Marie Curie and Her Discovery of Radium and Polonium Marie Curie was born Manya Sklodowska on November 7, 1867, in Warsaw, Poland. Her mother was the director of a boarding school for girls. Her father was a professor of physics and math at a high school in Warsaw. Manya was the youngest of her brother and three sisters. Her brother’s name was Joseph and her sisters’ names were Zosia, Hela, and Bronya. In 1871, when Manya was at the age of four, her mother died of tuberculosis. This left her father and four siblings alone. Marie’s father later lost his teaching position and had to take in borders at their