Ewa Curie, Maria Curie. With 85 illustrations [1939]

Title: Maria Curie. With 85 illustrations.

Author: Ewa Curie (1904–2007) [French writer, journalist, and pianist; younger daughter of Maria Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie; war correspondent for the Free French; later involved in UNICEF activities].

Translation: Hanna Szyllerowa.

Publisher: Warsaw, J. Przeworski Publishing House.

Year of publication: 1939.

Format: 22 cm.

Volume: 449, [1] pp., ill.

Binding: Period half-leather binding.

“Maria Curie” is the most famous biography of the Polish scientist. It was written by her younger daughter, Ewa, and the first edition was published in Paris in 1937, three years after the death of Maria Skłodowska-Curie. The book was a worldwide success: it was translated into many languages, received the National Book Award for nonfiction in the United States, and in 1943 served as the basis for the Hollywood film “Madame Curie.” The author knew her mother intimately and had access to her letters, notes, and family memoirs. She describes her journey from her childhood in Warsaw in a family of teachers under Russian rule, through her years as a governess and her secret studies at the “Flying University,” to her move to Paris and her studies at the Sorbonne. She goes on to recount her marriage to Pierre Curie, the discovery of polonium and radium, and her two Nobel Prizes: in physics in 1903 and in chemistry in 1911. Particularly moving are the sections devoted to her work in a makeshift shed on Rue Lhomond, Pierre’s tragic death in 1906, and Marie’s activities during World War I, when she organized mobile X-ray stations for wounded soldiers. This biography, written with great tenderness yet with meticulous attention to detail, has shaped the image of the scientist for several generations of readers.

The Polish translation by Hanna Szyllerowa was published by J. Przeworski Publishing House in Warsaw, one of the most important literary publishers of the interwar period. It enjoyed enormous popularity and went through several printings by 1939. The volume presented here dates from 1939, the last year of the independent Republic of Poland before the outbreak of war, and contains 85 illustrations.

Ewa Curie was born in 1904 in Paris. Unlike her older sister Irena, a Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry, she did not pursue a career in science. She was a pianist, music critic, and journalist. During World War II, she joined the Free French Forces and, as a war correspondent, traveled throughout Africa, the Soviet Union, and Asia, for which she was awarded the War Cross. In 1954, she married American diplomat Henry Labouisse, who later became director of UNICEF. In 1965, he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of that organization. Ewa Curie died in New York in 2007 at the age of 102.

Provenance: a piece without ownership marks or stamps.

This is a classic pre-war Polish edition of the most famous biography of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, richly illustrated and bound in a period half-leather binding. A must-have for biography enthusiasts, collectors of memorabilia related to Maria Skłodowska-Curie, and collectors of Przeworski’s publications.

The half-leather binding is in good condition. The text block is intact, with one loose leaf. The paper has natural spots.

Catalog ID: 1281-22-A-W