Gregor Mendel

Mendel was born into a farming family in Heinzendorf, Austria (now Hyncice, Czech Republic). He attended university in Olmutz, but financial difficulties soon persuaded him to enter the Augustinian monastery in Brno, where he received both theological and agricultural training. Mendel remained affiliated with the monastery for the rest of his life. He served briefly as a parish chaplain in the region, and for many years served as a popular and successful teacher at the technical school in Brno. His training in agricultural experimentation, obtained at the University of Vienna, beginning in 1851, prepared him for the experiments that he began in 1856 on peas.