Marie Curie was born with the name Maria Salomea Sklodowska in Warsaw, Poland on November 7, 1867. Marie’s parents, Bronislawa and Wladyslaw, were both teachers. Many think that they were the spark that ignited Marie’s interest in science. Marie graduated high school at the age of 15 and won a gold medal for being a top student.

Marie wanted to continue to pursue her interest in science but her father could not support her due to a bad financial situation and higher education (college, university, etc. ) was not available for women in Poland. Marie’s sister, Bronya was also determined to get a higher education so Marie offered to pay for her sister's education on the condition that she would do the same for her. They both agreed and Bronya moved to Paris to get an education while Marie worked as a teacher and – at age 18 – became a governess. At the age of 24 she moved to Paris with her sister so she could pursue her dream. This is when she began using the name Marie and attended Sorbonne, a prestigious university in Paris.

She met Pierre Curie in spring of 1894 and later married him on July 25, 1895. At this time Pierre was a very well respected scientist because of his inventions and contributions to finding out the mysteries to magnetism. She had her first daughter, Irène in 1897 and her second, Ève in 1904.