Marie Skłodowska-Curie gave her first Sorbonne lecture 120 years ago

It is 120 years since Marie Skłodowska-Curie began lecturing at the Sorbonne in Paris. This happened on 5 November 1906, and she became the first woman to teach at the university. A commemorative plaque at the entrance to the Lefebvre Lecture Hall, where the lecture took place, recalls the event.

The chair left by her husband

According to educational materials on zpe.gov.pl, Skłodowska-Curie took over the physics chair left without a professor after the death of her husband, Pierre Curie. In 1903 she had defended her doctoral thesis at the Sorbonne. The first lecture drew great interest, and the hall was packed to capacity.

An extract from the book in Onet

The occasion to recall this story is an extract from Claudine Monteil's book "Maria Skłodowska-Curie i jej córki" (Marie Skłodowska-Curie and her daughters), published on 5 November 2026 on Onet Kultura. According to the site's description, it is a story of overcoming adversity and courage. The author traces the scientist's path from poverty and the lack of women's right to higher education in 19th-century Europe to research on radioactivity carried out together with her husband.

The full text of the extract could not be retrieved, so the description above is based on the site's summary, while the historical facts were confirmed in a separate source.

Why it is worth remembering

Marie Skłodowska-Curie remains an important reference point for Polish culture and science. Her life, including her move to Paris to study and her work at a time when women had limited access to universities, has long been the subject of books, exhibitions and history lessons. The anniversary of her first lecture is a good reason to return to this biography, including for Polish families in the UK who want to introduce their children to Poland's scientific heritage.