Biography




1822: Born on 20 July (baptised on 22 July) in Hyncice, northern Moravia (then Austrian Silesia) to farmers, Anton and Rosina.

1831-1833: Elementary school in Hyncice. In the autumn of 1833 Mendel moved to the Piarist school in Lipnik.

1834-1840: Gymnasium (grammar school) in Opava. Mendel helped pay his way by giving lessons to fellow students.

1840-1843: Institute of Philosophy in Olomouc. Mendel’s studies included mathematics, physics, philology, theoretical and practical philosophy and ethics.

1843: Augustinian Abbey in Old Brno. Mendel joined the Abbey as a novice under Abbot C. F. Napp (1792-1867) and assumed the name Gregor. Napp and the friar F. M. Klacel (1808-1882) are; both thought to have profoundly influenced Mendel’s development as a scientist.

1845-1848: Institute of Theology (Brno). In 1846 Mendel completed a course in agricultural studies, apple and wine growing.

1847: Mendel is ordained priest.
1849-1851: Abbot Napp removed Mendel from his work in the parish on the grounds that it made him ill. He became a substitute teacher at the Gymnasium in Znojmo and at the Technical College in Brno.
1851-1853: University of Vienna. Mendel studied physics, mathematics and natural history and attended courses in “Experimental Physics” (Christian Doppler, 1803-1853), in “Anatomy and Physiology of Plants” (Franz Unger, 1800-1870), and in “Practical lessons in using the microscope”.

1854: Construction of the glasshouse in the Abbey garden.
1854-1868: Realschule (secondary modern school), Brno. Mendel taught physics and natural history.

1854-1864: Experimental work on garden peas. Mendel carried out experiments in plant hybridisation in the Abbey garden, with particular attention to Pisum sativum. He spent two years selecting Pisum lines with constant characteristics.

1861: Co-founder of the Natural Science Society in Brno.

c. 1862: Mendel reads the German translation of the second edition (1860) of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and makes notes in the margins.

1863: First publication on his meteorological observations. Mendel continued with these until 1882.

1865: Lectures on “Experiments in Plant Hybrids” at the February and March meetings of the Natural Science Society (Brno). In 1866, Mendel published his lecture, a work that was to establish him as “the father of genetics”. In the same year, he opened his correspondence with Carl Nägeli (1817-1891).

1868: Mendel became abbot after Abbot Napp, who had died in 1867.

1870: Publication of his experiments on Hieracium in Brno.

1871: Construction of the bee house in the Abbey garden.

1872: Mendel was awarded the Cross of the Royal and Imperial Order of Franz Joseph I.

1881: Director of the Mortgage Bank of Moravia (Brno).

1884: Mendel died on 6 January. He was buried three days later in the Central Cemetery in Brno. His obituary in the Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Ackerbaues, der Natur- und Landeskunde 1884, No. 1, said: “his experiments with plant hybrids opened a new era”.

The Mendel Museum wishes to acknowledge the kind assistance of Elisabeth Haring, Jirina Relichova and Vitezslav Orel in preparing this short biography.