Christian Carl André (20 March 1763 – 19 July 1831) was a leading 19th century German natural scientist, publisher, economist and educator. He was among the pioneers in the study of

heredity Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic infor ...

whose vision paved the way for the research of

Gregor Mendel Gregor Johann Mendel Order of Saint Augustine, OSA (; ; ; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinians, Augustinian friar and abbot of St Thomas's Abbey, Brno, St. Thom ...

, the founder of modern

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 Augustinians, Augustinian ...

Biographical notes

Christian Carl André was born on 20 March 1763 in the German town of

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen () is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the Hildburghausen district. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra River. The town centre ...

.''Christian Carl André''
, Moravian Museum He studied at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is cou ...

, and worked as a teacher in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a Town#Germany, town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia, and bordering northeastern Hesse, Hessian re ...

and at the

Schnepfenthal Salzmann School The Schnepfenthal Institution (Salzmannschule Schnepfenthal) is a boarding school in the district of Gotha, Germany, founded in 1784. In addition to compulsory education in English and German, students in 6th grade choose from Arabic, Chinese an ...

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

. Then from 1798 to 1820 he lived in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, then within the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

empire, where he headed the

Evangelical Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

school; published the newspaper ''Patriotisches Tagebuch (Patriotic Notebook)''; and edited a weekly journal ''Oekonomische Neuigkeiten und Verhandlungen (Economical News and Essays)''.Vítězslav Orel (2009)
''The “Useful Questions of Heredity” before Mendel''
Journal of Heredity, Volume 100 Issue 4, Pp. 421-423 During this period he was a leading figure in the

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

n Agricultural Society, promoting applied scientific research particularly in the field of sheep-breeding. He then moved to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, where he published the ''Landwirtschaftliche Zeitschrift (Agricultural Journal)'' and acted as an adviser to the ruler of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. He died on 19 July 1831.

Scientific significance

In his 1795 textbook on

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

, André showed his understanding of how the characteristics of both parents contribute to those of a new individual, as against the older concept of

preformation In the history of biology, preformationism (or preformism) is a formerly popular theory that organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves. Instead of assembly from parts, preformationists believed that the form of living things exis ...

. In 1815 he drew up a research programme for the Moravian Agricultural Society, stressing the need for basic and applied research in natural science. In many journal articles he disseminated the progress being made, within this Society and in England, on scientific

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...

and

plant breeding Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It is used to improve the quality of plant products for use by humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce crop varie ...

. He was instrumental in setting up a

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

-breeding section within the Society - the first animal-breeding association in continental Europe - which investigated methods of artificial selection and the transmission of traits of

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

from parents to offspring, i.e. heredity. André addressed in detail the problem of how and in what circumstances

inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely genetic distance, related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genet ...

was liable to lead to weakening of the organism. In 1819 he demonstrated a recently designed

micrometer Micrometer can mean: * Micrometer (device), used for accurate measurements by means of a calibrated screw * Micrometre The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights ...

for evaluating wool quality, recognised as marking "the beginning of a new epoch of scientific breeding defined with mathematical precision" His son Rudolf (1792–1827) also studied the theory and practice of sheep-breeding. The environment of scientific enquiry he helped to foster in the Habsburg empire soon become famous in Europe, and nurtured further work in animal and plant breeding, precursor to the groundbreaking work of Gregor Mendel.Vítězslav Orel (1996)
''Heredity before Mendel''
excerpt from ''Gregor Mendel—the First Geneticist'', Oxford University PressVítězslav Orel (1996)
''Mendel and the Agricultural Society of Brno''
excerpt from ''Gregor Mendel—the First Geneticist'', Oxford University Press

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andre, Christian Carl Naturalists from the Austrian Empire 1763 births 1831 deaths 18th-century German naturalists 19th-century Austrian biologists 19th-century German naturalists