Gregor Mendel

Moravian scientist and Augustinian friar (1822–1884)

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Lived 1822–1884, aged 62

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Wikipedia
116 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1822–1884
Aged 62
Awards
1
recognised work

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

He bred pea plants in a monastery garden and worked out the rules of inheritance — dominant, recessive, the math behind why children resemble parents — then published it in 1866 to total silence. Thirty-four years after that, three scientists read his paper the same year and realized he'd already solved genetics.

Biography

About

Gregor Johann Mendel was born into a German-speaking family in the Austrian Empire on 20 July 1822, became an Augustinian friar, and eventually abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno. Between 1856 and 1863 he crossbred pea plants, tracking seven traits — height, pod shape and color, seed shape and color, flower position and color — and noticed patterns: yellow seeds dominated in one generation, then green reappeared at a ratio of 1 to 3. He coined "recessive" and "dominant" to explain it, published his findings on invisible "factors" in 1866, and was ignored. In 1900, sixteen years after his death…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel

said3 Jul 1870

It concerns the opinion of Naudin and Darwin that a single pollen grain does not suffice for fertilization of the ovule.

— Letter VIII, July 3rd, 1870.

Gregor Mendel

said3 Jul 1870

Of the experiments of previous years, those dealing with Matthiola annua and glabra, Zea, and Mirabilis were concluded last year. Their hybrids behave exactly like those of Pisum.

— Letter VIII, July 3rd, 1870.

Gregor Mendel

said18 Apr 1867