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14/05/12 Uncovering hidden talents
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26/04/12 A belated Joyeux Noël!
20/04/12 Making work experience fair
05/04/12 Helping make the difference on a global scale
29/03/12 The Kids Are Alright...aren't they?
26/03/12 Chatham House Rule
09/03/12 Girl Power!
01/03/12 St. David's Day - celebration?
21/02/12 It's tradition!
Page 1 of 8 Next » | | Now that's what I call 'Girl-Power'!09/11/11
This week Google's home page honoured Polish-French physicist and chemist, Marie Curie with a doodle in celebration of the 144 anniversary of her birth.Sure, we learned about Marie Curie and her amazing achievements in school, but I had never considered her the original poster child for ‘Girl Power'... that was until I did a little further research this week. Unconvinced? Let's take a look at the evidence... - Born in Warsaw in 1867, Marie was one of five children and grew up in a very poor family.
- With a deep desire to educate herself a young Marie agreed to work so her older sister, Manya, could attend university. When Manya became a doctor, she returned the favour.
- She moved to Paris in 1891 to pursue her studies in mathematics and physics having been refused entry to University in Poland because of her sex.
- While living there she lived in a cold apartment and survived on very little food but graduated with the highest grades in the class and was awarded a scholarship.
- She went on to achieve a master's degree in mathematics and a doctorate in physics.
- She is credited with discovering the elements polonium and radium.
- Marie pioneered research in radioactivity, and along with her husband is accredited with its discovery.
- She was the first person honoured with two Nobel Prizes in two different fields.
- She was the first female professor at the University of Paris.
- Marie became the first woman to be entombed on her own merits in the Pantheon in Paris.
- Albert Einstein is reported to have remarked that she was probably the only person who was not corrupted by the fame that she has won.
Françoise Giroud's Marie Curie: A Life, emphasizes Marie's role as a feminist precursor- undoubtedly ahead of her time, emancipated and fiercely independent. Not so long ago ‘Girl-Power' simply meant encouraging legions of ladies and young girls to ‘spice up [their]life', don a union jack mini-dress and chant ‘zig-a-zig-ahh'; light-hearted fun, if not a tad opportunistic. Marie, on the other hand, had to overcome real barriers that were placed in her way because she was a woman, and she spectacularly knocked each one down, empowering generations of women long after her death. She makes me extremely proud to be a woman - if that isn't the true meaning of ‘Girl-Power', then I have no idea what is?! |
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