Who Are You, Maria?

This temporary exhibition at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum replaces the museum’s former permanent display and serves as its main exhibition. The museum is working on a new permanent exhibition, and “Who Are You, Maria?” stays open until that work begins. It opened on 16 April 2025.

The Maria Skłodowska-Curie Museum on the exhibition:

She was one of the discoverers of radioactivity and changed the way we understand the structure of the atom. Her discoveries saved the lives of many cancer patients. She made history as the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, the only woman to receive two Nobel Prizes, and the first female professor at the Sorbonne. Maria accomplished all this having been born in partitioned Poland, overcoming cultural and social barriers imposed on her gender, and being a foreigner in the country that became her home. She experienced both international fame and international criticism. She knew great love and the pain of romantic disappointment, survived the loss of her husband and child - not to mention the First World War. The life of Maria Skłodowska-Curie has long been shrouded in a romantic legend. In everything, she was the best, the first, the only one. And yet, she too had her vulnerabilities.

The new exhibition presents the many roles Skłodowska played throughout her life. Varsovian, daughter, wife, student, scientist, mother, social activist - these are just a few. What was the foundation of her discoveries? How did she balance her professional and personal life? How did she overcome adversity? How did she manage to be ahead of her time through her actions? These are the questions that will accompany us as we explore the exhibition.

Most of the Warsaw memorabilia of Maria Skłodowska-Curie was destroyed in 1944, in the bombed-out Radium Institute. A few preserved items - such as Maria’s personal and professional correspondence, her last desk, and her father’s gold watch - have found their place in the exhibition. Visitors will also have the opportunity to see numerous photographs of the scientist from various stages of her life. The central theme of the exhibition is an installation made of flowers linked to the story of Maria.

We are currently working on a new permanent exhibition. In the meantime, the temporary exhibition presented since 16 April 2025 serves as our main display.

What to expect

The exhibition is built around the roles Maria Skłodowska-Curie occupied outside the laboratory: Varsovian, daughter, wife, student, scientist, mother and social activist. The museum poses questions about the foundation of her discoveries, about balancing professional and personal life and about overcoming adversity, and those questions lead you through the display.

You will see the few surviving objects: Maria’s personal and professional correspondence, her last desk and her father’s gold watch. Most of the Warsaw memorabilia burned in 1944 in the bombed-out Radium Institute, so what remains carries particular weight. Numerous photographs of the scientist from various stages of her life complete the picture.

The central theme is an installation made of flowers linked to Maria’s story, created by Marta Bystroń and Agata Skura. The curator is Anna Mizikowska, with scientific consultation by Prof. UAM Dr hab. Tomasz Pospieszny.