Mendel, Gregor
Austrian Natural Scientist 1822-1884
Gregor Mendel elucidated the theory of particulate inheritance, which forms the basis of the current understanding of genes as the hereditary material. Born in Heinzendorf, Austria, in 1822, Johann Gregor Mendel was the fourth of five children in a family of farmers. He attended the primary school in a neighboring village, which taught elementary subjects as well as the natural sciences. Mendel showed superior abilities, and in 1833, at the advice of his teacher, his parents sent him to the secondary school in Leipnik, then to the gymnasium in Troppau. There he attempted to support himself by private tutoring, but his lack of the necessary financial support made the years that Mendel spent in school extremely stressful for him. His younger sister gave him part of her dowry and, in 1840, he enrolled in the University of Olmütz, where he studied physics, philosophy, and mathematics. In 1843 he was admitted into the Augustinian monastery in Brno, where he stayed for almost two decades. Originally, Mendel was not interested in religious life, but joining the monastery freed him from the financial concerns that plagued him and allowed him to pursue his interests in the natural sciences.
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