Marie Curie Festival | University of London | September 2011

Marie Curie Festival 2011 | University of Westminster London | September 2011

Marie Curie Festival website

Anne of Carversville is supporting the upcoming University of Westminster Marie Curie festival in September 2011. My friend artist and feminist Magdalena Rutkowska is one of the organisers of a celebration of Marie Curie’s life at a time when it is imperative that more young women choose careers in science.

In 2011 when many countries are celebrating the official year of chemistry and the 100-year anniversary of the award of Madame Curie’s Nobel Prize for Chemistry, it is pertinent to strive to find out more about the circumstances in the life of the woman herself, creating this amazing scientist and a caring and independent woman at the same time.

I just read a fascinating story about Marie Curie’s visit to the United States in 1921. Even though she was one of the most prominent and famous women in the world, Marie Curie found that she did not have sufficient supplies of radium to conduct her experiments at the Institute of Radium in Paris.

The reasons behind Marie Curie’s situation will be explained in another post, but what is wonderful is that American women came to her aid. Her benefactress was an American woman, journalist Missy Meloney, who launched a campaign to have the women of America contribute $100,000 to buy a gram of radium for presentation to Marie Curie for her use at the Institute of Radium in Paris.

Maloney, who was the editor of the national women’s magazine The Delineator, exceeded her goal by raising $156,413 in 1920.

Our support of the Marie Curie Festival will give us a new avenue to explore the international history of women working together and supporting each other.  The remainder of this post is a press release from my friend Magdalena Rutkowska, an organiser of the September 2011 event. Anne

In mid-September 2011 at the University of Westminster in London, an event dedicated to the life and achievements of Marie Curie will take place. The festival organizers 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.

After earlier polls and numerous conversations with students and the general public, the organizers decided to concentrate the program of the festival on the childhood and personal life of Marie Sklodowska Curie and to focus on some of the lesser documented known facts that played an important role in shaping the early ambitions and later achievements of Marie.

The name of Marie Sklodowska Curie is known all over the world, mainly from Madame Curie’s scientific achievements and links with charitable institutions. However, there is scarce information to tell the story about Madame Curie’s life. A significant percentage of the general public does not even know her national origins.

The festival aims to show Marie as a daughter, sister and mother and a woman who loved art, theatre, nature and poetry. 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. This often caused jealousy and spread rumour among the French ladies.

As a young girl her impeccable manners and pride often ended with misunderstanding between Marie and Russian teachers in a Poland that was occupied at that time by Russia. Since birth, Marie’s life was surrounded by political and cultural changes. She contributed greatly to the recognition of woman in the society today.

Marie Curie’s biography is more interesting than many of today’s best-selling books.

Marie Curie had two daughters named Irene and Eve.

The material collected for the festival will allows visitors to get closer to the character of Marie. The program will involve 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 on the stages of theatres in the UK. “Les Palmes de Monsieur Schutz” by Jean-Noël Fenwick depicts the life of Marie Curie, won 4 Molières prizes and was even adapted into a movie (with Isabelle Huppert) in 1997.

The Festival will also include 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 raised funds in for charitable organizations associated with the name of Maria Sklodowska Curie. This project provides an important cultural context to fill in the blanks of education about Madame Curie’s background in these current adverse economic situations. After the initial press conference, our established media partners are: Goniec Polski, Londynek, ITSLIQUID, Chinara, Eclusier ,CBR and many others.

By following theirs articles about the event you will learn more about the festival.Regular updates will be published directly on the festival website: