Stefanie jablonska, the iron lady of warsaw

Among the founders of immuno-dermatology, a prominent place is occupied by Stefanie Jablonska, Professor of Dermatology in Warsaw. Despite all the difficulties which her country has known, she has been able to work, train many students, travel the whole world over and survive all the crises. She is always on the go and the years have left no mark on her. From the time of my nomination as Professor of Dermatology I had occasion to see her at the Hopital St-Louis where the monthly meetings united many French and foreign dermatologists. From our first contact we got on well. She attended certain of my lectures, criticized with interest and supported the beginnings of my career. She believed that dermatology could no longer be content with clinical description, which was where the French reputation in dermatology lay. It was now necessary to give a larger role to biological research. And this is what I tried to do in adding a research laboratory to the clinical service I directed.