Irène Joliot-Curie (September 12, 1897 –March 17, 1956), the daughter of the renowned physicist Marie Curie, was a groundbreaking French chemist and physicist who, alongside her husband Frédéric Joliot-Curie, revolutionized nuclear science. Their discovery of induced radioactivity earned them the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, further solidifying the Curie family’s unparalleled legacy in scientific achievement.
Following in her mother’s footsteps, Irène Joliot-Curie was not only a leading scientist but also a trailblazer for women in science and government. She became one of the first women to hold a government position in France, serving as undersecretary for Scientific Research in 1936. Later, she played a pivotal role in establishing France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in 1945 and contributed to the development of the country’s first nuclear reactor.
Her work in radioactivity paved the way for critical advancements in medicine and industry, but prolonged exposure to radiation led to her untimely death from leukemia in 1956. Irène Joliot-Curie’s legacy endures, both in nuclear physics and as a symbol of women breaking barriers in science.
