Which Russian Empire territory included Warsaw when Curie was born?

When Marie Curie was born in Warsaw in 1867, the city lay in Congress Poland, a polity within the Russian Empire. The territory is also commonly called the Kingdom of Poland or Congress Kingdom.

Congress Poland was created after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, following the Napoleonic Wars. Although it initially retained a constitution and some autonomy, Russian control tightened over the 19th century, especially after Polish uprisings. By Curie’s childhood, Russian authorities heavily influenced education and public life.

This political setting shaped Curie’s early education. Women could not enroll in regular universities, and teaching in Polish was restricted, helping explain her participation in the clandestine Flying University. “Prussian Poland” and Galicia were also historic Polish regions, but they belonged to different partitions and did not include Warsaw at her birth.