What was Marie Curie's maiden name?

Marie Curie's maiden name was Skłodowska. She was born Maria Salomea Skłodowska in Warsaw in 1867, when Poland was under foreign rule, and later adopted the name Marie after moving to Paris to study.

After marrying French physicist Pierre Curie in 1895, she became widely known as Marie Curie. In formal and scientific contexts, she continued using both surnames: Skłodowska-Curie. The Polish spelling includes the letter ł, pronounced approximately like an English “w.”

Skłodowska is her family name by birth, not a nickname or title. Her Polish identity remained important throughout her life. She named the element polonium after Poland, and she taught her daughters the Polish language. Her daughter Irène later became a Nobel Prize-winning scientist in her own right.