Born in Poland in 1867, after receiving her secondary education she worked as a governess for eight years. Marie moved to Paris and read Physics at the Sorbonne, receiving a scholarhip which allowed her to move back to Poland to take a second degree in Mathematics. She married Pierre Curie in 1895 and their research into radioactivity resulted in a joint Nobel prize in 1903. Marie succeeded Pierre in the position of Professor of Physics at the Sorbonne after his death, and through her research she isolated pure radium. In 1911 she became the first person to be awarded the Nobel Prize on two occasions.