Gregor Mendel was born to Anton and Rosine Mendel in Heizendorf, Austria on their small family farm in 1822. He lived the first few years of his life here on this farm until at age 11 a local schoolmaster, impressed by his intellect, recommended that he continue his studies in a high school in Troppau. Though the move was a financial strain on the family, Mendel thrived intellectually and graduated high school in 1840 with honours. Following school, he enrolled in a 2 year programme at the Philosophical Institute of the University of Olmütz, studying physics and mathematics and tutoring in his spare time to make ends meet. Despite battling with long bouts of depression, he graduated the programme in 1843 and began studying to become a monk…show more content… At the time the monastery was a cultural centre for the region, and Mendel was given the opportunity to have access to their library and experimental facilities.
By 1849 his community work with the monastery has exhausted him to the point of illness and he was sent to teach in a high school in Znaim. Unfortunately, he failed a teaching certification exam in 1850 and so was sent to the University of Vienna at the monastery’s expense to continue his studies. There, he was lucky enough to work under mathematician Christian Doppler, after whom the Doppler effect of wave frequency is named, as well as botany with Franz Unger who has started to use a microscope in his studies and is one of those known for his pre-Darwinian theory of evolution.
In 1853, Gregor Mendel finished his studies in Vienna and made his return to the monastery in Brno, where he began to teach at a secondary school - and this is where he also began his pea plant experiments, which he is most known for. He chose peas for his experiments as they are easy to grow in large amounts, and their reproduction can be controlled as they are capable of both self pollinating and cross pollinating with another