Pierre CURIE feels guilty about his lack of support for his brother.

Pierre CURIE (1859-1906)

Signed autograph letter.

Three octavo pages on letterhead of the School of Physics and Chemistry.

Paris. March 19, 1894.

"I don't have a clear conscience regarding my brother; it seems to me that I failed in the mission I set for myself to defend him..."

Pierre Curie felt guilty about his lack of support for his older brother, Jacques, who had unsuccessfully applied for an academic chair.

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"Dear Sir, I thank you very much for having so kindly and immediately sent me the result of the deliberations of the duty counsel. I had few illusions about this result. And yet, today, I do not have a clear conscience regarding my brother; it seems to me that I have failed in the mission I set for myself to defend him in this circumstance ."

I was unable to fully appreciate his scientific qualifications, which are quite impressive from a geological standpoint. My brother has worked on the volcanic rocks of Algeria. For three years he traveled and studied, and the report he submitted is highly regarded by petrographers and geologists. He is currently mapping the area around Mende for the French Geological Survey. It seems to me that he would be perfectly suited to a chair in geology and mineralogy , provided he were supported by a lecturer in paleontology.

Mr. Delage's sole work, on the contrary, was judged very harshly by geologists and the map directors refused to admit Mr. Delage among their collaborators.

I regret not having given this information to your father [Marcelin Berthelot] , who could have made use of it, since he so kindly pleaded my brother's case. Please thank him for me and assure him of my utmost respect. With kind regards, P. Curie . The chair of mineralogy that is to be created in Lyon has been formally promised to Mr. Offret; therefore, there is nothing for my brother in that regard.

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Pierre Curie's early research was conducted in collaboration with his older brother, Jacques Curie (1856-1941), then an assistant to Charles Friedel at the Sorbonne's mineralogy laboratory. The two young men studied the electrical properties of crystals and, in 1880, discovered the phenomenon of piezoelectricity (the production of electricity by compressing or stretching certain materials). The brothers collaborated until 1883, when they separated. Jacques was appointed professor of mineralogy at the Faculty of Sciences in Montpellier, and Pierre was appointed head of practical work at the newly established Municipal School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry in Paris (EPCI).

From 1887, Jacques taught for three years at the School of Sciences in Algiers alongside his research. He was not appointed to the chair of Physics at the University of Montpellier until 1903.