Gregor Mendel was born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1822. His family were farmers, and Mendel grew up gardening and studying beekeeping. As a young man, Mendel became an Augustinian friar, partially to continue his education without having to pay for his studies. While he was at the monastery, Mendel experimented with small plots of the common edible pea, and presented his work to a small group of unenthusiastic scientists in 1862. While he died in 1884 in relative scientific obscurity, his pea experiments gained appreciation over time, so much so that that now Gregor Mendel is considered the father of modern genetics.

If you want to read more about Gregor Mendel's early life and discoveries while at the monastery, please check out FamousScientists.org!