To commemorate the 90th anniversary of the death of Maria Skłodowska-Curie, and as part of the March programme of ELLAS CREAN, the Instituto Polaco de Cultura is carrying out a joint action with the Instituto Francés in Madrid in collaboration of the cultural company Rocaviva Eventos with the aim of contributing to a well-deserved tribute to this figure, which includes an exhibition, the screening of two films, a talk-colloquium and a dramatised reading.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie. A Pole in Paris, the name given to this commemoration, commemorates the Polish scientist who became a naturalised French citizen, hence the collaboration between the two diplomatic cultural institutes.
The aim is to raise awareness of facts and issues that are still unknown to the Spanish public, who are by default interested in this great figure in the scientific field. In fact, Maria Skłodowska-Curie visited Spain on three occasions: in 1919 she attended the First National Congress of Medicine, held in Madrid; in 1931 she gave a lecture on radioactivity at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid, invited by the Society of Courses and Conferences, and in 1933 she chaired, also in Madrid, the international debate on The Future of Culture as vice-president of the International Committee for Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations.
Maria Skłodowska-Curie was the first woman to achieve many goals: a degree and doctorate in Physical Sciences from the Sorbonne, a university chair, a Doctor Honoris Causa from countless universities and a long list of firsts that culminated on 20 April 1995, when she was solemnly buried in the Pantheon of Illustrious Men in France, becoming the first woman and the first foreign person to be buried in such a historical monument. She was also the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize (in Physics, 1903) and the first person to win it twice when she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911.
The programme of events includes an exhibition from 21 February to 21 March at the Instituto Francés in Madrid (Calle Marqués de la Ensenada, 10), and, together with Rocaviva Eventos, the exhibition Maria Skłodowska-Curie. A Pole in Paris, curated by Belén Yuste and Sonnia L. Rivas-Caballero.
In five sessions: Poland, Paris, Citizen of the World, Travels to Spain, the Curie Saga, this exhibition allows to approach, from very different points of view, and for very different audiences, the life of who was the first woman to achieve many goals and high honours in the scientific world, but also to make known the idealistic, supportive and committed woman who was Maria Skłodowska-Curie.
Also, on Monday 4 March at 19:00, a talk-colloquium entitled Maria Skłodowska-Curie, a committed scientist will be held at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid (Calle Pinar, 23). Free admission until full capacity is reached. Belén Yuste (Maria Skłodowska-Curie as a person), Espido Freire (Maria Skłodowska-Curie as a writer) and María Vallet-Regí (Maria Skłodowska-Curie as a scientist) will take part in an attempt to give as complete a profile as possible of this great figure in the scientific field. Moderator: Lourdes Lucía.
In addition, two films will be screened at the Instituto Francés at 8 pm, the first on 11 March, Madame Curie (2019), directed by Marjane Satrapi-Biopic, with Rosamund Pike, VOSE. And on 15 March, Marie Curie (2016), directed by Marie Noëlle and starring Karolina Gruszka, VOSE.
Finally, on Monday 18 March at 7 p.m., the dramatised reading Pierre and Marie Curie, themselves will be performed at the Teatro Muñoz Seca in Madrid (Plaza del Carmen, 1) , a play that chronologically retraces their life as told by themselves, through the dramatised reading of fragments of their own writings (autobiographical notes, letters, testimonies…) and documents that the Joliot-Curie family and the Curie Museum in Paris have made available to the organisers.
