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he woman who became “Madame Marie Curie” was named Maria Sklodowska at birth. Her family and friends called her by a nickname, Manya. She was born on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, the city that had once been the capital of Poland.

Manya’s parents raised their children to be patriots of a nation that no longer existed. By 1815, through wars and treaties, the countries around Poland had divided up the country and swallowed the pieces. Warsaw was in the piece controlled by the czar of Russia, a provincial city of the Russian Empire. The Sklodowskis and other patriots were determined to preserve Polish culture at all costs.