Marguerite Perey

Today is the birthday of Marguerite Catherine Perey, who was born 19 October 1909 in Villemomble, France. She began working with Marie Curie at the age of 19 at the Curie’s Radium Institute. While at the institute, she primarily worked separating actinium from the other components of uranium ore. In 1939, she recognized that some of the purified actinium was emitting unusual levels of radiation, which she determined was because the purified actinium was actually a new element, which she named “francium.” Because of her work, she received a grant to attend university at the Sorbonne, where she earned her PhD in 1946. She then began working ath the University of Strasbourg as the chair of the department of nuclear chemistry and founded the Laboratory of Nuclear Chemistry in the Center for Nuclear Research. In 1962, she became the first woman elected to France’s Académie des Sciences.

Date in History: 19 October 1909