Józefa Joteyko (29 January 1866 – 24 April 1928) was a Polish physiologist, psychologist, pedagogue, and researcher. After completing her undergraduate studies at the University of Geneva, she entered medical school at the Free University of Brussels and completed her Doctor of Medicine in 1896 at the University of Paris. She opened a medical practice in France but decided two years later that she preferred research and moved back to Brussels. Operating as an assistant at the Solvay Institute of Physiology, she lectured and conducted research into muscle and nervous system fatigue. Convinced that science could solve societal challenges, Joteyko expanded her research in order to study how science could improve the lives of workers while leading to improvements in industrial efficiency and productivity. This led her to conduct investigations on children, examining how educational facilities could optimize the potential of their students by drawing on scientific methodology. She served as president of the Belgian Neurological Society beginning in 1904 and received numerous awards for her research, including the Desmath Prize of the Imperial and Royal Academy of Brussels, the Dieudonnée Prize of the . In addition, she was frequently recognized with prizes by the French Academy of Sciences. In 1916, Joteyko was appointed as the guest chair of the Collège de France, becoming the first woman to lecture at the institution. Returning to Poland after the establishment of the Second Republic in 1919, Joteyko had difficulty finding full-time employment. She lectured at the National Pedagogical Institute and the National Institute of the Deaf in Warsaw and was later appointed director of the Pedagogical Institute until it was dissolved in 1926. She continued working, lecturing at the and the Free Polish University, as well as serving on the committees of various governmental ministries as an advisor on employment and education. In 1926, she completed her post-doctoral degree at the medical faculty of the University of Warsaw, but illness curtailed her further involvement in research. She is considered to be one of the people who developed the schooling system in Poland. Early life Józefa Franciszka Joteykówna was born on 29 January 1866 in , Romanov volost of the Skvyra uezd in Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire (today village of Pochuiky is located in Popilnia Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast). Her parents were Karolina (née Odrowąż-Kurzańska) and Lucjan Joteyko. Her family, which included a sister, Zofia, and two brothers Mieczysław and , was