The non-profit organization Together, with the support of the Augustinian Abbey and the City of Brno, has announced a competition to design a statue to be constructed in honour of the scientist Gregor Johann Mendel. This statue may be exhibited next year during the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Mendel’s birth. Photo Credit: Freepik / Illustrative Photo.
Brno, Apr 23 (BD) – On April 21st, the non-profit organization Together (“Společně”), with the support of the Augustinian Abbey and the City of Brno, announced a competition to design a statue to be constructed in honour of the scientist Gregor Johann Mendel, whose 200th birthday will be celebrated next year.
“The city and Together have agreed to provide CZK 10 million for the creation of the statue, as well as space on Mendlovo náměstí where the statue will stand. We would like the sculpture to be completed by the summer of 2022, when we commemorate the 200th anniversary of Gregor Johann Mendel’s birth. However, the exact date will depend on the designers of the sculpture themselves”, said Petr Hladík (KDU-CSL), First Deputy Mayor of Brno.
The competition jury has nine full members and nine alternates. The City of Brno and the Augustinian Abbey are each nominating two members and two alternates, with the rest of the jury composed of independent experts. The deadline for submitting proposals is September 21st.
“There will be minimal restrictions in the parameters of the competition, no material or shape will be off limits. The aim is to portray the personality and work of a scientist who laid the foundations of modern genetics, who is known to the whole world,” said the chairman of the jury, Zdeněk Fránek.
Most people know Mendel primarily as a scientist, the father of genetics, and he is less known as a meteorologist, teacher, and beekeeper. The main topic of his publications was meteorology. Mendel was the first scholar in the world to scientifically describe a tornado, which swept over Brno in 1870. He became famous for his experiments with peas, demonstrating how individual traits are inherited from parents to progeny.
Mendel did most of his work behind the walls of the Augustinian monastery in Mendlovo náměstí, the square which now bears his name, where he was ordained as a priest and later as an abbot. The foundations of a greenhouse in which he carried out his pioneering experiments are still visible in the garden of the abbey, and an apiary used by Mendel has also been preserved.
However, the most valuable artefact is Mendel’s original manuscript, in which he described the laws of inheritance.
You can find more about Gregor Johann Mendel here.
