-LRB- Fryderyk Chopin -RRB- -LRB- 1810-1849 -RRB- Born in the village of Zelazowa Wola in Warsaw , to a Polish mother and French father , he was regarded early on as a child-prodigy piano virtuoso . He is generally considered to be Poland 's greatest composer , and ranks as one of music 's greatest tone poets . Always in fragile health , he died in Paris in 1849 from chronic pulmonary tuberculosis . He was only 39 . Mari-Sklodowska -LRB- Marie Curie -RRB- -LRB- 1867-1934 -RRB- Marie Curie , a Polish physicist and chemist , is arguably the most famous female scientist . She was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity , the only person honored with Nobel Prizes in two different sciences , and the first female professor at the University of Paris . Her French husband Pierre Curie and both her daughter IrÃ ¨ ne Joliot-Curie and son-in-law Frederic Joliot-Curie were awarded a Nobel prizes . Marie Curie was born in Warsaw . In 1891 she moved to Paris to further her studies and work on scientific projects . She found the theory of radioactivity and also found two new elements , radium and polonium -LRB-
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- What do Copernicus and a Britney Spears look-a-like have in common ? Despite centuries separating the two , both have inspired greatness in Poland . Maxim named Joanna Crupa , a Polish/American model and actress , 61st in its 2006 Hot 100 list . Here we look at some of Poland 's most famous nationals -- from years gone by to the present day . Many have influenced a world far beyond their country 's boundary . Nicolaus Copernicus -LRB- 1473-1543 -RRB- Copernicus was a mathematician , astronomer , physician , classical scholar , translator , Catholic cleric , jurist , governor , military leader , diplomat and economist . He is primarily known , however , for his theory that earth is not the center of the universe . His book , `` De revolutionibus orbium coelestium '' -LRB- On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres -RRB- , is often regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy and the defining moment that began the Scientific Revolution . Copernicus was born in 1473 in Thorn . Thorn was a city in Prussia , an autonomous region in the old Kingdom of Poland . Frederick Chopin