Over the generations
With the Joliot-Curie family, it was physical! The sporting feats of a scientific community
By Musée Curie
This exhibition was developed as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
With the Joliot-Curie family, it was physical!
This exhibition, based on previously unseen archives, offers a new perspective on Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie. Beyond the Nobel Prize and their commitments, it reveals their passion for sport and the outdoors—a reflection of both a family lifestyle and an era.
Pierre and Marie Curie’s honeymoon bicycle trip (1895) by Musée Curie (Coll. ACJC).Musée Curie
Over the generations
Personal photographs of Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie reveal their passion for physical activity—a love of sport passed down through generations. This family tradition endures, highlighting the importance of regular physical activity in daily life.
The Joliot-Curie family
The Curie and Joliot-Curie family is often nicknamed “The family of five Nobel Prizes.” Marie and Pierre Curie received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903, Marie Curie was later awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911, and Frédéric and Irène Joliot received it in 1935.
Pierre Joliot on a bicycle in the family home in Antony in 1936.
Marie Curie and her granddaughter Hélène Langevin walk in the water, around 1930 in Arcouest.
Hélène Joliot is filming her parents, Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie, and her brother Pierre (14 years old), while skiing.
This passion for sports is nurtured within the family and is part of their heritage. This video, showing three generations of Curie women skating together, clearly illustrates this legacy.
Sceaux
With the money from their Nobel Prize, the Joliot-Curies built a tennis court and a space for athletics in the garden of their home. This allowed them to maintain regular physical activity at a time when public sports facilities were still scarce.
A Joliot-Curie family album page dedicated to athletics (1942) by Coll. privée famille Joliot.Musée Curie
Frédéric Joliot-Curie and his friend François Lapicque challenge each other on the athletic field of the family home in Antony.
In this excerpt from a letter dated May 11, 1943, Irène Joliot-Curie writes to her colleague Alice Prebil. Among other things, the scientist is trying to find tennis balls—an item that was hard to come by during wartime.
Tennis match between Frédéric, Irène, and Pierre Joliot.
"Over the generations" is the second part of a triology. Discover the first part, "Being in the great outdoors", as well as the third, "Exceeding one's limits."
Exhibition produced by © Musée Curie (UAR 6425 CNRS - Institut Curie)
Curator: Camilla Maiani
Scientific Committee: Renaud Huynh and Natalie Pigeard
Digital adaptation : Clarisse Chavanne and Valérie Frois
Acknowledgements:
For their collaboration in the creation of the exhibition: Catherine Biquard, Claire Biquard, Jean-Michel Biquard, Anne Joliot-Gricouroff, Pierre Joliot, Hélène Langevin-Joliot, and the entire Musée Curie team.
For providing iconographic materials: the Atelier des Archives, the Bibliothèque Forney, the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
For the reproduction of certain photographic archives: Sacha Lenormand.
This exhibition was created in partnership with the Cinémathèque de Bretagne, with the support of CNRS, the Institut Curie, and DRAC Île-de-France.
It is labeled as part of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad.
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