It is the story of a dilemma.
That of how to preserve the legacy of Marie Curie (1867-1934), pioneer of research on radioactivity and the only woman to win two Nobel Prizes.
In the center, a small building of light bricks, whose destruction was suspended in extremis by the French Ministry of Culture.
The institute that the scientist named after her wants to demolish it to build a cutting-edge center dedicated to cancer.
Heritage defenders want to protect it and claim that it was an integral part of the laureate's laboratories.
The authorities now have the last word.
The chapter remains open.
Former Culture Minister Rima Abdul-Malak announced in early January that she had agreed to suspend the demolition of the Pavillon des Sources with the president of the Curie Institute, Thierry Philip.
The decision is momentary and serves to examine all possible alternatives.
Since then, the arguments of both parties have continued in articles, forums and social networks.
And the government of President Emmanuel Macron appointed a new minister in office, Rachi Dati, until now leader of the conservative opposition in the Paris City Council.
The building that crystallizes the tensions is two floors and measures just over 100 m².
It is in the Latin Quarter, located on the
rive gauche
, the left bank of the Seine.
Next door are the Sorbonne University and the Pantheon, where some of the greatest French personalities rest.
Among them Marie Curie and her husband Pierre, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 for their work on radioactivity.
Eight years later, the scientist wins another Nobel Prize, this time in chemistry, for the discovery of polonium and radium, two radioactive elements.
More information
Marie Curie: Women of science
The awards, in addition to giving them visibility, allowed them to improve their working conditions and create the Radium Institute in 1914. Its heir is the current Curie Institute, a hospital and research center specialized in the fight against cancer.
The building in question has been empty since the late 2000s. The bars placed for its demolition prevent getting too close.
Around it, a small garden with trees planted by Curie herself.
On either side, two buildings: the Pavillon Curie, where the scientist had her laboratory and which today houses a museum, and the Pavillon Pasteur.
The complex was designed by the architect Henri-Paul Nénot.
“They can't be separated, they go together!” exclaims Baptiste Gianeselli, a 42-year-old Parisian who raised the alarm by phone.
A staunch defender of heritage and the origin of several other petitions, he remembers that the Curie family discovered artificial and induced radioactivity in that same place.
“Without the Pavillon des Sources it would not have been possible,” he insists.
The space, a kind of annex, was not Curie's laboratory as such, but it served to store materials and waste.
The Curie Museum details that the scientist used it to manufacture radium emanation ampoules, intended at that time for military hospitals, which she used to asepticize wounds from the First World War.
A few years later, they will be used to treat cancers.
“The entire spirit of Marie Curie is in that project”
The building and its use constitute the crux of the controversy.
In February 2023, the Curie Institute obtained permission to demolish it from the Paris City Council.
The goal is to build a five-story, 2,400 m² laboratory on the same site.
A 12 million euro project, which will serve to develop new chemical compounds to stop the development of tumors.
Its paralysis generates concern.
And some incomprehension.
This photograph taken on January 5, 2024 shows the entrance of the Radium Institute, the historic site of Polish-French physicist and chemist Marie Curie's laboratory.
French Culture Minister Rima Abdul-Malak announced on January 5, 2024 the cancellation of the planned demolition of the historic site of Marie Curie's laboratory in Paris, where a biological chemistry center for cancer was to be built.
(Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)DIMITAR DILKOFF (AFP)
“The entire spirit of Marie Curie is in that project, even in its governance,” says a group of scientists and researchers in a column of the newspaper Libération.
The research, they recall, will be led by a woman and is part of the plan to strengthen the scientific attractiveness of France in the face of competition from other countries.
Among the signatories, Fatima Mechta-Grigoriu, at the head of the project together with Raphaël Rodriguez.
The column adds: “We do not deny her heritage, we are preserving it, we value it and cultivate it so that tomorrow, other women can receive the Nobel Prize (...) This is the way in which new memories will be forged for future women.” generations.”
The Curie Institute insists on the need to be close to existing technological platforms, doctors and patients.
He also claims that the Pavillon des Sources was a radioactive storage site and that it constitutes less than 3% of the heritage bequeathed by Curie, which he has always strived to preserve.
But the arguments are not convincing.
“Researchers worked at the place until 2015 and you can walk next to it without problems,” says Gianeselli.
The points of radioactivity do not represent any danger, say radiological protection authorities cited by
Le Monde
.
Heritage defenders ask the Ministry of Culture to classify the complex as historic, as one of Curie's two daughters, Ève, had already requested.
They have been joined by feminist groups, such as the Women and Science Association or the Women's Foundation, which defend preserving an emblematic site of female contributions to science.
Former diplomat Claudine Monteil, biographer of the Curie family, remembers that Irène Joliot-Curie, first daughter of the scientist, winner of another Nobel Prize, also worked there.
“They are truly women who sacrificed everything for nothing in return,” she explains by phone.
“It is the only family in the world that won five Nobel Prizes, that refused to register commercial patents so that anyone could benefit from their discovery,” she insists.
Nobody disputes his legacy.
The question is how to claim it.
Settle a debate between memory and living science.
Curie museum director Renaud Huynh understands both sides.
“It is a tension that exists by nature between science and heritage,” he highlights to this newspaper.
His office overlooks the building and the garden.
Behind a bench is a small bust of Marie and Pierre.
A few steps away is a sign, with a photo dated 1923. It is her on her balcony, looking at the small green space.
In the end, Huynh adds, “the decision will be political.”
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