She was a French physicist who discovered an element with atomic number 87 which she named francium in 1939 purifying lanthanum that contained actinium. Researchers had been looking for this element for years. Francium has no known applications. She worked in 1929-34 as the personal assistant (preparateur) to Marie Curie, Institut du Radium. In 1934-46, she worked as a radiochemist, Institut du Radium. In 1946-49 she worked at Maitre de Recherches, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut du Radium. In 1949 she worked as Professeur titulaire de la Chaire de Chimie Nucleaire, Universite de Strasbourg. Her doctorate is from the Sorbonne, 1946.

1. Photograph in Oak Ridge, Tennessee