远把你看成一家人。

我绝对更愿意看到你在巴黎过上幸福美满的生活，而不愿看到你回到波兰，出于你过于敏感的责任心牺牲自己，痛苦地葬送整个人生。我们现在要做的是克服困难，尽量多见面。

一千遍地亲吻你，亲爱的玛尼娅，让我再次祝你幸福、快乐、成功。请代我向你的未婚夫亲切致意。请转告他，我欢迎他成为这个家的一员，毫无保留地献上我的友谊和支持，希望也能得到他的友谊和尊重。

几天后，玛丽给少女时代的好友卡琪娅写了封信，宣布了她的决定：

你收到这封信的时候，你的玛尼娅已经改姓了。我就要与去年在华沙和你谈起的那个男子结婚了。我很难过，以后要长居巴黎了，但是又能怎么办呢？命运让我们彼此紧紧相连，无法分离。

我没有早给你写信，是因为一切都在不久前才突然定下来。我犹豫了整整一年也没想好，最后才决定定居这里。接到这封信之后，回信请寄至拉蒙德路42号物理化学学校，居里夫人收。

从现在开始，这就是我的姓了。我丈夫在这所学校当教师。明年我准备带他回波兰，让他了解我的祖国，还要带他认识我心中亲爱的小姐姐，并请求她喜欢他……

婚后的玛丽开始了幸福的家庭生活。1895年11月23日，玛丽写给约瑟夫·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

……我们一切安好，身体健康，生活也顺利。我在一点点地布置我们的公寓，但是我想让它维持这种不需我操心的风格，因为我没有帮手，有个妇人每天来一小时，洗碗、干粗活。做饭和其他家务都要我自己做。

我们每隔几天就去索镇看望公婆。这不会妨碍我们工作，因为二层有两间给我们准备的房间，所需物品一应俱全，我们很自在，实验室做不完的那部分工作可以在那里做。

如果天气好，我们就骑车去索镇，只有遇到下大雨才坐火车。

我那个“能赚钱”的职位还没定下来。那是一份半科研、半实业性质的工作，我觉得比教课好。我希望今年能在实验室找到一些事情做。

1896年3月18日，玛丽写给约瑟夫·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

……我们的生活还是那样单调。除了德鲁斯基夫妇和索镇的公婆之外，我们谁都不见，很少看戏，也没什么其他消遣。复活节我们或许会给自己放几天假，出去旅行。

我很遗憾没能参加海拉的婚礼。如果家人都不住在华沙，我会克服各种困难，筹出旅费前往。幸好海拉并非独自一人。所以我只能忍痛放弃这桩美事，因为我不能随心所欲。

这里已经热了几个星期。乡下完全是一片绿色。索镇的紫罗兰二月就长出来了，现在遍地都是，连花园的假山上也长满了。在巴黎的街上能用很低的价格买到大把花束，所以我家总是鲜花不断……

1896年7月16日，玛丽写给约瑟夫夫妇的信：

……亲爱的兄嫂，我真想今年回家去拥抱你们！唉，想也别想，我既没钱也没时间。我现在正在参加任职资格考试，竞争很激烈，考试一直要持续到八月中旬。

婚后第二年，玛丽因怀孕而身体不适，无法继续站在设备前研究钢铁磁性，这让她很痛苦，她抱怨了。1897年3月2日，玛尼亚写给卡琪娅的信：

亲爱的卡琪娅，抱歉这封贺生信写得太迟，我前几个星期实在难受，没有精力和头脑写信。我要有孩子了，只是这愿望实现的方式太让人痛苦。两个多月来，我从早到晚地头晕，易疲惫，越来越虚弱，虽然看来脸色不坏，却无法工作，精神也差。

我婆婆病得很重，所以这种身体状况让我格外苦恼。

玛丽从未想过要在家庭生活和科学事业做出选择。她决心要兼顾妻职、母职和科学研究，三方面都绝不糊弄。1897年11月10日，玛丽写给斯克洛多夫斯卡先生的信：

我还在给我的小女王喂奶，但是最近我们很担心她不能继续吃我的奶了。三个星期以来，伊雷娜的体重突然下降，看上去像生了病，没有活力。这几天情况有所好转，如果这孩子体重正常增加，我就继续喂她，否则我要给她找个奶娘，虽然这会让我难过，又要花钱，但我绝不想影响孩子的健康成长。

