Joliot-Curie, Frédéric

Joliot-Curie, (Jean-) Frédéric

 orig. Jean-Frédéric Joliot

(born March 19, 1900, Paris, France—died Aug. 14, 1958, Arcouest) French physical chemist. In 1926 he married Irène Curie (1900–58), daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie; he would eventually append her name to his. In 1932 he first observed production of an electron-positron pair. Frédéric and Irène are remembered for their discovery of new radioactive isotopes prepared artificially, for which they were jointly awarded a 1935 Nobel Prize. Frédéric served in the Resistance during World War II and became a member of the Communist Party; in the postwar years he served as the highest government official in the realm of atomic energy but was dismissed for his political beliefs. From 1946 to 1956 Irène directed the Radium Institute, where she had first worked in 1918; Frédéric succeeded her in the post. Both died of conditions caused by their long exposure to radioactivity.