The surname Curie is recognized internationally and, especially, in the world of science . The marriage of Marie and Pierre dedicated their lives to the study of radioactivity and the couple soon became known as a historical reference . Therefore, if we stop to think about it for a moment, it is not surprising that the Curie surname continued to be related to new chemical discoveries for many years. So much so that it was Iréne Joliot-Curie, daughter of the French-Polish scientist, together with her husband Frédéric Joliot who obtained the first artificial radioactive element .
Born in 1897, Iréne Curie was clearly influenced by her parents’ work and career. In 1918, following her studies at the Collège Sévigné , she became her mother’s laboratory assistant at the Institut du Radium at the University of Paris while pursuing her university studies. At 23 she had a degree in Chemistry and Mathematics and in 1925 she carried out and presented her doctoral thesis on alpha radiation from polonium by photographing the rays in a Wilson cloud chamber. The following year she married Frédéric Joliot , an excellent scientist who would become her inseparable laboratory companion and with whom she shared her passion for sports, humanism and the arts.
Their studies, both jointly and separately, made great strides in natural and artificial radioactivity, transmutation of elements, and nuclear physics . But their great project in common was the bombardment of aluminum, boron and magnesium with alpha particles, after which they observed that radioactive isotopes were produced from non-radioactive elements . The young couple discovered that by placing a Geiger counter next to an aluminum sheet subjected to alpha radiation, it emitted radiation. The bombarded aluminum had become an artificial radioactive element , which did not exist in nature. This discovery revealed the possibility of using artificial isotopes to cause chemical changes and physiological processes.
In 1935, shortly after Marie Curie’s death, the Joliot-Curie couple jointly received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for having succeeded in producing artificial radioactive isotopes . After this, and although her academic and research work remained very active, Iréne dedicated part of her time to caring for her children Hélène and Pierre. She also accentuated her more social side , enrolling in the Committee of Vigilance des Intellectuels Antifascistes the same year that she won the Nobel, participating as a radiology nurse for the Republican side during the Spanish Civil War and being secretary of state for the socialist government of Léon Blum. For his part, Fédéric played a very active role in the fight against Nazism within occupied France and received the War Cross and the Legion of Honor after liberation.
Like his mother, long exposure to X-ray radiation caused Iréne to become ill with leukemia and die in 1956. After becoming a widower, Frédéric continued his wife’s work until 1958, when he died of a liver disease The contribution of the marriage was a milestone for chemistry that would have important repercussions in the fields of medicine and biology.
