Contents
Gregor Mendel
Revealing patterns of inheritance through pea-plant experiments.
Genetics · Augustinian friar
- Born
- 20 July 1822
- Birthplace
- Hynčice, Czech Republic
- Died
- 6 January 1884
More people
Gregor Mendel
Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian friar whose controlled plant crosses revealed regularities in heredity. His findings gained their greatest influence after his death, when they became foundational to genetics.
Early life
Farming childhood
Born Johann Mendel into a German-speaking farming family in Silesia.
Education and monastery
Studied in Olomouc and entered St Thomas’s Abbey in Brno in 1843.
Career
- 1851–1853
Vienna studies
Studied sciences at the University of Vienna before returning to teaching.
- 1856–1863
Experimental crosses
Tracked inherited characteristics through generations of pea plants.
- 1865–1866
Published findings
Presented his results in Brno and published them the following year.
- 1868
Abbot
Became head of the abbey, increasing his administrative responsibilities.
Contributions
Plant hybridisation paper
Described numerical patterns in the transmission of selected pea traits.
Hawkweed experiments
Investigated a plant whose unusual reproduction complicated the results.
Weather observations
Contributed long-running meteorological measurements in Brno.
Beyond the lab
Name and vocation
Took the religious name Gregor on entering the Augustinian community.
Later recognition
Researchers returned to his work around 1900, connecting it with a developing science of heredity.
Sources & photo credit
Biography ↗Life and work ↗Photo: Unknown author Unknown author. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
