Two of Gregor Mendel’s siblings survived to adulthood: his older sister Veronika and his younger sister Theresia. Mendel grew up with them in Heinzendorf, a farming village in Silesia that is now Hynčice in the Czech Republic.
The Mendel family farm had been in the family for generations, and both sisters were part of the close family network that shaped his early life. Theresia later made a particularly important sacrifice for her brother: she gave him her dowry to help finance his education at the University of Olomouc.
Mendel’s family circumstances were modest, and illness interrupted his schooling more than once. His financial difficulties eventually helped influence his decision to enter the Augustinian monastery in Brno, where religious life offered him a path to education and a stable livelihood.
The number can be confused with the total number of children in the family or with relatives who died young. The standard account identifies two siblings who lived into adulthood—Veronika and Theresia.