Gregor Mendel became abbot of his monastery in 1868. He was elected head of St. Thomas’s Abbey in Brno after the death of his predecessor, Cyril Napp, and assumed a demanding administrative role at the institution where he had lived and worked for decades.
The appointment came shortly after Mendel’s landmark pea research had been presented in 1865 and published in 1866. As abbot, he had to manage the monastery’s finances, educational interests, property, and relations with civil authorities. A major dispute over taxation imposed by the Austrian government consumed much of his time and energy.
Some accounts distinguish between his succession or election in 1867–1868 and his formal elevation as abbot in 1868. For a year-based quiz question asking when he became abbot, 1868 is the standard answer. His new responsibilities also help explain why he largely stopped his experimental breeding work after his scientific breakthrough.