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Good articleMarie Curie has been listed as one of the Natural sciences good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
September 11, 2012Good article nomineeListed
On this day...Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on April 20, 2004, December 26, 2004, December 26, 2005, December 26, 2006, December 26, 2007, December 26, 2018, December 26, 2020, and December 26, 2022.

Semi-protected edit request on 17 July 2025

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Change the title of the page from "Marie Curie" to "Marie Sklodowska-Curie". Reason: historical accuracy, correlation with other pages. 213.184.238.202 (talk) 06:39, 17 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Marie Skłodowska-Curie*
upd:: wrong letter 213.184.238.202 (talk) 06:46, 17 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
 Not done: page move requests should be made at Wikipedia:Requested moves. UmbyUmbreon (talk) 07:38, 17 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
information Note: Even then, a similar move was made back in 2024 and was reverted, as we use common names for article titles. UmbyUmbreon (talk) 07:41, 17 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Error in her spouse's birth date

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(New to leaving wikipedia corrections so sorry if im doing something wrong) The 9 and 5 in her spouse's lifespan are round the wrong way in the summary block, it had me thinking for a moment it was some weird arranged marriage thing and he died at the age of 10 2A00:23C8:8A26:9801:F59A:239C:1124:37B3 (talk) 10:44, 20 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The "m." means "married"; it's not Pierre's birth date. Hqb (talk) 16:33, 20 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 3 August 2025

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The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: not moved. WP:SNOW—moreover, we should not go out of our way to indulge these invocations of bureaucratic processes, when coming from a source so totally unwilling to engage with our policies, guidelines, and consensuses in good faith. Almost more importantly than anything else, Wikipedia is not a bureaucracy, and we shouldn't let users unwilling to take a clear "no" for an answer force us to act like we are. (closed by non-admin page mover) Remsense 🌈 论 21:00, 4 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Marie Curie → Maria Skłodowska CurieMaria Skłodowska Curie – Per self-identification, including the signature here in the infobox. As in for example Gloria Jean Watkins whom the English Wikipedia calls bell hooks (all minorcase) because she chose to call herself. 94.246.147.217 (talk) 00:54, 3 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Even the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Monument (Lublin) here is being falsified into "Marie Curie Monument in Lublin" in an illustration caption.

The article about the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Medal is called a "Marie Curie Medal" somehow. (The names of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions are not falsified.)

94.246.147.217 (talk) 01:00, 3 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

PahlaviFan (talk) 02:36, 4 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This is not true at all. Just look at references used by Wikipedia, who use normal capitalization (while Wikipedia goes out of way to never capitalize her pseudonym, including even somehow starting sentences with a minorcase b):

  • Knight, Lucy (December 15, 2021). "Bell Hooks, author and activist, dies aged 69". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  • Tikkanen, Amy (November 27, 2019). "Bell Hooks | American scholar". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Stanford University. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
  • Hsu, Hua (December 15, 2021). "The Revolutionary Writing of Bell Hooks". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 16, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  • "Get to Know Bell Hooks". The Bell Hooks center. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  • "About the Bell Hooks institute". Bell Hooks institute. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021., via archive.org

These are not cherry picked, just the ones from the top (bell hooks#References).

The first reference cites "But the Chicago Manual says it is not all right to capitalize the name of the writer bell hooks because she insists that it be lower case."

Maria Skłodowska Curie did insist to be called Maria Skłodowska Curie. Yes, it was in fact very important for her to known by this name.

94.246.147.217 (talk) 13:28, 3 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

I'll attach a postscript to this, since I feel I'll need to. The only salient argument for the move is the perceived and assumed restrospective preference of the subject. Despite attempting oblique analogies to bell hooks above, this singular motivation becomes obvious upon the OP's Maria Skłodowska Curie did insist to be called Maria Skłodowska Curie. Yes, it was in fact very important for her to known by this name.

Every other argument offered is transparently pretextual, and just doesn't apply. The comparison might be vaguely apt if bell hooks preferred to go by bell jean watkins—but actually no, since the comparison remains pretextual, not substantial. No other historical biography on the encyclopedia is treated this way, where one's specific preferred form of their name is preferred over their English-language common name because they preferred it. It was important to her to be known by this name, but it's not our fault that she is not known by this name as of present. It is straightforwardly absurd we should see our duty as being explicitly to lead, not to follow in this one instance.

The deadnaming analogy is even more transparent, since instead of comparing a comparatively recently deceased biography with comparatively novel orthographic nuance (bell hooks) with one comparatively conventional and belonging to posterity (Skłodowska Curie)—we're going to pretend the personal dignity of a class of generally living folk (and! one also generally reflected in COMMONNAME!) is the same thing.

Response to an argument by a sock.Remsense 🌈 论 00:37, 5 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I've read the rules on naming Wikipedia pages and stumbled across a line that I believe refers to this situation:
When there are multiple names for a subject, all of which are fairly common, and the most common has problems, it is perfectly reasonable to choose one of the others.
both of the names Marie Curie and Maria Skłodowska-Curie are fairly common however only one of them is problematic , Maria Skłodowska-Curie wished to be remembered as Polish, she always called herself Polish, she always used her maiden name - calling her Marie Curie would not only be against her wishes but would also be erasing her Polish identity- which wouldn't have happened if she was a men, by calling herself Marie Curie you are helping the patriarchy by reducing her name (because not only her last name is changed on the site so is her first name - Maria to Marie)to her husband's last name. The name is also erasing Polish heritage - which was and still is extremely important when talking about the times that Maria Skłodowska lived in Scorria (talk) 23:31, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If Maria were here, she could and should demand media sources use her preferred name. She's not, and this encyclopedia is not written for her, it's for our readers trying to find and learn something about one of the most important women in modern history. They can't find out how proud she was of her Polishness and her Polish name if they can't find the article about her. That's the point of the guideline, and there's no argument that's even been suggested to exist that would offset the clear pragmatic reasons we treat her like we do everyone else. Remsense 🌈 论 23:59, 4 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"if they can't find the article about her" how is this an issue? just set up a redirect. I'm confident not even one single person less would be able to reach this article no matter what the name ends up being. wojtekpolska1013 [talk page] 14:53, 7 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Inconsistent Date

