by Marlene Lee

Created on: September 20, 2008

GREGOR JOHANN MENDEL (1822-1884) is widely regarded as the the "father of genetics".

He showed, through his experimental study of pea plants that the inheritance of traits followed specific laws. The significance of his work went unrecognised in his lifetime, but was rediscovered in the 1900s and became extremely influential. His laws formed the foundation for the new discipline of "genetics".

EARLY BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

Johann Mendel was born July 20, 1822 in Heinzendorf, Austria (now Hyncice, Czech Republic) to a farming family. As a child, Mendel worked as a gardener and studied beekeeping, laying the seeds for his lifelong fascination with the mysteries of nature.

Mendel was sent to the Piarist school in Lipnik (Leipnik) in 1831. This was followed by grammar school at the age of 12 in Opava (Troppau). Mendel did very well in school, and furthered his studies at the Institute of Philosophy in Olomouc (Olmutz) in 1840.

BECOMING AN AUGUSTINIAN MONK

His family was not very well off, and could not afford to continue financing his studies, so upon the advice of one of his teachers, Mendel joined the Augustinian Abbey of St. Thomas in Brunn (now Brno, the Czech Republic) in 1843. That was when he took the name of Gregor.

The monastery proved fertile ground for Mendel to pursue his interests. The abbot at the time was very supportive of scientific education for the members of the monastery. And the Augustinians were active in education; the monks taught philosophy, foreign languages, mathematics, and natural sciences at secondary schools and universities. In addition to his theological studies, Mendel took courses in agriculture, pomiculture, and vine growing at the Institute of Philosophy in Brunn.

He was ordained into the priesthood in August of 1847, and served for a short time as vicar. However, it became clear that he was more suited to teaching; and in 1849, he was appointed a teacher of mathematics and Greek at the grammar school in Znojmo (Znaim).

UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA

In 1850, encouraged by the headmaster of the grammar school he was teaching at, he sat for a university examination. He failed, probably because he did not have a comprehensive university education. However, his written test on meteorology did impress the examiner enough to recommend to the monastery that Mendel be sent to the University of Vienna.

He studied at the university from 1851-1853, pursuing courses in physics, chemistry, mathematics, zoology and botany. It was there that he honed the experimental

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