这里的天气依然很好，晴朗温暖。我或佣人每天带着伊雷娜出去散步，我用一个小澡盆给她洗澡。

一件伤心事扰乱了玛丽的工作热情：德鲁斯基夫妇即将离开巴黎。1898年12月2日，玛丽写给布罗尼娅的信：

你想象不到你的离去使我多空虚。现在除了丈夫和孩子，我在巴黎已无牵挂之人。似乎在我们的住处和学校之外，巴黎已不存在。

帮我问问德鲁斯基夫人，你们留下的那盆绿色植物是否需浇水？一天浇几次？是否要温暖和多晒太阳？

我们很好，只是天气糟糕，雨水多，道路泥泞。伊雷娜长成大孩子了。她吃饭不好，除了牛奶、木薯粉，什么都不肯好好吃，甚至包括鸡蛋。回信时请告诉我这个年龄的孩子该吃什么……

1899年，玛丽写给布罗尼娅的信：

生活还是那样。我们工作虽忙，睡眠却很好，所以健康没受影响。晚上的时间要用来照顾孩子。早上我给她穿好衣服，做好饭，然后一般在九点出门。整整一年，我们没看戏，听音乐会，也没拜访亲友。我们觉得这种生活好极了……我很想念家人，最想念亲爱的你和父亲。我一想到自己孤零零的就很难过。可我不该抱怨，我们无病无灾，孩子健康成长，而且我拥有能想象到的最好的丈夫，我从未奢望能找到像他这样的人。他真是上帝的恩赐，我们相处越久，相爱越深。

我们的工作在推进。不久我要做一次关于这个题目的发言，原定时间是上周六，但是因故耽搁，所以不是这周六，就是下周六。

居里夫妇沉浸于研究镭的伟业中，贫寒度日。1899年3月19日，玛丽写给约瑟夫·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

我们必须很小心。我丈夫的薪水不太够用，但我们至今每年都有一些意外收入，使我们不至于入不敷出。

无论如何，我希望我丈夫和我尽快找到稳定的工作，那样我们不仅能收支相抵，还能有些积蓄，为孩子的将来提供保障。我只希望能在找工作前完成博士论文。现在我们有太多关于新金属的工作要做，无暇顾及学位之事。论文固然是以这项工作为基础，但我还需另做一些研究，目前我实在做不了。

我们的身体很好。现在皮埃尔的饮食以牛奶、鸡蛋和蔬菜为主，不喝酒，不吃红肉，大量饮水，风湿病好了很多。我也很好，咳嗽已经痊愈，体检和对于痰液的几项分析都表明肺部没有问题。

伊雷娜正在健康成长。我在她十八个月时给她断了奶，当然，有很长时间我还在给她喝牛奶糊。现在我给她喝牛奶糊，吃“刚下出来的”新鲜鸡蛋。

这年发生了一些伤心事。玛丽先是怀孕，然后早产了。这次挫折让她非常痛心。1903年8月25日，玛丽写给布罗尼娅的信：

这次意外太让我震惊了，我没有勇气给任何人写信。我心里已经有了这个孩子，所以觉得很绝望，心情无法平复。求你写信告诉我，你是否认为流产是身体疲劳造成的，因为我必须承认自己没有节省力气。我对自己的身体很有信心，却付出了高昂的代价，现在后悔极了。她是个小女孩，本来发育很好，生下来时还活着。我多想要这个孩子啊！

斯德哥尔摩的瑞典皇家科学院在1903年12月10日举行的“正式大会”上，宣布将该年度的诺贝尔物理学奖金一半授予亨利·贝克勒尔，一半授予居里夫妇，以奖励他们在放射性方面做出的发现。1903年12月11日，玛丽·居里写给约瑟夫·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

亲爱的约瑟夫：

我很感谢你们的来信。请别忘了代我感谢玛尼苏雅（约瑟夫的女儿），她的那封信写得好极了，给我带来了很大快乐。我一有空就给她回信。

十一月初我得了流感，现在还有点咳嗽。我去找朗德里厄（Landrieux）大夫看过了，他检查了我的肺，没发现什么问题，但他说我贫血。不过我自觉强壮，比秋天做更多工作，却没有感到太疲乏。

我丈夫去了伦敦，领取颁给我们的戴维奖章。我怕累，所以没有同去。

我们被授予了诺贝尔奖的一半奖金。我不太明白这意味着什么，我想大概会得到七万法郎，对我们来说是一笔巨款。我不知道什么时候才能拿到这笔钱，或许要等到我们去斯德哥尔摩的时候。我们被要求在12月10日后的六个月内去做一次演讲。

