Irène Joliot-Curie (d. 1956)

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Biography

Irène Joliot-Curie was a French chemist and physicist who received the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with her husband, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, for their discovery of induced radioactivity. They were the second married couple, after her parents, to win the Nobel Prize, adding to the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. This made the Curies the family with the most Nobel laureates to date.

Timeline

The story of Irène Joliot-Curie, told in moments.

1918 Life

Served as a radiographer during World War I at age 17, operating portable X-ray units near the front lines alongside her mother. She earned a military medal for her service.

What drove you to the front lines at 17? Did the military medal mean anything to you?

1935 Event

Won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with her husband Frederic for discovering artificial radioactivity. They'd found that bombarding aluminum with alpha particles created a new radioactive isotope of phosphorus. The Curies became the family with the most Nobel Prizes in history.

What was discovering artificial radioactivity like in the moment? Did the Nobel feel like your own or your parents'?

1936 Event

Appointed undersecretary of state for scientific research in France's Popular Front government. One of the first three women to serve in a French cabinet.

What was it like being one of the first three women in a French cabinet? Did politics feel different from science?

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