Maria Skłodowska-Curie Monument (Downtown, Warsaw)

The Maria Skłodowska-Curie Monument (Polish: Pomnik Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie) is a bronze statue in Warsaw, Poland, located within New Town neighbourhood of Downtown district. It is dedicated to Maria Skłodowska-Curie, a 19th- and 20th-century physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, who was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice. The statue was designed by Bronisław Krzysztof, and unveiled on 4 June 2014. It is placed near the intersection of Kościelna and Piesza Streets, in front of Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 2 Przyrynek Street, and near the tenement at 16 Freta Street, where Skłodowska-Curie was born and grew up in.

Maria Skłodowska-Curie Monument
The monument in 2016
Map
52°15′15″N 21°00′34″E / 52.254127°N 21.009505°E / 52.254127; 21.009505
LocationWarsaw, Poland
DesignerBronisław Krzysztof
TypeStatue
MaterialBronze
Height1.9 m (statue)
Opening date4 June 2014
Dedicated toMaria Skłodowska-Curie

History

edit

The monument was dedicated to Maria Skłodowska-Curie, a 19th- and 20th-century physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice. The statue was financed by the Association of the Legion of Honour Members, and designed by Bronisław Krzysztof. It was unveiled on 4 June 2014, by President of Poland Bronisław Komorowski and President of France François Hollande. The ceremony was attended by Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, the mayor of Warsaw, and Lena Kolarska-Bobińska, the Minister of Science and Higher Education.[1][2]

Characteristics

edit
 
The sculpture representing polonium.

The monument is placed near the intersection of Kościelna and Piesza Streets, in front of Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 2 Przyrynek Street, and near the tenement at 16 Freta Street, where Maria Skłodowska-Curie was born and grew up in. It is facing the Vistula river, and located next to the 1st Armoured Division of the Polish Armed Forces Square (Polish: Skwer 1 Dywizji Pancernej WP). The location was chosen, as a place Skłodowska-Curie liked to visit. The monument consists of a bronze statue depicting her in an oversized laboratory apron, stylilyzed like a dress. In her right hand she holds a representation of polonium, in form of a small sphere, with six orbiting it rings, and encased within a square frame. It is placed on a small pedestal, with the inscription that reads "Maria Skłodowska-Curie". The statue has the heigh of 190 cm.[1][2]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Prezydenci Polski i Francji odsłonili pomnik Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie". prezydent.pl (in Polish). 4 June 2014.
  2. ^ a b "O pomniku Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie: 'nieudolne i amatorskie'". warszawa.wyborcza.pl (in Polish). 9 June 2014.