我们没有参加颁奖典礼，因为安排起来太麻烦。我的身体还有点虚弱，无法在严冬长途旅行（如果中途不停，要四十二小时，停站还要更久）去一个寒冷国家，却只在那里待三四天——我们若要长时间停课，是一件非常困难的事。

我们收到了大量来信，摄影师和新闻记者也蜂拥而至。我真想在地上钻个洞，找个清净的藏身之处。美国方面来信邀请我们去做一系列关于我们研究内容的讲座，还问我们要多少报酬。不管他们开出什么条件，我们都打算拒绝。我们好不容易推掉了为我们准备的庆功会。因为我们拼命拒绝，人们也就知道无法可施了。

我的伊雷娜很好。她要上小学了，学校离家挺远的。在巴黎为小孩找一所好学校真难。

温柔地吻你们，请你们别忘记我。

1904年3月19日，玛丽写给约瑟夫·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

亲爱的约瑟夫：

向你献上我最深情的生日祝福，祝你健康，祝全家一切顺利，也祝你永远不必像我们现在这样被信件淹没，被人们围攻。

我有点后悔扔掉我收到的那些信，它们是很有教益的。有人寄来歌颂镭的十四行诗和新诗，有各种发明家和通灵师写来信件，有些信还充满哲思。昨天收到一个美国人来信，问我是否允许用我的名字命名一匹赛马。当然，我们还收到了成百上千封索要签名和照片的信。我很少回信，但是读信也会浪费时间。

1905年3月23日，玛丽写给约瑟夫·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

我知道，你希望这场痛苦的灾难(1905年，俄国爆发了革命，波兰人民抱着得解放的热烈期望支持这场反沙皇的骚动)能给我们的国家带来一些好处。布罗尼娅和卡西米尔也这么想，但愿这种愿望不要落空！我也热切盼着，不停地想着这件事。不管怎样，我认为必须支持这场革命。我会马上给卡西米尔汇一些钱用于此事，唉！可惜我不能亲自帮上忙……

……我这里一切如常。孩子们都在健康成长。小艾芙睡得很少，如果我在她醒着时离开摇篮，她就会使劲闹。我不是斯多葛派，因此总是把她抱在怀里直到她安静下来。她和伊雷娜长得不像，她是黑头发、蓝眼睛，伊雷娜现在看来是浅色头发、棕绿色眼睛。

我们还住在那栋房子里，春天来了，我们开始享受花园的美好。今天天气极好，经过潮湿的、难以忍受的冬季，这种天气让我们感到加倍的愉快。

我已于2月1日回到塞夫勒。下午去实验室，每周两个上午去塞夫勒上课，其他时候在家……我有很多工作要做，做家务、带孩子、教课、做实验，真不知该如何统筹兼顾。

1906年4月，丈夫皮埃尔的去世使居里夫人悲痛不已：

……皮埃尔，我的皮埃尔，你躺在那里，头上裹着绷带，看上去那么平静，就像一个可怜的在睡觉的伤者。你的脸色温柔平和，还是你，只是做了一场醒不来的梦。你的唇，我常说它贪婪的唇，现在却铁青没有血色。你的小胡子是灰色的。几乎看不到头发，因为伤口就在头上。额头右边可以看到破碎的骨头。噢！你受了多大的罪，流了多少血，衣服都被血浸透了。你可怜的头受了多可怕的撞击，那是我经常用手抚摸的头啊。我吻了你的眼皮，过去你总是闭上眼睛，用一种熟悉的动作伸过头来，让我吻它们……

……星期六早晨，我们把你装进了棺材，搬动你的时候，我扶着你的头。我们最后一次吻了你冰冷的脸，然后在棺材里放了一把从花园里采的长春花，还有你最喜欢的那张我的照片——被你称为“乖学生”的那张，也放了进去。必须是这张照片在坟墓里陪你，因为照片上的女孩那么快乐，让你那么喜欢，你和她才见了几次，就毫不迟疑地要与她共度一生。你常说自己一辈子只有这件事没有犹豫，完全相信自己做得对。我的皮埃尔，我也觉得你没做错。我们命中注定在一起，我们必须结合。

