family genealogy, nationality, family name, surname

The article discusses research by the amateur genealogist Alois Schindler (1859-1930), the son of Gregor Johann Mendel?s younger sister. Schindler traced Mendel?s ancestry through nine generations. The article presents an English translation of Schindler?s main data, clarifies ambiguities, and corrects errors. In Mendel?s home region, German- and Czech-speaking peoples lived together for centuries and intermarried, as indicated by the analysis of the surnames of Mendel?s ancestors and the parish registers. By Mendel?s time, the mixing of Germanic and Slavic genomes through intermarriages meant that the differences between the two communities became limited largely to the language.