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The home in which Johann Mendel was born in Hynčice. At the time, this village was in the Austrian Empire; today, it is part of the Czech Republic.

twelve miles (twenty kilometers) from Hynčice. Again, Johann stood out from the other students. After a year in Lipnik, he was recommended for the Imperial Royal Gymnasium in Opava (then called Troppau), a high school about thirty-one miles (fifty kilometers) to the north of Hynčice. Anton Mendel needed his son to work on the farm, but he agreed to let him be educated. Anton was not rich and could not afford the full fees for the high school, so Johann was entered on half rations. This meant he would have much smaller meals than the other students. But whenever the farmer came to Opava, he brought Johann a supply of fresh food from the farm. In this way, Johann managed to work through the first four “grammatical” classes at Opava. Johann’s school work was excellent. He was always graded first class with distinction and he qualified for the “humanities” classes of the upper school.

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