你的棺材盖上了，我再也见不到你了。我不许他们用那块可怕的黑布覆在上面，所以在上面铺满鲜花，我坐在旁边。

……他们来带走你了，一群讨厌的人。我看着他们，没有和他们说话。我们把你带回了索镇，看着你进了那个又大又深的坑。来了一群可怕的人。他们要把我和雅克带走，我们拒绝了，我们要看你到最后。坟墓埋上了，摆了些花束。一切都结束了。皮埃尔长眠于地下。一切，一切，一切都结束了。

……葬礼第二天，我把一切告诉了伊雷娜，她当时在佩兰家……她一开始不太明白，什么都没说，只让我走，后来她好像哭了，说要见我们。回家后她大哭了一场，然后就去找她的小朋友了，去忘掉这些事。她一开始没问任何细节，而且害怕谈到她父亲。我的黑衣服送来时，她睁大了眼睛，看起来很不安……现在她似乎不再想这件事了。

约瑟夫和布罗尼娅来了。他们真好，伊雷娜和舅舅玩耍，艾芙在房子里蹒跚地走着，她什么都不知道，兴高采烈地玩耍、大笑。人们都在说话，我看见了皮埃尔，皮埃尔躺在灵床上。

……皮埃尔，你死后的那个星期日的早上，雅克陪着我第一次回到了实验室。我试着为咱们各画了几点的那张图表做测量，可我做不下去。

我走在街上，像被催眠了一般，对一切无知无觉。我不能自杀。我甚至没有自杀的欲望。但是这么多车，难道没有一辆让我分享自己爱人的命运？

未能走出失去爱人痛苦的居里夫人日记：

他们让我接替你的位置，我的皮埃尔，讲你的课程，领导你的实验室。我接受了。我不知道这是好是坏。你总说希望我能在索邦教课。我也愿意至少努力试着去继续你的工作。有时我觉得这样做最能让我活下去，可有时我又觉得，我尝试做这件事简直是疯了。

1906年5月7日：

我的皮埃尔，我不停地想你，脑子里都是你，理智已经混乱。我再也见不到你了，再也不能对我这一生的甜蜜伴侣微笑了，我不知道怎么活下去。

这两天树上长出了叶子，花园很美。今天早上，我看着孩子们在花园里，我想你会觉得她们很好看，你会喊我看盛开的长春花和水仙花。昨天在墓地，我不能理解刻在石头上的“皮埃尔·居里”几个字是什么意思。乡下的美刺目伤心，我放下黑纱，透过它去看这个世界。

5月11日：

我的皮埃尔，我昨晚睡得挺好，醒来时觉得挺平静。但那是一刻钟之前的事，现在我又想嚎叫了，像野兽一样嚎叫。

5月14日：

我的小皮埃尔，我想告诉你，金链花正在盛开，紫藤、山楂和鸢尾也要开花了——你看了一定喜欢。

我想告诉你，我已受聘接任你的教席，还有些蠢人向我道贺。

我想告诉你，我不再喜欢太阳和鲜花了。看到它们会难过。阴天我觉得好些，你死的那天就是个阴天，如果说我还不至于讨厌好天气，那是因为孩子们需要它。

5月22日：

我在实验室工作了一天，我现在只能做这个，因为在那里比在别处觉得好些，我想不到还有什么事能带给我快乐，或许只有科学工作？可就连它也不行，因为我无法忍受自己成功了却不能告诉你。

6月10日：

一切都是灰暗的。生活中的事情太多，甚至不容我安静地想我的皮埃尔。

1907年，玛丽写给朋友卡琪娅的信：

亲爱的卡琪娅，我没能见你的那个学生K先生。他来的那天，我身体很不舒服——这种情况经常发生——而且第二天还要上课。我公公是大夫，他知道谈话会让我很累，所以禁止我那天会客。

至于别的，我还有什么能告诉你呢？我的生活太苦闷了，再也不会好起来了。我想它以后会一直这样，而我也不想尝试改变。我想尽力把孩子好好抚养长大，但是即便是她们也不能唤醒我的生机。她们都很好，很可爱，而且挺漂亮。我在很努力地让她们健康结实地成长。我想到小女儿的年龄，还要二十年才能让她们长大成人。我不知道自己能否活到那个时候，因为我的生活太操劳了，而悲伤也无益于体力和健康。

我在经济上没有困难，收入足够抚养孩子，不过比起我丈夫还在世的时候，生活当然是俭省了很多。

1914年8月1日，玛丽写给女儿们的信：

亲爱的伊雷娜，亲爱的艾芙，

局势似乎日益严峻，动员令随时可能下达。我不知能否离开。别担心，你们要保持镇定和勇敢。如果战事没有爆发，我星期一就去找你们，否则我就留在这里，尽快派人接你们回来。伊雷娜，你我二人需努力做有用之事。

