Marguerite Perey

Lore & Background

Although she hoped to study medicine, her father's death left the family in financial difficulties. Under Curie's guidance, Perey learned to isolate and purify radioactive elements, focusing on actinium. She theorized actinium was decaying into another element and detected alpha radiation, which indicated a loss of protons. This led to her discovery of element 87, which she named francium. She founded a laboratory that became the Laboratory of Nuclear Chemistry. Perey was nominated five times for a Nobel Prize but never received it. She is credited with championing better safety measures for scientists working with radiation.

Reader's Guide

Her work was carried out under challenging circumstances: she lacked a university degree at the time of discovery and had to rely on a male colleague to present her findings to the Académie des Sciences. Perey's career also advanced nuclear chemistry education and research at the University of Strasbourg, where she built a laboratory and directed the Center for Nuclear Research. Though she hoped francium might help diagnose cancer, its carcinogenicity ultimately contributed to her own death. Perey's story highlights the barriers faced by women in science and the persistence required to overcome them.

Did You Know?

• Francium is the rarest naturally occurring element, with only about 20-30 grams existing in Earth's crust at any given time.
• Perey was the first woman elected to the French Académie des Sciences, an honor denied to her mentor Marie Curie.
• She was nominated five times for a Nobel Prize but never received it.