Helene Zelezny–Scholz was one of the first “Europeans” to have emerged from Ostrava. The daughter of the poet Maria Stona, whose stately home at Třebovice was a central-European intellectual centre, she studied in Berlin and Brussels. During World War I she was resident in Vienna and sculpted members of the imperial court. She subsequently settled in Rome where her studio was used by many eminent artists. She always considered herself Czech, however, and was a ardent support of Czechoslovakia, being a friend of its President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. In 1934 an exhibition of her work was held in the prestigious Jean Charpentier Gallery in Paris, the first major presentation of her work in that city. As the Czech daily Lidové noviny stated at the time, she was discovered by the Czech public and was recognised and highly regarded here. What was particularly appealing was the breadth and variety of the sculptor’s oeuvre. The expressiveness of her sculptural form, inspired by nature, was combined with a deep sensitivity.