8月2日：

我亲爱的女儿们，

战争动员已经开始。德国人不经宣战就进入了法国。一段时间内我们恐怕不容易通信了。

巴黎依然平静，而且看起来还不错，只是充满离别的悲伤。

8月6日：

我亲爱的伊雷娜，

我也很想接你们回来，但是现在办不到，你们要耐心等待。

德国人正在一路作战穿过比利时。弱小的比利时人英勇抵抗，不肯任由他们随意前进……法国人民充满希望，认为战斗虽然艰难，但会有好的转机。

波兰已被德国人部分占领。他们经过后还能剩下什么？我丝毫没有家里人的消息。

1914年8月28日，玛丽写给伊雷娜的信：

……人们开始面对巴黎被围的可能性，那样我们就会被隔开了。如果真到那一步，你们要勇敢忍耐，因为与正在进行的这场伟大斗争相比，我们的个人愿望太渺小了。如果我们分开的时间比预想中长，你要负起责任，照顾好妹妹。

8月29日：

亲爱的伊雷娜，你知道，现在还没有什么迹象表明我们会被隔开，但是我想告诉你，我们必须准备应对各种状况……巴黎离前线太近，德国军队很容易开过来。尽管如此，我们依然不放弃希望，希望最后的胜利属于法兰西。你要拿出勇气和信心！要记住你是姐姐，此时正该认真负担起这份责任。

1914年8月31日：

我刚刚收到你星期六写的那封甜蜜的信，真想吻你，想到几乎落泪。

局势并不顺利，我们的心情都很沉重不安。我们需要很多勇气，希望我们不缺少它。我们必须坚信，坏日子总会过去，好时光总会到来。我怀着这种希望在心里拥抱你们，我心爱的女儿们。

1914年9月6日，玛丽写给伊雷娜的信：

……此时战场发生了变化，敌军似乎正要撤离巴黎。我们都满怀希望，坚信法国能取得最后的胜利。

……让年轻的费尔南多·沙瓦纳多做物理习题，如果你们不能为法国的现在效力，就要为她的将来奋斗。唉，这场战争后很多人都会不在了，到时要有人接替他们的工作。你们要努力学好数学和物理。

1915年1月24日：

亲爱的伊雷娜，几经周折后，我们已经到了波普林格。但我们要先对医院做一些改变，然后才能工作。人们正在建一个车棚，还要在伤员住的大病房里隔出一间放射室。这些事都在耽搁我们，但也没有别的办法。

德国飞机在敦刻尔克投下了一些炸弹，有几个人被炸死了，但是人们并没有表现得很恐惧。波普林格也会发生这种事情，不过次数少得多。这里的炮声不绝于耳，没有下雨，有点结冰。医院的人对我非常热情，分给我一间很好的屋子，还给了我一个火炉。我在这里比在弗尔讷舒服多了，吃饭也在医院里。温柔地拥抱你们。

1919年9月3日，玛丽写给女儿们的信：

……我常想到在我们面前的下一年的工作。我也常想到你们，想到你们带给我的甜蜜、快乐和关心。你们真是我的宝贵财富，我希望还能和你们一起好好生活几年。

1920年11月10日，玛丽写给布罗尼娅的信：

我最大的烦恼来自眼睛和耳朵。我的眼睛弱多了，恐怕已无计可施。至于耳朵，我总是耳鸣，有时候很强烈，很烦人。这些事让我非常着急，因为我的工作可能会受到干扰，甚至变得无法工作。或许是镭造成了这些问题，但无法确证。

这就是我的烦恼，请不要告诉任何人，这一点很重要，因为我不想引来人们的议论。现在让我们说点别的吧……

1920年12月，玛丽写给约瑟夫·斯克洛多夫斯卡的信：

现在我们这些“在奴役中出生，一直戴着镣铐”的人终于看到了国家光复，这是我们一直以来的梦。我们本以为自己无法亲眼看到这一天，甚至以为我们的孩子也看不到——可它现在就在眼前！诚然，我们的国家为此付出了昂贵的代价，而且将来还要付出代价。但如果波兰在战后仍然被奴役、被分割，我们该何等痛心，何等失望！相比之下，眼下局势的阴霾又算得了什么？我和你一样，也对未来抱有信心。