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As of the date and time I'm typing this, the article says "Women were not eligible for membership of the Académie until 1979, so that all her presentations had to be made for her by male colleagues;" and it also says "It was only over half a century later, in 1962, that a doctoral student of Curie's, Marguerite Perey, became the first woman elected to membership in the academy". Both uses of the word "academy" refer to the French Academy Of Sciences (or did I misread something)? So, which is it? 1962 or 1979?2600:1700:6759:B000:1943:682E:4A6C:9C20 (talk) 15:27, 14 August 2025 (UTC)Christopher Lawrence Simpson[reply]

I have removed the mention of 1979. It came from a book review and could not be right, since Curie was in a closely contested membership election in 1911. Errantios (talk) 23:03, 14 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

#Nobel prizes - Academy voting

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A better account of the Academy voting is needed. A good source is Reid's biography, ch 15 "Academic miscalculation" (British edition). And Sobel's biography? Errantios (talk) 12:25, 15 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Request to update birthplace context and surname usage for Maria Skłodowska-Curie

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Subject: Clarification regarding Maria Skłodowska‑Curie’s Polish identity and birthplace

I propose expanding the current article to better reflect Maria Skłodowska‑Curie’s Polish heritage and how she viewed her identity: Surname usage and national identity 

Maria consistently used her Polish surname Skłodowska‑Curie, including when she received the Nobel Prizes. She maintained a strong sense of Polish identity throughout her life, taught her daughters the Polish language, and often returned to Poland. She named the chemical element polonium in honor of her native country.

Source: Wikipedia: “While a French citizen, Marie Skłodowska Curie, who used both surnames… never lost her sense of Polish identity. She taught her daughters the Polish language…” ampolinstitute.com+15Wikipedia+15Culture.pl+15 Source: NobelPrize.org biography: “Marie Curie, née Maria Sklodowska, was born in Warsaw on November 7, 1867…” PolandDaily24.com+9NobelPrize.org+9polska.fm+9 Source: Polish-American Center: “In 1898, the Curies announced the discovery of the elements polonium (named after Poland) …” Simple Wikipedia+4polishamericancenter.org+4Culture.pl+4 Birthplace contextualization 

Maria was born in Warsaw (7 November 1867), which at the time belonged to the Congress Kingdom of Poland, a semi-autonomous entity under Russian rule. After the failed uprisings of 1830–31 and 1863–64, the autonomy was drastically stripped and the region became fully incorporated into the Russian Empire—often referred to as Vistula Land.
Referring to her as “born in Russia” is historically misleading and overlooks her Polish identity and context.

Source: Wikipedia: “Congess Poland … following the fall of the January Uprising… autonomy … was incorporated into the Russian Empire.” Wikipedia+3Wikipedia+3Wikipedia+3Wikipedia+1 Source: Timenote summary: “She was born … in what was then the Kingdom of Poland, annexed by the Russian Empire.” Timenote+1 I’d appreciate adding these clarifications supported by sources to improve historical accuracy and reflect Skłodowska-Curie’s own sense of identity, which is of significant cultural importance. Sto nooga (talk) 05:48, 17 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

  •  Not done. See the note near the top of this page which links to the Wikipedia guideline WP:COMMONNAME. The most widely recognized name, the most widely published name is what we use here. Binksternet (talk) 05:56, 17 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Even though she really used her Polish surname. Recently there is a big movement among Poles regarding this topic. Some people even think that other nations try to "strip her out of her Polish identity".
    Also, she received Nobel Prize with her Polish-French surname, not French only.
    That's why I agree with Sto nooga - it's not about only about accuracy, but also kind of legacy. I kindly ask You to reconsider this proposal. Kookodem (talk) 14:46, 18 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    The mechanisms for settling content disputes in Wikipedia is based on sources. If you have sources, bring them to the discussion. Wikipedia itself is not used as a source on Wikipedia.
    This is the English language wikipedia, not French or Polish. So the primary issue is not the personal views of the historical person or the enthusiasm of nationalists but the recognizability of the name among English speakers. Sources that discuss shifts in the use of the name in the English language would be acceptable for inclusion in the article and could be used as evidence for a change in the name of the article. Absent such sources I don't see any reason to revisit the topic. Johnjbarton (talk) 16:31, 18 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Marie's last name is wrong

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Article's name doesn't mention her real last name , it is mentioned later but it can leave people , who don't read the whole article, in wrong impression 91.239.154.217 (talk) 22:04, 22 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This is dealt with in the previous section. Don't repeat discussion. Errantios (talk) 22:39, 22 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 2 September 2025

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Change the name form Marie Curie to Maria Skłodowskiej-Curie, as this is the name she went by and was very adamant about keeping her Polish heritage. Maria even refused to marry Pierre in the beginning because she didn't want to be known as a French scientist. Even though her name is mostly known as Marie Curie outside of Poland, it is not accurate and goes against her wishes. 185.72.184.117 (talk) 18:53, 2 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. veko. (user | talk | contribs) 19:03, 2 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
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