Marie Curie

Work

The ability of X-ray technology to visualise foreign objects inside wounded soldiers is extremely valuable in modern warfare. Instead of performing risky operations based on suspicion and accepting the risk of infection when searching for projectiles or shrapnel, targeted and comparatively gentle interventions can be performed based on prior examinations.

During the First World War, Marie Curie (née Maria Skłodowska), who was of Polish origin, revolutionised the treatment of wounded soldiers in France by bringing mobile X-ray units in converted vehicles directly to the front lines. The only person ever to be awarded Nobel Prizes in two different disciplines, she was already a celebrity by 1914. However, when war broke out, she paused her radium research to turn her attention to medical radiology. Together with her daughter Irène, she developed mobile X-ray stations that became known as 'Petites Curies', of which around 20 were in use by the end of the war. Marie Curie trained over 150 female X-ray technicians to staff them. She also set up around 200 permanent X-ray stations behind the front lines. Thanks to this expansion of the infrastructure, it is estimated that up to one million soldiers were able to undergo X-ray examinations. These rapid diagnoses, often made directly at the scene, saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Web presence

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie