Marguerite Perey

Marguerite Perey
Born	(1909-10-19)19 October 1909 Villemomble, Seine-Saint-Denis, France
Died	13 May 1975(1975-05-13) (aged 65) Louveciennes, Yvelines, France
Alma mater	The Sorbonne
Known for	Francium discovery
Awards	Leconte Prize (1960)
Scientific career
Fields	Physics, chemistry, radiochemistry
Institutions	Curie Institute, University of Strasbourg

Marguerite Catherine Perey (19 October 1909 – 13 May 1975) was a French physicist and a student of Marie Curie. In 1939, Perey discovered the element francium by purifying samples of lanthanum that contained actinium. In 1962, she was the first woman to be elected to the French Académie des Sciences, an honor denied to her mentor Curie. Perey died of cancer in 1975.^[1]