Which element was named after the homeland of Marie Curie?

The element named after the homeland of Marie Curie is polonium. Marie and Pierre Curie announced its discovery in 1898 while studying pitchblende, a uranium ore that remained unusually radioactive after uranium was removed. The name honored Marie’s native Poland.

At the time, Poland was partitioned among Russia, Prussia, and Austria and did not exist as an independent state. Marie hoped the element’s name would draw international attention to Poland’s political situation. Polonium was one of the first elements identified through its radioactivity rather than through a distinctive chemical reaction.

Polonium is a highly radioactive element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84. It is chemically related to bismuth and occurs naturally in tiny quantities in uranium decay chains. It is sometimes confused with curium, which was named to honor Marie and Pierre Curie personally; radium was another element the Curies discovered, but its name comes from the Latin word for “ray.”