1921年5月10日，居里夫人写给亨丽埃塔的信：

亲爱的亨丽埃塔，

我在船上收到了你亲切的来信，觉得很安慰——我离开法国去很远的地方参加很不符合我趣味和习惯的狂欢，心中难免有些不安。

我不喜欢横渡大西洋，大海阴沉、黑暗、汹涌。我没晕船，但觉得有些头晕，大部分时间都待在我的船舱里。我的女儿们似乎很满意，同行的梅洛尼夫人极力与她们亲近，她是个最友善、最和气的人。

……我想到拉赫库埃斯特，想到我们很快就能和朋友们在那里快乐相聚，想到你会来那个小花园和我安静地待上几小时，还想到我们俩都深爱的那片温柔的蓝色的海，它比这片冰冷沉默的大洋可爱多了。

我还想到你的女儿快要生产了，这个孩子将是我们这群朋友中最小的成员，是下一代中的第一个，希望将来有更多孙辈出生……

一次，居里夫人乘一艘安静的意大利小汽船横渡南大西洋，感到一种孩子般的快乐。她在给艾芙的信中写道：

我们见到了飞鱼。我们看到自己的影子变小到几乎看不见，而太阳就在头顶。我们还看到一些熟悉的星座沉入大海，比如北极星和大熊星座。南方出现了南十字座，美极了。这里的天空中出现的星星，我几乎都不认识……

在写给艾芙的信中，她一次次地表达了自己对祖国深深的眷恋：

昨天早上，我独自朝维斯瓦河走去……河水缓慢地在宽阔的河床上蜿蜒流淌，在近处看是蓝绿色的，从远处看，因为天空的反射显得更蓝。这片最可爱的沙洲在阳光下闪闪发光，很多地方延伸出去，决定着河水多变的流向。在这些沙洲的边上，一道很明亮的光标示出深水的界限。我感到一种无法抗拒的渴望，想漫步在这片灿烂瑰丽的沙洲上。我承认，我的这条河与那些矜重的、可以通航的河面貌不同。有一天，人们会需要对她的恣肆稍加束缚，那会损害它的美。

有一首歌唱维斯瓦河的克拉科夫民歌：“这条波兰大河魅力如许，人们被它俘获，此爱终生不渝。”对我来说就是这样。这条河深深吸引着我，我不知道原因是什么。

再见，亲爱的。代我吻你的姐姐伊雷娜。用心拥抱你们，这颗心属于你们。

你们的母亲

居里夫人无可救药地对虚荣感到不适。尽管付出了很大努力，她还是无法与名声和平共处，在一次出访的旅途中给女儿写信说：

我发现自己离你们很远，而且太经常要抛头露面，对此我既不喜欢也不感激，它们弄得我很累，所以我今天早上有点低落。

在柏林，一群人在站台上喧嚣吵嚷，向着和我走下同一列火车的拳击手登普西欢呼，他看来颇满足。说到底，人们为他欢呼和为我欢呼有何不同？在我看来，不管对象是谁，这种欢呼方式本身就要不得。然而我看不出一个人该如何前进，也看不出应该在何种程度上允许人们将一个人和他所代表的思想混为一谈……

居里夫人和艾芙有时候会谈起爱情。她会引用一位著名法国作家的名言：“爱情不是一种高尚的情感。”她在给艾芙的信中写道：

我认为我们应该在某种理想主义中寻找精神力量，这种理想主义会要求我们把抱负和梦想放在最高的位置，而又不使我们骄傲自大；我还认为，如果将人生的兴趣都寄托于爱情这种激烈动荡的情感上，难免会感到失望。

1923年7月13日，玛丽·居里写给艾芙的信：

亲爱的，我将在星期三（18日）早上做手术，你提前一天过来就行。这里很热，我怕你太累。

你就告诉拉赫库埃斯特的朋友们，我因为没能完成咱们一起编写的一篇东西，人家催我尽快完成，所以我急着喊你回来。

吻你。

妈。

亲爱的，对他们说得越少越好！

1928年12月29日，玛丽写给伊雷娜和弗雷德里克·约里奥 - 居里的信：

我亲爱的孩子们，

祝你们新年快乐，就是说，祝你们在新的一年里身体好、心情好、工作好。祝你们每天都过得愉快，不要等日子过去才发现它的魅力，也无需将快乐的希望寄托在将来的日子。人的年纪越大，越觉得要享受现在，这是一种珍贵的赐福，一种优雅的状态。

