Marie Currie was born as Marya Skłodowska into a family of school teachers and four other siblings. At the time, her family lived in Russian controlled Poland so she had to be educated by her older sister and father. Unfortunately, her mother died of tuberculosis when she was eleven. In her late adolescence, She worked as a governess and private tutor to pay for her sister's medical school tuition which would eventually allow Marya herself to go to the University of Paris. On 1891, Mayra changed her name to her french equivalent, Marie and began studying science and mathematics. By 1893, Marie Curie earned an equivalent of a master's degree in physics and earned a similar degree in mathematics the following year.