The Polish Nobel-Prize-winning scientist Maria Skłodowska-Curie and her husband used to own a large mansion in the town of Saint-Remy-les-Chevreuse, around 35 km from Paris.

The listed property was built in 1890 and has a 900-sqm garden. The house, better known as Villa La Biche, has recently been bought by the Polish philanthropic Kulczyk Foundation. 

Its head, Dominika Kulczyk, expressed her happiness while announcing the news to the press by emphasising her willingness to make the place “vibrant again, serving European science and culture.” She added on her Facebook page: „Maria Skłodowska-Curie proved with her life that limitations do not exist. She showed that women can be leaders in the most difficult areas of science. They can indicate directions that the world will follow for decades. She became a symbol of female strength and a harbinger of great change. I want to honour the legacy of our Nobel Prize winner. This is why I decided to buy a house near Paris where she worked and which meant so much to her. The house of Maria Skłodowska-Curie is the property of all mankind.”

The mansion drew the attention of other potential buyers, including the Polish government. But, it is the London-based businesswoman who got the last word. 

Dominika Kulczyk told British Poles  “We will create the House of Sisterhood in it. A natural meeting place for women whose activities, like Maria, cross all the barriers we know (…) We are starting a major renovation of the house to restore its splendour.”

Skłodowska-Curie moved to Paris in the early 1890s to continue her scientific studies at the Sorbonne. She was to remain in the French capital to continue her famous research on radioactivity.

In 1904, the famous Pole and her husband acquired the picturesque mansion. The couple invested in the beautiful house shortly after having won the Nobel Prize in Physics for their outstanding work on radioactivity.

Images: Rafał Krawczyk/ifrancja/

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen