Why are we so protective of her? Because she was Polish, and saying otherwise is factually incorrect
AmateurHetman on
Because it’s the truth. It’s not like Copernicus where he could be argued to be Prussian-Polish. She was Polish without a doubt.
ProxPxD on
I don’t think debunking lies is being overprotective
Embarrassed-Touch-62 on
We don’t like thieves I guess, someone else claiming she was not from Poland feels like theft.
Schmiznurf on
Pride in a fellow Pole for accomplishments and great annoyance at other countries trying to claim them for their own.
InternationalOne2449 on
We are not allowed to have nice things.
streetacube2 on
I remember I’ve asked the same question from French students back in the university. They explained that the way they see her is: „A poor young student named Marie Skłodowska who moved to France is Polish. A world-known scientist who won the Nobel price named Marie Curie is French.” Basically, they think they gave her all the opportunities she lacked in Poland and that gives them a right to claim her accomplishments.
Impressive-Shame4516 on
Slightly off topic.
Was Kościuszko Polish, Ukrainian, or Belarussian?
I’ve gotten mixed responses by people of all three countries. If I mention to a Pole he is one of my favorite tacit founding fathers, I get corrected that he is actually Ukrainian, so on and so forth.
RainyBeast736 on
For centuries, Poles have been perceived in Western countries only as drunkards and thieves, which is why it is so painful that when one outstanding person from Poland broke through this stereotype, she is immediately culturally appropriated by a Western European power. Karolina Żebrowska explained it very well on YouTube (in English).
I_Have_No_Idea_420 on
Because the fr**ch are trying to make it look like she was one of them and constantly change her surname.
GovernmentBig2749 on
Well, in the Balkans wars have started for smaller things, you cant just claim historical figures just because they lived in France, its like saying Jim Morison is French or Miles Davis
dzdza on
Because she was born and raised in Poland and even more importantly, this heritage meant a lot to her….. DUH 🙄
Same with Chopin!! Polish!!!
I tried to write a nice comment but the angry polish person in me got triggered 😂 We also invented vodka guys
NumNumTehNum on
She only wrote in her memories that she was polish, mentioned it to her husnabd, children and everyone around, told it officially multiple times, told it interview, learned polish language in rogue school and came from culture that existed in exile but apparently women’s right to self determination ends when they marry a french man according to french.
Nine_Eighty_One on
She was both. Both countries meant a lot for her, she defended Poland and fought (in her way, by building and operating her pioneering x-ray devices, which apparently had a heavier toll on her health than the work on cesium or polonium) for France. As a Polish immigrant to France and binational, I find this more inspiring than if she made a choice for either country.
citizen4509 on
Imagine someone has a chance to name a new discovery, and imagine they call it Polonium like their own country.
Also “One of the most recognizable and studied languages in the world” while highlighting west Africa doesn’t seem right, it’s more like “we had colonies”.
And it’s not like Poland has just Maria Skłodowska.
Edit: What do you consider Columbus? He’s definitely Italian, right? No one cosiders him differently. But he was born in Genoa when Italy was not a thing, he moved to Portugal, he moved to Spain and he lived in the Americas. He completed his famous 4 voyages for the Spanish crown and married a Portoguese noblewoman. No one considers him anything other than Italian, but when it come to Maria Skłodowska suddenly for some people she’s the most french person ever existed, why? I’m assuming the problem is France having a small pee-pee here as Portugal or Spain never had any claims about Columbus.
kr4ckers on
Because it’s stupid to say she is French when she was born in Poland, had Polish parents and a Polish surname and most likely upbringing.
I guess America inherited this trait from France given how often they refuse to acknowledge immigrants as Americans until they’re either rich, famous or do something that makes America look good.
Michalexo on
It’s as if, a palestinian person emigrated to Britain, did everything they could for their homeland, and to outright call themselves Palestinian. But because of their achievement, Britain would act like they were a native brit.
At the time of her immigrating, Curie was a refuge from Poland, because the country was in the midst of of century long occupation called the partitions, during which polish language and polish history was forbidden and heavily persecuted. At the point of polish independece, curie was living in refuge for 30 years of her life, she build her life in France, so she stayed there, but never forgot about Poland, she named the first particles she disovered after Poland. She retained her polish surname after marriage, which is not common even nowdays, and mind you, this was in 19th century! So you can just imagine how much her Polish idenitity mattered to her. So, it’s not only disrepectful to her and to Polish history to erase all of it, and act like she was just french. It’s also just not true, in no other scenario, immigrants are treated as if they were native. And goddamn! Large groups of people would find it controversial to even call children of an immigrant, native (if you don’t see it, you must not be up to date with american politics), but act like it’s a no-brainer to call Skłodowska Curie french. It’s weird, untrue and outright disrespectful.
Varondus on
For me saying she was fr*nch is like saying ww2 death camps were Polish, because they were in Poland – it basically the same level of ignorance.
nachujminazwakurwa on
Maria Skłodowska-Curie decided to use her polish name along her husband to show her independance and can be see as early feminist in some way. It’s was really uncommon at that time for woman to use double surname. So refusing to use her full surname today is more of being a misogynist or not, rather than anti or pro history accurate.
She literally named an element Polonium. Because she was Polish
IcedZTea on
Nobody deserve to be called fr*nch, even after death
TheTanadu on
Could it be attributed to her Polish heritage? And she used it and wanted to be called “Skłodowska-Curie”, not just “Curie” (every single paper she produced and published was signed under her full surname “Skłodowska-Curie”; during her two Nobel prices, she was called for them as “Skłodowska-Curie”)? It’s like referring to “Helena Bonham Carter” as “Helena Carter”.
CircleWithSprinkles on
The French already had Antoine Lavoiser (Father of modern chemistry), and they decided the best course of action would be to execute him.
TrainingDiscount6753 on
As a cudzoziemiec I was always sure that she was a Polish scientist
Simple_Scene_2211 on
Totally get it. She’s a symbol of resilience and a huge win for Polish history. Protecting her legacy is just pride in where you come from.
Admirable-Rain7325 on
After years of occupation, germanification and rissification we are super sensitive to all attempts of erasure of polish identity
GreatAndMightyKevins on
Funniest shit in the world is claiming that Chopin was French, while he was a conservative cunt that was very adamant about him being Polish. He would be first to throw hands for saying he’s french.
Aprilprinces on
The woman was Polish, she herself said so, and yet some people now choose to ignore this fact – that’s infuriating and kinda sexist: they do it beacuse she married a French guy, but no one says Chopin was French, even though he spent years in France
Kubus002 on
Because writing just „Marie Curie” feel like taking our heritage away from Us
Vintage-wh0re99 on
We didnt took her.
She was ours because she is Polish and she said so.
Chopin was also Polish.
If some French people or other foreigners choose to ignore it,it’s either genuine ignorance or they just dont like that she was Polish 🤷🏻♀️💁🏻♀️ (f**k them).
_Specific_Boi_ on
Same thing is with Chopin. He was born in Poland, his mom was polish and only his dad was french. He lived in and died in France but he still claimed to be a pole nonetheless.
She named the first element she discovered Polonium; the next radium. Francium was named by someone else.
I don’t think the problem is usually the French who have heard of her origins. The problem is usually other countries who see the French married name and call her French.
Fun fact: the tensest exchange I ever had in school was with a Russian teacher who listed off famous Russians, Maria Skłodowska among them. When I immediately interjected and we had a fierce verbal fight about it (mostly consisting fo ‘She’s Polish!’ vs ‘She’s Russian!’). The teacher then said “It’s Skladovskaya!” I then realized that in the Soviet school system they Russified her name in order to lay claim to her legacy and this poor idiot teacher wouldn’t believe otherwise
k1t0-t34at0 on
Don’t forget Chopin, those frogsuckers love to claim him too
kamillevel on
Polon
Kubiszonir on
For me, it’s a few reasons:
1 – she was primarily polish, nautralised french. She also accebted her origins multiple times.
2 – it’s part of being polish. You just do it. Yes I don’t expect anyone to say Maria Skłodowska-Curie, but I want everyone to at least know she isn’t just Marie Curie. It’s far worse when you have some official sources omitting her full name (Lego STEM was reminded to change her name on the label, nobel prize page for some time didn’t include her full name). And we don’t talk about…. Beetlejuice.
3 – Maria was polish first, and imagine suddently someone you should be proud of is primarily associated with someone else. Not fun.
4 – France has plenty of worldwide known figures, and Poland has less. We fight for what we have. I will accept people saying Marie Curie and that she was franco-polish, but just the fact that everyone knows this genius woman came from the polish nation.
This_Case_3708 on
You got me with “one of the most studied languages”.
When I lack self confidence I try to recall the sight of french tourists speaking french to random confused people in Japan, Thailand and Cambodia.
Azbfalt on
I think that the reason behind French (and other westerns) calling her just “Curie” is not a hatred like between Ukrainians and Russians attributing every good historical figure to themselves, but it’s just an inability of the westerners to pronounce “Skłodowska” No one who is even remotely interested in her history (or has opened the Wikipedia article about her and have readen the first paragraph) will call her French.
ProfessionalDickweed on
Ignoring her Polish origins is heavily disrespectful to her since she was very patriotic
Swordfish_42 on
I am protective, because I think that she would be pissed at people who disregard the polish part of her surname, that she explicitly kept and used at a time when keeping one’s maiden surname like that wasn’t as common as today.
