What language did Marie Curie teach her daughters?

Marie Curie taught her daughters Polish, preserving the language and identity of her birthplace in their French household.

Curie was born Maria Skłodowska in Warsaw in 1867, when Poland was under Russian rule. Although she later studied and worked in France and became a French citizen through marriage, she remained strongly connected to Polish culture. She even named the element polonium after Poland.

After Pierre Curie's death, Marie hired Polish governesses to help teach Irène and Ève their mother's native language. She also took the girls to Poland, helping them maintain ties with her family and homeland. This was not simply a classroom choice: language was part of Curie's effort to pass on a national identity that foreign rule had threatened.

A common mix-up is assuming that French was automatically the answer because the children grew up in Paris. French was their everyday public language, but Polish was the language Curie deliberately taught them as a link to her origins.