我想着你们的小埃莱娜，祝她也幸福快乐。看着她慢慢长大真让人感动。这个小东西对你们无比信任，等着你们给她一切，确信你们会保护她不受一点痛苦。有一天，她会发现你们也没那么大本领，但是人们都希望自己能为孩子做到。至少要尽力让他们健康，让他们在爱的包围中度过平静安宁的童年，让他们这种美好的信心尽可能延续下去。

第一次手术几个月后，她从卡瓦莱尔写给艾芙的信上说：

我渐渐习惯了不戴眼镜走路，而且有了进步。我走了两次崎岖难行的山路，走得挺顺利，而且我可以走得很快而不出事故。最不舒服的是看东西有重影，这让我认不出走过来的人。我每天练习看书写字。到目前为止，它们比走路困难。所以给《大不列颠百科全书》的那篇文章需要你帮我……

少女时期的玛丽，曾在一封短信中写下这句话：

像我这样敏感的人，若不能改变自己的天性，至少应该加以掩饰。

[1]居里夫人本名玛丽·斯克洛多夫斯卡，玛尼娅是她的爱称。

附录二

居里夫人生平大事年表

1867年11月7日生于波兰首都华沙。父亲是中学物理教师，母亲为女子寄宿学校校长。

1873年进私立寄宿学校读书。

1876年1月，14岁的大姐索菲亚因病去世。

1878年5月9日，母亲因肺痨去世。

1881年进俄国人控制下的公立中学就读。

1883年6月，以优异成绩从中学毕业，并获得金质奖章。毕业后，因健康原因去乡间亲戚家里休养。

1884年9月，返回华沙做家教，并参加了波兰爱国青年知识分子组织的 “流动大学”，边学习边参加爱国活动。

1886年只身到农村去当家庭教师，一直到1989年6月。

1890年9月，回到华沙，第一次进入实验室，在表哥主持的工农业博物馆搞物理和化学实验。

1891年9月，赴巴黎求学。11月，以玛丽·斯克洛多夫斯卡的名字注册，入巴黎大学物理系。

1893年7月，以第一名的优异成绩通过物理学学士学位考试，并获得奖学金，在巴黎大学继续攻读数学学士学位。

1894年接受法国工业发展委员会关于钢铁磁性的研究课题。4月，与皮埃尔·居里结识。7月，以优异成绩通过数学学士学位考试。后回波兰度假。10月，返回巴黎，继续其课题研究。

1895年7月，与皮埃尔·居里喜结良缘。

1895年法国物理学家贝克勒尔教授发现铀可以放射出一种射线。两年后，这种被称之为“贝克勒尔射线”的未知射线引起居里夫妇的关注。8月，通过中学教师资格考试，获物理考试第一名，进物理和化学学校实验室工作。

1867年第一篇论文《淬火钢的磁化特性》发表。9月12日，大女儿伊雷娜出生。

1898年年初，选择铀射线作为博士论文选题。同时，发现钍也能放射出“贝克勒尔射线”，命名“放射性”。夫妇两人合作研究放射学。7月，宣布发现一种新放射性元素，其放射性比铀强四百倍，并将其命名为“钋”，以纪念自己的祖国波兰。12月，夫妇两人与贝蒙合作，又发现一种新元素，其放射性比铀强一百万倍，命名为“镭”。

1899年接受奥地利政府的一吨铀沥青矿渣，作为提炼镭之用。

1900年居里夫人被聘为塞夫勒女子高等师范学校教师，教物理。10月，在法国数学家普安卡雷的举荐下，皮埃尔·居里前往巴黎大学为医学院学生讲授物理、化学和博物学。

1902年夫妇两人终于提炼出一分克氯化镭，第一次测定出镭的原子量为225。居里夫人的父亲病逝，享年70岁。

1902年6月，居里夫人的博士论文《放射性物质的研究》获得通过，取得博士学位。12月，夫妇两人与贝克勒尔共享1903年度的诺贝尔物理学奖。居里夫人成为第一位荣获诺贝尔奖的女性。

