Gregor Johann Mendel formulated his discoveries of basic principles of heredity in Brno.

Who was Gregor Johann Mendel?

The founder of genetics worked as a priest and later as the abbot of the Augustinian monastery in Old Brno.

Johann Mendel was born on 20 July 1822 in Hynčice, which is now a part of the village of Vražné in the Moravian-Silesian Region. His family home has since been turned into a museum dedicated to Mendel’s life and the history of genetics.

In 1843, after studies at the Institute of Philosophy in Olomouc, Mendel joined the Augustinian order in Old Brno and adopted the monastic name Gregor. According to tradition, this adopted name is placed before the first name.

The then-abbot Napp helped him study at a university in Vienna, which played an important role in Mendel’s later experiments with peas and other plants, to which he devoted nine years. He monitored the stability of their traits in 34 varieties of peas.

In spring 1865, he gave lectures on his experiments with plant hybrids before members of the Natural Science Association in Brno and he published his lectures a year later.

The year 1868 was a turning point for Mendel, as he became the abbot of the Augustinian abbey in Old Brno. He began to focus more on his other hobbies, specifically beekeeping and meteorology. He had an apiary built in the monastery garden according to his design, and in 1878, he established a meteorological station within the abbey complex.

Gregor Johann Mendel died on 6 January 1884, and is buried in the Augustinian tomb at today’s Central Cemetery in Brno.

He did not win recognition for the results of his experiments until the beginning of the 20th century when his discoveries were understood and confirmed. Gregor Johann Mendel then became known as the “Father of Genetics”.

Brno commemorates Mendel’s legacy each year.

This year, the Father of Genetics will be commemorated with the Mendel Day and summer Mendel Festival with a popular-science and music programme, followed by the Mendel Week at EXPO in Osaka, Japan.

Mendel’s greenhouse has been restored at the Augustinian abbey in Old Brno, and the statue Peas by Jaromír Gargulák draws attention in Mendel Square. Places associated with Gregor Johann Mendel’s life are connected by Mendel’s Path. The City of Brno has supported a great deal of these activities.

Follow again in Gregor Johann Mendel’s footsteps. Visit places associated with the life of this Brno personality, be it on his path or online in the game Mr Mendel’s Code.