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Gregor Mendel

Unknown

The best-known lifetime photograph of Mendel as an Augustinian friar.

This is the standard portrait photograph of Mendel used to identify him in teaching materials.

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Black-and-white portrait of a man with short wavy hair, wire-rimmed spectacles, and a dark high-collared coat with a white clerical collar, facing the camera against a white background.
Unknown photographer, Gregor Mendel, undated.

About this source

What it is

This black-and-white photograph shows Gregor Mendel, the Augustinian friar and scientist, by an unknown photographer during his lifetime.

Why it matters

This is the image most commonly used to represent Mendel in textbooks and teaching materials. It shows him in clerical dress, reflecting his life as a friar at the same time as he carried out his scientific experiments on inheritance.

Look closer

  • What details in his clothing tell you about his role in the church?
  • Why do you think this particular photograph became the standard image of Mendel?
  • What does a formal photograph like this not tell us about a person's daily life or work?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Gregor Mendel on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Scan of the first text page of Gregor Mendel's 'Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden', with the title, author name, presentation date note, and the opening section 'Einleitende Bemerkungen' in German black-letter-style print on aged paper.Book

Primary source

Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden

Gregor Mendel · 1866 (read 1865)

Black-and-white group photograph of ten monks in long dark robes posed together, with a caption below naming them, including Gregor Mendel, and the title 'Plate III. Gregor Johann Mendel among his Fellow-Monks'.Photograph

Primary source

Mendel with other monks

Unknown

Black-and-white photograph of a long, low wooden building with a corrugated metal roof and a row of small-paned windows, partly overgrown with shrubs and climbing plants. A brick base is visible at right. A printed caption at the bottom reads: Abb. 16 Mendels Bienenstock im Altbrünner Klostergarten.Photograph

Primary source

Mendel's Beehouse

Unknown · before 1909

Black handwritten cursive signature on white background, reading 'Gregor Mendel' with a smaller abbreviated mark ('Ohh' or similar) written beneath it.Document

Primary source

Signature of Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel

Black and white studio portrait of a man with short, wavy hair and thin round wire-rimmed glasses, wearing a dark clerical cassock buttoned to the neck with a white collar. A long chain with a cross pendant hangs on his chest. He faces left against a plain grey background.Photograph

Primary source

Gregor Mendel with Cross

Unknown

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