Marie Curie discovered polonium in 1898 and named it after her homeland, Poland.
Working with Pierre Curie, she examined pitchblende, a uranium ore whose radioactivity was stronger than its uranium content could explain. Their measurements indicated that the ore contained an unknown radioactive substance. In July 1898, they announced polonium, and later that year they announced radium.
The name polonium was a political and personal statement: Poland was partitioned between neighboring powers and did not exist as an independent state at the time. Curie’s naming choice drew international attention to Polish national identity.
Polonium is a highly radioactive chemical element with the atomic number 84. It is not the same element as radium, although both were central to the Curies’ early radioactivity research.