Hélène Langevin-Joliot

Hélène Langevin-Joliot (née Joliot-Curie; born 19 September 1927) is a French nuclear physicist. She was educated at the IN2P3 (English: Institute of Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics) at Orsay, a laboratory which was set up by her parents Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie. She is a member of the French government's advisory committee.[2] Currently, she is a professor of nuclear physics at the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the University of Paris and a director of research at the CNRS. She is also known for her work in actively encouraging women to pursue careers in scientific fields.[3][4] She is chairperson of the panel that awards the Marie Curie Excellence award, a prize given to outstanding European researchers.[5] She was president of the French Rationalist Union from 2004 to 2012.[6]

Hélène Langevin-Joliot
Hélène Langevin-Joliot (2012)
Born
Hélène Joliot-Curie

(1927-09-19) 19 September 1927
Paris, France
NationalityFrench
CitizenshipFrance
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsCNRS
Notes
Parents: Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot

Grandparents: Marie and Pierre Curie

Aunt: Ève Curie

Great Uncle: Józef Skłodowski

Great Aunts: Zofia Skłodowska, Bronisława Skłodowska, and Helena_Skłodowska-Szalay.[1]

Family

Langevin-Joliot comes from a family of well-known scientists.

  • Her maternal grandparents were Marie and Pierre Curie, famous for their study of radioactivity, for which they won a Nobel Prize in physics with Henri Becquerel in 1903. Marie Curie is the only person to win Nobel Prizes in two different sciences; her second was awarded in chemistry in (1911) for her discoveries of radium and polonium.
  • Her parents, Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie (born Jean Frédéric Joliot) (who was mentored by Marie) and Irène Joliot-Curie (born Irène Curie), won a Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity.
  • Her brother Pierre Joliot is a noted biophysicist who has made contributions to the study of photosynthesis.

In response to her family's legacy, Langevin-Joliot regularly grants interviews and gives talks about their history.[4][7] Her knowledge of her family's history led to her writing the introduction to Radiation and Modern Life: Fulfilling Marie Curie's Dream, including a brief history of the Curies.[8]

Her husband, Michel Langevin, was grandson of the famous physicist Paul Langevin (who had an affair with the widowed Marie Curie, Hélène's grandmother, in 1910) and was also a nuclear physicist at the institute; her son, Yves (b. 1951), is an astrophysicist.[7][9]

References
  1. "Marie Curie – Polish Girlhood (1867–1891) Part 1". American Institute of Physics. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  2. "Rencontre avec Hélène Langevin-Joliot" (in French). canslup.unilim.fr. Retrieved 2010-02-03. Google translation
  3. "Madam {sic} Curie's Legacy". best.me.berkeley.edu. Archived from the original on 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  4. "An Interview with Hélène Langevin-Joliot, the Granddaughter of Pierre and Marie Curie". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  5. "First EU Marie Curie Awards in recognition of world-class achievements in European research". Archived from the original on 2007-02-24. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  6. "Union rationaliste – Qui sommes-nous ?" (in French). union-rationaliste.org. Retrieved 2007-04-12.
  7. "Marie & Pierre Curie's granddaughter, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, visits the United States". Eurekalert.org. Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  8. Landsberger, S. (2006). "Radiation and modern life Fulfilling Marie Curie's dream". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 116 (2): 286. doi:10.1172/JCI27773. PMC 1359067.
  9. "Family Records". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
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