If people respect her, then they should respect her name.
Intelligent_Exit941 on
You know what else we (helped to) take?
Your criminal regime on Haiti, and then you really starved
srsh10392 on
Curie herself was quite bashfully proud of her Polish heritage, afaik
45 Comments
She was polish with a fr*nch husband iirc
Why are we so protective of her? Because she was Polish, and saying otherwise is factually incorrect
Because it’s the truth. It’s not like Copernicus where he could be argued to be Prussian-Polish. She was Polish without a doubt.
I don’t think debunking lies is being overprotective
We don’t like thieves I guess, someone else claiming she was not from Poland feels like theft.
Pride in a fellow Pole for accomplishments and great annoyance at other countries trying to claim them for their own.
We are not allowed to have nice things.
I remember I’ve asked the same question from French students back in the university. They explained that the way they see her is: „A poor young student named Marie Skłodowska who moved to France is Polish. A world-known scientist who won the Nobel price named Marie Curie is French.” Basically, they think they gave her all the opportunities she lacked in Poland and that gives them a right to claim her accomplishments.
Slightly off topic.
Was Kościuszko Polish, Ukrainian, or Belarussian?
I’ve gotten mixed responses by people of all three countries. If I mention to a Pole he is one of my favorite tacit founding fathers, I get corrected that he is actually Ukrainian, so on and so forth.
For centuries, Poles have been perceived in Western countries only as drunkards and thieves, which is why it is so painful that when one outstanding person from Poland broke through this stereotype, she is immediately culturally appropriated by a Western European power. Karolina Żebrowska explained it very well on YouTube (in English).
Because the fr**ch are trying to make it look like she was one of them and constantly change her surname.
Well, in the Balkans wars have started for smaller things, you cant just claim historical figures just because they lived in France, its like saying Jim Morison is French or Miles Davis
Because she was born and raised in Poland and even more importantly, this heritage meant a lot to her….. DUH 🙄
Same with Chopin!! Polish!!!
I tried to write a nice comment but the angry polish person in me got triggered 😂 We also invented vodka guys
She only wrote in her memories that she was polish, mentioned it to her husnabd, children and everyone around, told it officially multiple times, told it interview, learned polish language in rogue school and came from culture that existed in exile but apparently women’s right to self determination ends when they marry a french man according to french.
She was both. Both countries meant a lot for her, she defended Poland and fought (in her way, by building and operating her pioneering x-ray devices, which apparently had a heavier toll on her health than the work on cesium or polonium) for France. As a Polish immigrant to France and binational, I find this more inspiring than if she made a choice for either country.
Imagine someone has a chance to name a new discovery, and imagine they call it Polonium like their own country.
Also “One of the most recognizable and studied languages in the world” while highlighting west Africa doesn’t seem right, it’s more like “we had colonies”.
And it’s not like Poland has just Maria Skłodowska.
Edit: What do you consider Columbus? He’s definitely Italian, right? No one cosiders him differently. But he was born in Genoa when Italy was not a thing, he moved to Portugal, he moved to Spain and he lived in the Americas. He completed his famous 4 voyages for the Spanish crown and married a Portoguese noblewoman. No one considers him anything other than Italian, but when it come to Maria Skłodowska suddenly for some people she’s the most french person ever existed, why? I’m assuming the problem is France having a small pee-pee here as Portugal or Spain never had any claims about Columbus.
Because it’s stupid to say she is French when she was born in Poland, had Polish parents and a Polish surname and most likely upbringing.
I guess America inherited this trait from France given how often they refuse to acknowledge immigrants as Americans until they’re either rich, famous or do something that makes America look good.
It’s as if, a palestinian person emigrated to Britain, did everything they could for their homeland, and to outright call themselves Palestinian. But because of their achievement, Britain would act like they were a native brit.
At the time of her immigrating, Curie was a refuge from Poland, because the country was in the midst of of century long occupation called the partitions, during which polish language and polish history was forbidden and heavily persecuted. At the point of polish independece, curie was living in refuge for 30 years of her life, she build her life in France, so she stayed there, but never forgot about Poland, she named the first particles she disovered after Poland. She retained her polish surname after marriage, which is not common even nowdays, and mind you, this was in 19th century! So you can just imagine how much her Polish idenitity mattered to her. So, it’s not only disrepectful to her and to Polish history to erase all of it, and act like she was just french. It’s also just not true, in no other scenario, immigrants are treated as if they were native. And goddamn! Large groups of people would find it controversial to even call children of an immigrant, native (if you don’t see it, you must not be up to date with american politics), but act like it’s a no-brainer to call Skłodowska Curie french. It’s weird, untrue and outright disrespectful.
For me saying she was fr*nch is like saying ww2 death camps were Polish, because they were in Poland – it basically the same level of ignorance.
Maria Skłodowska-Curie decided to use her polish name along her husband to show her independance and can be see as early feminist in some way. It’s was really uncommon at that time for woman to use double surname. So refusing to use her full surname today is more of being a misogynist or not, rather than anti or pro history accurate.
Meanwhile Chopin
https://preview.redd.it/yjiz6dubd06g1.png?width=482&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd385043329e553a96d014878c8b6597461937b9
She literally named an element Polonium. Because she was Polish
Nobody deserve to be called fr*nch, even after death
Could it be attributed to her Polish heritage? And she used it and wanted to be called “Skłodowska-Curie”, not just “Curie” (every single paper she produced and published was signed under her full surname “Skłodowska-Curie”; during her two Nobel prices, she was called for them as “Skłodowska-Curie”)? It’s like referring to “Helena Bonham Carter” as “Helena Carter”.
The French already had Antoine Lavoiser (Father of modern chemistry), and they decided the best course of action would be to execute him.
As a cudzoziemiec I was always sure that she was a Polish scientist
Totally get it. She’s a symbol of resilience and a huge win for Polish history. Protecting her legacy is just pride in where you come from.
After years of occupation, germanification and rissification we are super sensitive to all attempts of erasure of polish identity
Funniest shit in the world is claiming that Chopin was French, while he was a conservative cunt that was very adamant about him being Polish. He would be first to throw hands for saying he’s french.
The woman was Polish, she herself said so, and yet some people now choose to ignore this fact – that’s infuriating and kinda sexist: they do it beacuse she married a French guy, but no one says Chopin was French, even though he spent years in France
Because writing just „Marie Curie” feel like taking our heritage away from Us
We didnt took her.
She was ours because she is Polish and she said so.
Chopin was also Polish.
If some French people or other foreigners choose to ignore it,it’s either genuine ignorance or they just dont like that she was Polish 🤷🏻♀️💁🏻♀️ (f**k them).
Same thing is with Chopin. He was born in Poland, his mom was polish and only his dad was french. He lived in and died in France but he still claimed to be a pole nonetheless.
Safest, cleanest country in the world – Poland.
Fuck beugette eaters🖕
https://preview.redd.it/t8lpir07t06g1.jpeg?width=1206&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad1815027e326d0b5e041a837fbd55d1d0bb9ae7
She named the first element she discovered Polonium; the next radium. Francium was named by someone else.
I don’t think the problem is usually the French who have heard of her origins. The problem is usually other countries who see the French married name and call her French.
Fun fact: the tensest exchange I ever had in school was with a Russian teacher who listed off famous Russians, Maria Skłodowska among them. When I immediately interjected and we had a fierce verbal fight about it (mostly consisting fo ‘She’s Polish!’ vs ‘She’s Russian!’). The teacher then said “It’s Skladovskaya!” I then realized that in the Soviet school system they Russified her name in order to lay claim to her legacy and this poor idiot teacher wouldn’t believe otherwise
Don’t forget Chopin, those frogsuckers love to claim him too
Polon
For me, it’s a few reasons:
1 – she was primarily polish, nautralised french. She also accebted her origins multiple times.
2 – it’s part of being polish. You just do it. Yes I don’t expect anyone to say Maria Skłodowska-Curie, but I want everyone to at least know she isn’t just Marie Curie. It’s far worse when you have some official sources omitting her full name (Lego STEM was reminded to change her name on the label, nobel prize page for some time didn’t include her full name). And we don’t talk about…. Beetlejuice.
3 – Maria was polish first, and imagine suddently someone you should be proud of is primarily associated with someone else. Not fun.
4 – France has plenty of worldwide known figures, and Poland has less. We fight for what we have. I will accept people saying Marie Curie and that she was franco-polish, but just the fact that everyone knows this genius woman came from the polish nation.
You got me with “one of the most studied languages”.
When I lack self confidence I try to recall the sight of french tourists speaking french to random confused people in Japan, Thailand and Cambodia.
I think that the reason behind French (and other westerns) calling her just “Curie” is not a hatred like between Ukrainians and Russians attributing every good historical figure to themselves, but it’s just an inability of the westerners to pronounce “Skłodowska” No one who is even remotely interested in her history (or has opened the Wikipedia article about her and have readen the first paragraph) will call her French.
Ignoring her Polish origins is heavily disrespectful to her since she was very patriotic
I am protective, because I think that she would be pissed at people who disregard the polish part of her surname, that she explicitly kept and used at a time when keeping one’s maiden surname like that wasn’t as common as today.
If people respect her, then they should respect her name.
You know what else we (helped to) take?
Your criminal regime on Haiti, and then you really starved
Curie herself was quite bashfully proud of her Polish heritage, afaik