Gregor Mendel
1822 - 1884
Biography
Gregor Johann Mendel was born on July 22, 1822, in Heizendorf, Austria. He was the only son of a peasant farmer. In 1843 he began studying at the St. Thomas Monastery of the Augustinian Order in Brünn. He was ordained into the priesthood in August of 1847. After his ordination, Mendel was assigned to pastoral duties, but it soon became apparent that he was more suited to teaching. In 1849, he was assigned to a secondary school in the city of Znaim. It was there that he took the qualifying examination for teacher certification and failed. …