Józefa Franciszka Joteyko (1866-1928),
Portrait from Cecylia Walewska's book "In the fight for equal rights: our fighters" from 1930, chapter about Joteyko. Polona Archive (National Library, public domain)
Józefa Franciszka Joteyko (known also as Joséphine Joteyko) was born in a Lithuanian noble family on January 29, 1866 in Poczujki near Kiev (then the part of Russian Empire, now Ukraina) [1,2,3]. Her parents were wealthy landowners - leased the estate in 1871, and in 1873 they moved to Warsaw (then under Russian rule) in order to provide education for their children. She had three siblings, one of them, her brother - Tadeusz Joteyko (1872–1932) was a Polish composer [1,4].
Józefa Joteyko at the age of 10 – in 1876 (from book “Józefa Joteyko” published in Warsaw in 1929)
Brother of Józefa Joteyko – polish composer
Initially she was educated at home. In 1876 she started studies at Sierakowska's boarding school and after a year her parents arranged for her private tuition. In 1884, Joteyko finished high school - willing to continue her education, she decided to go to Geneva. In 1886, she began to study the Natural Sciences at the University of Geneva, and after two years she obtained a bachelor degree in the field of physical and natural sciences. She briefly returned to Warsaw, where her parents lived, before going to Brussels again. In September 1889 she started to study medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at Free University of Brussels and then continued higher education at the Sorbonne in Paris, where in 1896 she defended her doctoral thesis at the medical faculty and obtained a diploma of doctor of all medical sciences. Her supervisor was Charles Richet, a future Nobel Prize Winner [1,5]. The subject of her doctoral thesis was muscle fatigue and respiration for which she was awarded a special prize by the faculty authorities [3,6].
Józefa Joteyko during her medical study in Paris
In 1898 Joteyko returned to Brussels to work as an assistant at Physiological Institute in Solvaya. She taught experimental psychology at the psychophysical laboratory for the next five years. Her scientific interest were focused on occupational physiology. Working with Charles Henry, she announced the equation of the ergographic curve, based on which she formulated a law stating that the numbers expressing the degree of fatigue increase in geometric progression, and the numbers relating to the duration of work form an arithmetic sequence. In 1903 Joteyko’s dedication to scientific work was appreciated and she was appointed director of the Solvay Laboratory [1,4,7].
Mineral Chemistry – manual written by Józefa Joteyko, published in 1899
Józefa Joteyko
At the University of Brussels she have met Michalina Stefanowska who was a neuropathologist and one of her coworkers. Together, the two women were co-authors of numerous research papers on neurology and the neurobiology of pain and fatigue [8,9]. Moreover, their collaboration has been awarded several times. Among others, they were winners of the Dieudonnée Prize from the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine (1901) and the Montyon Prize from the French Academy of Sciences (1903). Michalina and Józefa were connected not only by working together but they were also life partners and they lived together for many following years in Paris and Brussels [1].
Józefa Joteyko during International medical Congress in Madrit in 1903
In 1905, Joteyko became President of the Belgian Neurological Society and was elected chairman at the First Belgian Congress of Neurology and Psychiatry [10]. As her scientific work progressed, her scientific interests gradually changed from physiology through psychology to pedagogy. In 1908 in Geneva, Joteyko founded the quarterly "Revue Psychologique", where she worked as editor-in-chief until 1914. Moreover, in 1911 in Brussels she organized the first International Congress of Pedology and in 1912 she founded the International Faculty of Pedology at the Free University of Brussels [1,11].
Józefa Joteyko in psychological laboratory in Belgium
In 1909, she was elected as the only woman to the organizing committee of the sixth International Congress of Physiological Psychology held in Geneva [1].
Józefa Joteyko and Varia Kipiani 1910
After the outbreak of World War I, she moved to France. In 1916, she was a lecturer in pedology and experimental psychology at the Collège de France in Paris where she was appointed, as the first woman in history, professor. Two years later, she decided to work at the University of Lyon [11].
After Poland declared independence in 1918, Joteyko decided to return to her homeland. Unfortunately, due to the gender discrimination that existed at that time, she was unable to continue her scientific work at the University. Therefore, she decided to devote herself to the activities of the newly established National Institute of Pedagogy and began lecturing on experimental psychology at the University of Warsaw. There she founded the first Polish psychological periodical "Polskie Archiwum Psychologii". In 1922, she became vice-chairwoman of the Pedagogical Commission of the Ministry of Religious Denominations and Public Enlightenment [1].
The fate of her further professional career took place on her home soil. From 1926, she lectured on educational psychology and experimental pedagogy at the Free Polish University in Warsaw. In 1926, she presented her habilitation thesis to reviewers at the University of Warsaw, which was defended in 1927. In the same year, she became a member of the Opinion-Giving Committee of the President of the Economic Committee of Ministers, and from 1928, a member of the Labor Protection Council at the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare [1].
Unfortunately, when she was in her 40ties, she developed a heart condition. In 1927, her health deteriorated and led to her death on April 24, 1928 in Warsaw and was buried at the Powązki Cemetery [1,4,7,11].
Obituary notice of Józefa Joteyko
Funeral of Józefa Joteyko from book “Józefa Joteyko” published in Warsaw in 1929