Discovery Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/21/2012
Marie Curie,Polish-born French physicist (1867-1934), she and her husband Pierre discovered two new elements, polonium and radium, in 1898. In 1911 she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She died of leukemia brought about by her work with radioactive material. Typed statement, signed “M. Curie,” one page, 8.5 x 11, Marie Curie Radium Fund letterhead, no date. A statement given to news reporters the day she landed in the United States on the S.S. Olympic, to receive the gram of radium obtained for her by American women. In full: “I have for years wished to visit America, but my laboratory work and my children made this impossible until now. I am happy to bring my daughters to see your great country with me. They share my gratitude to the American women for their interest in science and in my work. Will you please for me thank the American people.” In very good condition, with intersecting mailing folds, one through the last letter of signature, Responding to an initiation form journalist Marie Mattingly ‘Missy’ Meloney (the woman who, in a previous interview with Curie, uncovered the desire for a gram possible through the tireless fundraising of Meloney and various donations made mostly by American women. In May of 1921, the physicist came to America for the first time, he daughters Irene and Eve in tow. President Harding presented Curie with the radon at the White House on May 20, 1921, and from there the ‘Radium Lady’ embarked on a chaotic six week schedule of events. She mingled with fellow physicists, observed techniques, exchanged ideas, and received various donations of money, ore, and equipment to further her research in Paris. This statement issued as the S.S. Olympic delivered her safely to shore, sends thanks to the fervent labors of the women who made her first voyage to America, and a $100,000 gram of radon, a reality.
Marie Curie Thanks The American Women!
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