Bohumil Sekla (16 May 1901 in Bohuslavice – 7 August 1987 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

) was a Czechoslovak biologist. He specialised in

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

and was known as an expert in determining parenthood by the biological-hereditary method. Sekla studied at

Charles University in Prague Charles University ( cs, Univerzita Karlova, UK; la, Universitas Carolina; german: Karls-Universität), also known as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague ( la, Universitas Pragensis, links=no), is the oldest an ...

, first history, then psychology and finally biology. After his studies he worked at the university and became one of the founders of modern genetics in Czechoslovakia. During 1933-45 Sekla was the leader of Czechoslovakian eugenic society (''Československá eugenická společnost''). During the 1950s he needed to defend genetics against Lysenkoism. When this theory got discredited he got the chance to establish and lead modern research institutes (Department of Human and Medical Genetics of the Biological Institute in 1969 and Department of Medical Genetics of the Teaching Hospital in 1970). Due to political activity during

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...

Sekla was forced into retirement but he continued to work as physician-specialist until 1985.

External links

Detailed biography (in Czech)

Short biography (in Czech)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sekla, Bohumil 1901 births 1987 deaths Czechoslovak biologists Charles University alumni Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk People from Kyjov