Image © F. Giovannangeli; used with permission.
Number 11 rue Pierre et Marie Curie
Paris Kiosque - June 1997 - Volume 4, Number 6
Copyright (c) June 1997 Françoise; Giovannangeli - used with permission
There are a few rare places in Paris that leave you feeling like you've
discovered a sort of insider secret. Tucked away on a quiet side street near the
Panthéon and devoid of any signs, the Musée Curie is one of them. The small,
modest-looking building in the heart of Paris's Latin Quarter is, in fact, the
only public site to document the lives of the five-time Nobel-laureate Curie
family.
Pierre and Marie Curie are known for their study of radioactivity, and for their
discovery in 1898 of the elements Radium and Polonium. With fellow scientist
Henri Becquerel, they received the Nobel prize for physics in 1903 for the joint
discovery of radioactivity. After Pierre's tragic death in 1906, Marie was
awarded a second Nobel prize in 1911, for chemistry. She also became the first
woman lecturer at the Sorbonne. This small lab was her workplace from 1914 until
her death in 1934. Walking through it on a recent rainy afternoon was like a
sort of time-slip.
Since our museum is actually a former place of work, explained Madame Bordry,
the delightful curator who greeted me, we're a little different. She was
referring to the personal approach that sets this museum apart: each and every
visitor who turns up at the door is treated as a guest. Madame Bordry herself or
one of her knowledgeable assistants provide individually-tailored tours, happy
to talk at length on the Curies and their work -- one almost gets the impression
they knew them personally. Amazingly, admission and tours are free.
Marie Skrodowska was born in Warsaw in 1867. She worked as a teacher in her
native Poland before coming to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. There, she earned
degrees in math and physics in 1894 before marrying French physicist Pierre
Curie. They had two daughters, Irène and Eve. Irène and her husband, Frederic
Joliot, would also follow in the Curies' footsteps, earning a Nobel prize
themselves in 1934 for discovery of artifical radioactivity.
The museum was founded in an informal way in 1964 on the occasion of the 30th
anniversary of this latest breakthrough. Various pieces of equipment used by
members of the famous family had been gathered together for a display and some
of the older guests remembered using them as students. Madame Bordry said she
realised that day that she was in a historic place and so the museum was born.
In 1995 it was completely renovated, resulting in a slightly larger main room
for displaying equipment and artifacts. On the wall near the entrance are
replicas of the family's Nobel prizes, including those of Irène and Frédéric.
A doorway in the far right-hand corner leads to Marie's office, unchanged since
it was last used by Irène. On the desk sits Marie's journal, pen and other
items; behind it a towering bookcase filled with books and dozens of volumes of
old press clippings. Have a look, said Madame Bordry as she pulled out Marie's
glasses and her last smock, a simple black dress, from one of the desk drawers.
Another passage leads from the office to her chemistry laboratory. The lab was
decontaminated in 1981 and most of the equipment and furniture have been
replaced with replicas, due to radioactivity. A piece of paper on the wall
showing calculations is one of the few original items left. Safely sealed behind
a plate of glass, the paper was handled by Marie and may have ultimately
contributed to her death. From the window one can see the back garden and its
huge rose bushes, and the balcony from which Marie was often photographed.
The Curies were modest and shunned publicity, explained Madame Bordry. While
I believe it's important to make their work known, I feel the laboratory-museum
must remain discreet -- because that's the way they were. Indeed, the Musée
Curie is neither listed in the phone book, nor in any of the weeklies listing
other Parisian museums and attractions. A little hard to find perhaps, but the
effort is well rewarded.
Museé Curie
11, rue Pierre et Marie Curie
75005 Paris
Luxembourg
Open Monday to Friday 13:30 to 17:00
42 34 67 49
Françoise Giovannangeli is a Canadian freelance writer who lives in Paris. She
can be contacted via
this link.
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