The Most Famous
BIOLOGISTS from Czechia
This page contains a list of the greatest Czech Biologists. The pantheon dataset contains 841 Biologists, 12 of which were born in Czechia. This makes Czechia the birth place of the 13th most number of Biologists behind Poland and Denmark.
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Czech Biologists of all time. This list of famous Czech Biologists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Czech Biologists.
1. Gregor Mendel (1822 - 1884)
With an HPI of 83.47, Gregor Mendel is the most famous Czech Biologist. His biography has been translated into 107 different languages on wikipedia.
Gregor Johann Mendel OSA (; Czech: Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was an Austrian-Czech biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinian friar and abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno (Brünn), Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel was born in a German-speaking family in the Silesian part of the Austrian Empire (today's Czech Republic) and gained posthumous recognition as the founder of the modern science of genetics. Though farmers had known for millennia that crossbreeding of animals and plants could favor certain desirable traits, Mendel's pea plant experiments conducted between 1856 and 1863 established many of the rules of heredity, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance. Mendel worked with seven characteristics of pea plants: plant height, pod shape and color, seed shape and color, and flower position and color. Taking seed color as an example, Mendel showed that when a true-breeding yellow pea and a true-breeding green pea were cross-bred their offspring always produced yellow seeds. However, in the next generation, the green peas reappeared at a ratio of 1 green to 3 yellow. To explain this phenomenon, Mendel coined the terms "recessive" and "dominant" in reference to certain traits. In the preceding example, the green trait, which seems to have vanished in the first filial generation, is recessive and the yellow is dominant. He published his work in 1866, demonstrating the actions of invisible "factors"—now called genes—in predictably determining the traits of an organism. The profound significance of Mendel's work was not recognized until the turn of the 20th century (more than three decades later) with the rediscovery of his laws. Erich von Tschermak, Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns independently verified several of Mendel's experimental findings in 1900, ushering in the modern age of genetics.
2. Jan Evangelista Purkyně (1787 - 1869)
With an HPI of 66.15, Jan Evangelista Purkyně is the 2nd most famous Czech Biologist. His biography has been translated into 39 different languages.
Jan Evangelista Purkyně (Czech: [ˈjan ˈɛvaŋɡɛˌlɪsta ˈpurkɪɲɛ] ; also written Johann Evangelist Purkinje) (17 or 18 December 1787 – 28 July 1869) was a Czech anatomist and physiologist. In 1839, he coined the term "protoplasma" for the fluid substance of a cell. He was one of the best known scientists of his time. Such was his fame that when people from outside Europe wrote letters to him, all that they needed to put as the address was "Purkyně, Europe".
3. Rudolf Weigl (1883 - 1957)
With an HPI of 60.55, Rudolf Weigl is the 3rd most famous Czech Biologist. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.
Rudolf Stefan Jan Weigl (2 September 1883 – 11 August 1957) was a Polish biologist, physician and inventor, known for creating the first effective vaccine against epidemic typhus. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine each year between 1930 and 1934, and from 1936 to 1939.Weigl worked during the Holocaust to save the lives of countless Jews by developing the vaccine for typhus and providing shelter to protect those suffering under the Nazi Germans in occupied Poland. For his contributions, he was named a Righteous Among the Nations in 2003.
4. Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (1794 - 1865)
With an HPI of 51.39, Heinrich Wilhelm Schott is the 4th most famous Czech Biologist. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott (7 January 1794 – 5 March 1865) was an Austrian botanist. He is known for his extensive work on aroids (Araceae).
5. Jan Svatopluk Presl (1791 - 1849)
With an HPI of 50.51, Jan Svatopluk Presl is the 5th most famous Czech Biologist. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Jan Svatopluk Presl (4 September 1791 – 6 April 1849) was a Czech natural scientist. He was the brother of botanist Carl Borivoj Presl (1794–1852). The Czech Botanical Society commemorated the two brothers by naming its principal publication Preslia (founded in 1914). He is the author of Czech scientific terminology of various branches of science, including the Czech chemical nomenclature. He was the co-author of an important Czech taxonomic work, O Přirozenosti Rostlin. The brothers co-edited the exsiccata series Vegetabilia cryptogamica Boëmiae collecta a Joanne et Carolo Presl.
6. Georg Joseph Kamel (1661 - 1706)
With an HPI of 50.41, Georg Joseph Kamel is the 6th most famous Czech Biologist. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Georg Joseph Kamel (German: [ˈkaːml̩]; Latin: Georgius Josephus Camellus; Czech: Jiří Josef Kamel; Spanish: Jorge Camel; 12 April 1661 – 2 May 1706) was a Jesuit missionary, pharmacist and naturalist known for producing the first comprehensive accounts of Philippine flora and fauna and for introducing Philippine nature to the European learned world. A number of Kamel's treatises were published in the Philosophical Transactions, while his descriptions of Philippine flora appeared as an appendix to the third volume of John Ray's Historia Plantarum.