1904年10月，任巴黎大学理学院物理实验室主任。12月，二女儿艾芙出生。

1905年6月，居里夫妇前往斯德哥尔摩领取因病未能及时前去领取的诺贝尔奖。7月，皮埃尔当选为法国科学院院士。

1906年4月，皮埃尔遭遇车祸身亡，终年47岁。5月，居里夫人去巴黎大学接替丈夫的工作，教授物理课，内容为电与物质的现代理论。

1907年提炼出纯净氯化镭，并测定出镭的原子量为226，发表论文《论镭的原子量》。

1908年晋升为教授。

1910年2月，皮埃尔的父亲去世。提炼出纯净镭元素。两卷本专著《论放射性》问世。9月，参加在布鲁塞尔举行的放射学会议。发表《放射性系数表》。接受委托提取21毫克氯化镭作为基本测定标准，存放于巴黎国际度量衡标准局。

1911年1月，竞选法国科学院院士，以几票之差落选。12月，瑞典诺贝尔奖委员会宣布授予她1911年度诺贝尔化学奖。居里夫人成为第一位两次获诺贝尔奖的人。11日，作了诺贝尔奖讲演，题为《镭和化学中的新概念》。

1912年12月，论文《放射性的测量和镭的标准》发表。

1913年华沙实验室建立，亲自前往揭幕。夏天，做肾脏手术。10月，出席在布鲁塞尔举行的第二届索尔维会议。

1914年7月，巴黎镭研所居里楼落成，担任实验室主任。7月28日，第一次世界大战爆发。

1914年—1918年往返于法国各大战区，指导18个战地医疗服务队，用X射线配合战地救护。

1918年11月，战争结束。波兰独立，成立波兰共和国。

1919年巴黎镭研所恢复运作。

1920年居里基金会成立，自1920年起开始向镭研所拨款。5月，美国新闻工作者梅洛尼夫人采访她后，回到美国，号召美国妇女捐款，购得1克镭赠送给居里夫人。

1921年《放射学与战争》一书面世。3月8日，与北京大学校长蔡元培会晤。5月，携两个女儿出访美国，接受捐赠的1克镭。5月20日，由美国总统哈定在白宫主持赠送仪式。10月，出席在布鲁塞尔举行的第三届索尔维会议。

1922年2月，当选为巴黎医学科学院院士。5月，出任联合国国际文化合作委员会委员。

1923年7月，做白内障手术，未痊愈，后于1924年和1930年，又接受了两次手术。撰写《皮埃尔·居里传》（1924年出版），并应梅洛尼夫人之请，撰写《居里夫人自传》。

1924年巴黎大学举行纪念大会，庆祝发现镭25周年。10月，出席第四届索尔维会议。12月，接受朗之万介绍的学生约里奥为助手。

1925年回华沙为波兰镭研所奠基，并任名誉所长。

1926年10月，伊雷娜与约里奥喜结连理。

1927年10月，出席第五届索尔维会议。

1929年第二次访美，代表华沙镭研所接受美国人民赠给波兰的1克镭，由胡佛总统主持赠送仪式。秋天，接受中国清华大学物理系首届毕业生施士元为研究生。

1930年10月，出席第六届索尔维会议。

1931年前往华沙主持波兰镭研所的开幕典礼。

1933年在西班牙马德里举行的国际文化合作委员会会议上被选为主席。10月，与约里奥·居里夫妇一起出席第七届索尔维会议。约里奥·居里在会上报告了“他们很有成就”的研究论文。

1934年在居里夫人的指导下，约里奥·居里夫妇发现了人工放射性。两卷本专著《论放射性》完稿（1935年出版）。6月，因病入疗养院。7月4日，因白血病辞世。7月6日，安葬于索镇居里墓地。7月8日，中国中央研究院院长蔡元培致唁电。德比埃尔接任居里实验室主任。

1935年11月，约里奥·居里夫妇因“研究和合成人工放射性”而双双获得诺贝尔化学奖。

1946年居里夫妇的大女儿伊雷娜接任居里实验室主任。

1956年12月，二女儿艾芙的丈夫亨利·拉布伊斯以联合国儿童基金会总干事的身份在斯德哥尔摩接受诺贝尔和平奖。

居里夫人自传

产品经理 | 何娜

装帧设计 | 钟蓉

Kindle电子书制作 | 李元沛

出品人 | 赵海萍

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Table of Contents

扉页

插图

序一 悼念玛丽·居里

序二 我的信念

第一章 我的家庭

第二章 婚后生活

第三章 战争岁月

第四章 美国之行

英文原版 The Autobiography of Marie Curie

Chapter Ⅰ My Family

Chapter Ⅱ Married Life

Chapter Ⅲ At War

Chapter Ⅳ A Visit to America

附录一 居里夫人书信选

附录二 居里夫人生平大事年表