Standish High School - Crimson Rambler Yearbook (Standish, ME)

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Nstop staring at me like that! I forbid you to look down upon melu whereupon Manya, who was a head taller than her teacher answered, Nl can't very well do anything else, Mademoisellelu In spite of her rebellious nature and the dislike of several of her teachers, Manya was awarded the gold medal, lsymbol of the highest scholastic recordl, upon her grad- uation from high school. It had become sort of a habit with the Sklodovska family to bring home these merit awardsg there were now three in the family! when Manya graduated, her father sent her to the country to rest up, fearing that she, like her mother, would fall victim to consumption. There she roamed around in the fields and woods, enjoying nature while she could. After her year's vacation, Manya returned to Warsaw and to an uncertain future. Both she and her older sister Bronya wanted to study at the Sorbonne, a university in Paris: Manya for a doctor's degree in physicsg Bronya for a doctor's degree in medicine. There wasn't enough money to finance even one of them through the university, so how on earth could both of them go? Why, oh why, couldn't they have had plenty of money? But there was no use thinking about such impossible things. They must find a solution for their prob- lem. Manya found the solution. She decided that since her sister was the older, Bronya should go the Sorbonne first. Manya would work as a governess to sunnort her sister. When Bronya graduated, she would work to send Manya through. ' Bronya, after much scrimping and studying, obtained her medical degree and married a fellow student. She was then ready to conclude her half of the bargain. Manya was able at last to see the fulfillment of her life-long dream. At the Sorbonne she registered her name in the French manner--Marie Sklodovska. She was twenty-three at the time and very pretty. For four years she led the Hlife of a monkn. Bronya and her husband begged her to live with them but she refused to be a burden to anybody. She lived alone in an ugly sixth floor room in the Latin Quarter. The room had neither heat nor water, and the only light came through a loop-hole in the slanted ceiling. She lived on a diet of bread, butter, and tea--with an egg or fruit added to it on special occasions. ' Manya lived in a world of books and lectures. Physics, chemistry, mathematics, poetry, music, astronomy,---the entire circle of the earth and heavens had come within her reach. Of them all she was most interested in her experiments

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an accomplished pianist. Madame Sklodovska's love for books and music came second only to the love she had for her family. Manya inherited from her father his scientific mind and his brains, from her mother, her talented hands. Early in her life, Manya displayed an avid curiosity for anything pertain- ing to science. The Sklodovskas were a very closely-knit family. There were five children, Manya, Zosia, Bronya, Helena, and one boy, Joseph. All were exceptionally intelligent. When Zosia died, of typhus, it was a sad blow to all---especially to Manya, who worshipped the very ground her older sister walked upon. But it was even a greater blow to ten year old Manya when her be- loved mother died of consumption. The nucleus of their family life was gone. Manya's father had lost his position in the high school because of his strong desire to see Poland freed from the Russian Czar. He opened a boarding school for young boys, but had little success with it. Dark days were indeed upon them When he lost all his investments, he felt as though he had nothing left---nothing but four children with superior brains and extraordinary grit. All these children were des- tined to ievement them 0 The steps of rise by hard work and serimping from poverty to ach because the strength of the Polish soil was within Sklodovska children followed in their father's foot rebellion, but of them all, little Manya was the most rebellious. Every morning on her way to school, she passed by a statue dedicated uto the Poles faithful to their Sovereign' that is, to the Poles who were faithless to their country and obeyed the czar of Russia. Manya always made it a point to snit upon this statue, and if by chance she forgot to do this, she would pect---often at have absolutely whom the statue This brave often run back to perform this act of disres the risk of being late for school. She would nothing to do with these faithless people to was dedicated. little rebel expressed her contempt for op- pression not only in the absence but also in the presence df her oppressors. governing power One of her teaehefs, representing the alien over Poland, was Mademoiselle Mayor, the superintendent over studies. This woman made life unbearable for her Polish pupils--especially for nthat Sklodovska girln who dared to answer her lashing tongue with scornful smiles. But Manya was not always content with a mere smile of silent scorn. One day her teacher attempted with a none too gentle hand, to straighten the girl's unruly curls into a German braid---in vain. Manya was a rebel from her toes right up to the top of her head and, like her spirit, her hair refused to yield to the tyrant's touch. Enraged by the girl's Con- temptuous looks, Mademoiselle Mayor shouted at the girl,

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Her professors were both suprisedaauidelighted with her imagination enthusiasm, and skill. Here among them was a small, frail-looking girl who surpassed by far all her fellow students in intelligence and skill. They encouraged her to go on with any research that interested her. Heartened, she decided to try for a double master's degree in physics and mathematics. She succeeded. Manya passed with highest hon- ours in the masterfs examination in physics in 1895 and with second highest honours in mathematics in 1894. Soon after this, Marie met Pierre Curie, a French scien- test, at the home of a mutual friend. Pierre was both supp- rised and pleased to find that this pretty young woman could talk his language that of science so well, as well in fact, as he could. Marie also was very much impressed by her new acquaintance. There was something about the quiet, intelli- gent man that made her heart do cartwheels-something about the way his eyes glowed warmly when he smiled and looked so cool and precise when he talked of science-something about the quiet and gentle manner in'which he spoke and moved. Pierre Curie was one of the leading French scientists, but he made very little money. Therefore, he did not think it would be quite fair to ask Marie to marry him. However he finally got up his courage and asked her. Marie happily accepted his proposal. Marie and Pierre had a quiet little wedding ceremony and started off on their honeymoon a bicycling trip. When they returned, they commenced their laboratory work. They devoted every minute they possibly could to the work of solving scien tific mysteries. dThe Curies had two daughters. It is an object of great wonder how Marie managed to run a house, raise two children, and work with her husband in the laboratory so successfully. Pierre was killed early in their marriage, and his cour- ageous wife earried on his work. She worked for years with radium and closely connected minerals, and finally died- from over-exposure to radium rays. Pierre and Marie made many discoveries in the scientific field, but the one which made them most famous was the dis- covery of radium, a substance which is of great importance in the treatment of cancer. Although both worked on this discovery, most credit is attributed to Marie. No one will ever forget Marie Sklodovska Curie for it is her most important discovery, radium, that brings relief to thousamds of people from the terrible affliction-CANCER Suzanne Thomas '5l