Photo: Young Marie Curie
An event dedicated to the life and achievements of Marie Curie takes place at the University of Westminster in London
A series of exhibitions, films and a theatrical production are scheduled. The festival aims to present another side to the complicated and multi-faceted persona of Marie-Curie (born Maria Skłodowska), to better understand the consequences of her life and contribution beyond just science. The organisers decided to concentrate the programme on her childhood and personal life, focusing on some of the lesser documented known facts that played an important role in shaping the early ambitions and later achievements of Marie.
Marie Curie Sklodowska (1867 - 1934), world-famous chemist and physicist, was born in Warsaw. Having been denied access to a regular university, Maria Curie moved to France to study maths and physics at the Sorbonne, the historic university of Paris. She is known all over the world, mainly for her scientific achievements and links with charitable institutions. There is a museum dedicated to her in Warsaw. However, despite all this, there is scarce information to tell the story about her life. Through biographical photos, letters, books and a film, the idea of the festival is to present Marie Curie not only as a scientist but also as a woman of great sensitivity and openness to the arts, who loved art, theatre, nature, poetry and music, as a daughter, sister and mother. There was plenty of sadness in Marie's life, but also a few romances and, "scandals" to use the parlance of the times. The Slavic beauty of Marie and her brilliant knowledge attracted many gentlemen.
The festival organisers are Steven Barfield, professor of English literature and author of numerous research works and several reviews, and Magdalena Rutkowska, established Polish painter, producer of the international symbol of Gesar.org and interior designer, an inhabitant of the UK for many years.
In 2009, the British magazine New Scientist recognised Maria Sklodowska-Curie as the greatest woman scientist of all time. This year, on the centenary of the award of the Nobel Prize to Maria Sklodowska-Curie, the Polish Senate recognised her as the honorary patron of year 2011. In connection with this, the United Nations has declared 2011 The International Year of Chemistry.
The festival programme includes an exhibition portraying several aspects of the life of Marie, a short biographical movie and the performance of a stage play viewed in 21 countries - 1,800 times in France - but still never before performed in the UK. "Les Palmes de Monsieur Schutz" by Jean-Noël Fenwick depicts the life of Marie Curie, winning 4 Molières prizes and was adapted into a movie (starring Isabelle Huppert) in 1997.
The festival also includes a competition for the best essay entitled, "Women in Science", as well as an art competition. A masked ball is planned for the final part of the festival to raise funds for charitable organisations associated with the name of Maria Sklodowska Curie.
For more information on the festival, see: http://curieosity.com
Source: http://curieosity.com, press release