French minister saves Marie Curie's laboratory from demolition
Marie Curie's historic laboratory in Paris, where she conducted groundbreaking research, has been saved from demolition thanks to the timely intervention of France's Minister of Culture A victory for preserving scientific heritage and honoring the legacy of this esteemed Nobel laureate
The Institut Curie's planned demolition of a Paris laboratory once used by pioneering scientist Marie Curie has been halted after France's minister of culture intervened.
The Pavillon des Sources, located in central Paris, was scheduled for demolition as part of a development project led by the Institut Curie, which oversees the site. However, culture minister Rima Abdul Malak announced on X that the demolition had been postponed following conversations with the institute's president, Thierry Philip.
The Pavillon des Sources in central Paris
The laboratory, located at 26 rue dUlm, was established in 1909 as one of three buildings constructed for the Radium Institute, now known as the Institut Curie.
The Pavillon des Sources was slated for demolition to make room for a new large building, but activists opposed the decision due to the Pavillon's significance in Marie Curie's pioneering scientific endeavors. It was within these walls that the Polish-born French physicist, who lived from 1867 to 1934, conducted crucial research that ultimately led to her groundbreaking discoveries of polonium and radium.
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Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the only woman ever to win the award in two categories: Physics and Chemistry.
Maria Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland, and later moved to Paris in 1891 to pursue her studies at the Sorbonne University, where she crossed paths with Pierre Curie in 1894. They married the following year and collaborated on early research until Pierre's passing in 1906.
Polands ambassador to the UK, Piotr Wilczek, hailed the decision to pause the demolition in a post on X.
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A win for preserving heritage! The Paris lab of Marie Curie, a pioneering Nobel laureate with groundbreaking research, has been saved from demolition. We must ensure the legacy of this exceptional scientist lives on! Still, activist Baptiste Gianeselli, a crucial figure in the effort to preserve the lab and designate it as a historic monument, emphasized that the battle is not yet won.
"We need to stay mobilized until the Radium Institute is listed in its entirety!" he wrote on X.
For its part, the Curie Institute insists that the construction project should go ahead.
The Pavillon des Sources is described as a storage area for radioactive waste in a statement released on Friday. However, the institute also published a separate statement on the same day, confirming that work on the project would be halted for a "time of reflection" to explore alternative solutions.
