Maria Skłodowska-Curie Park (Polish: Park im. Marii Skłodowskiej-Curie) is an urban park in Warsaw, Poland, located in the district of Ochota, between Wawelska, Skłodowskiej-Curie, Hoffmanowej, Miecznikowa, and Pogorzelskiego Streets. The park, named after Maria Curie was opened on 29 May 1932, together with the nearby National Research Institute of Oncology
On 5 September 1935, in the park was unveiled a monument to Maria Skłodowska-Curie. She was a 19th- and 20th-century physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, as well as the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice. The bronze statue was commissioned by Stefan Starzyński, the mayor of Warsaw, and designed by sculptor Ludwika Nitschowa.[3][4] The monument was demaged during the Warsaw Uprising in the Second World War, when it was used by soldiers of the Russian People's Liberation Army, a Russian collaborationist formation off the Protection Squadron, as a practice target.[3][5] It was renovated in 1997, however the bullet holes were left in, as a reminder of the conflict.[3]
After the war, the garden square was given the status of an urban park, and named after Skłodowska-Curie.[1]
It was renovated in 2023, and reopened on 11 December of that year. The date was chosen, as it conscienced with the 120th anniversary of Maria and Pierre Curie receiving a Nobel Prize in Physics on 10 December 1903.[2][6]
Characteristics
The park has a shape of a long rectangle, and is located in the neighbourhood of Old Ochota, between Wawelska, Skłodowskiej-Curie, Hoffmanowej, Miecznikowa, and Pogorzelskiego Streets. It has the total area of 2.16 ha.[1]
Nearby is also growing a sycamore tree named Maria, which has a status of a natural monument. It was originally planted by Skłodowska-Curie on 29 May 1932.[2][7]
