Professor Józefa Joteyko – The distinguished Polish scientist at the turn of the 19th and the 20th century

Jozefa Joteyko was the outstanding scientist in the end of the 19th and in the beginning of the 20th century. Together with Maria Sklodowska-Curie she was the most famous woman and scientist of Polish origin in Europe. She was given the right to present her lectures in the College de France and she was, after Adam Mickiewicz, the second Polish lecturer at this great academy. She had committed her life to scientific disciplines which included child neurology, neurophysiology, psychology and pedagogy. She had managed to develop each of them evenly with the same progress and in relation to children. Such approach was aimed at understanding the child and gathering the knowledge about its character and predisposition. These was also meant to help in determining what kind of educational and professional way the child should take. The present-day psychological and pedagogic clinics are the practical fulfilment of Jozefa Joteyko’s idea and we cannot imagine the contemporary education without the support of such institutions.