7. Carl Borivoj Presl (1794 - 1852)
With an HPI of 50.29, Carl Borivoj Presl is the 7th most famous Czech Biologist. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.
Carl Borivoj Presl (Czech: Karel Bořivoj Presl; 17 February 1794 – 2 October 1852) was a Czech botanist.
8. Kaspar Maria von Sternberg (1761 - 1838)
With an HPI of 50.21, Kaspar Maria von Sternberg is the 8th most famous Czech Biologist. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Count Kaspar Maria von Sternberg (also: Caspar Maria, Count Sternberg, German: Kaspar Maria Graf Sternberg, Czech: hrabě Kašpar Maria Šternberk; 1761, Prague – 1838, Březina Castle) was a Bohemian theologian, mineralogist, geognost, entomologist and botanist. He is known as the "Father of Paleobotany".. His parents were Count Johann Nepomuk von Sternberg and Countess Anna Josefa Kolowrat-Krakowsky. He established the Bohemian National Museum in Prague, where his collection of minerals, fossils and plant specimens formed the core collection, and he is deemed to be the founder of modern paleobotany. As of 1820 he was on friendly terms with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Originally a student of theology, he attended the Collegium anglicum in Rome, from where he obtained a lower ordination. Inspired by the newly founded Regensburg Botanical Society (1790), he became an avid naturalist, subsequently becoming a prominent member of the society, making contributions to its Botanisches Taschenbuch and also establishing a botanical garden in Regensburg. In 1805, during an extended stay in Paris, he met with Alexander von Humboldt and came under the influence of a number of French paleontologists and botanists. Afterwards, he relocated to an estate in Radnice, Bohemia. Here, he created a botanical garden, and conducted important paleobotanical research at recently opened coal mines located in the surrounding areas. The botanical genus Sternbergia is named in his honor.
9. Josephine Kablick (1787 - 1863)
With an HPI of 49.63, Josephine Kablick is the 9th most famous Czech Biologist. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Josephine Ettel Kabli[c]k, also given as Josefina Kablíková (9 March 1787 – 21 July 1863), was a pioneering Czech botanist and paleontologist. She studied under the best botanists of her time. She collected plant and fossil samples for institutions throughout Europe. Several fossil animals and plants described from her collections. The plant species Petasites kablikianus and the fossil organism Amphisauropus kablikae are named in her honor.
10. Friedrich Reinitzer (1857 - 1927)
With an HPI of 48.11, Friedrich Reinitzer is the 10th most famous Czech Biologist. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Friedrich Richard Reinitzer (25 February 1857 in Prague – 16 February 1927 in Graz) was an Austrian botanist and chemist. In late 1880s, experimenting with cholesteryl benzoate, he discovered properties of liquid crystals (named later by Otto Lehmann). Reinitzer was born into a German Bohemian family in Prague. He studied chemistry at the German technical university in Prague; in 1883 he was habilitated there as a private docent. From 1888-1901 he was a professor at Karl-Ferdinands-Universität, then professor at technical university in Graz. During 1909 - 1910 he served as the rector of the university. While at Karl-Ferdinands-Universität in 1888 he discovered a strange behaviour of what would later be called liquid crystals. For the explanation of their behaviour he collaborated with the physicist Otto Lehmann from Aachen. The discovery received plenty of attention at the time but no practical uses were apparent and the interest dropped soon.
Pantheon has 12 people classified as biologists born between 1661 and 1883. Of these 12, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased biologists include Gregor Mendel, Jan Evangelista Purkyně, and Rudolf Weigl. As of April 2022, 1 new biologists have been added to Pantheon including Friedrich Reinitzer.
Deceased Biologists
Go to all Rankings
Gregor Mendel
1822 - 1884
HPI: 83.47
Jan Evangelista Purkyně
1787 - 1869
HPI: 66.15
Rudolf Weigl
1883 - 1957
HPI: 60.55
Heinrich Wilhelm Schott
1794 - 1865
HPI: 51.39
Jan Svatopluk Presl
1791 - 1849
HPI: 50.51
Georg Joseph Kamel
1661 - 1706
HPI: 50.41
Carl Borivoj Presl
1794 - 1852
HPI: 50.29
Kaspar Maria von Sternberg
1761 - 1838
HPI: 50.21
Josephine Kablick
1787 - 1863
HPI: 49.63
Friedrich Reinitzer
1857 - 1927
HPI: 48.11
Ferdinand Albin Pax
1858 - 1942
HPI: 47.82
Karel Domin
1882 - 1953
HPI: 46.45
Newly Added Biologists (2022)
Go to all RankingsWhich Biologists were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 11 most globally memorable Biologists since 1700.
