Solution

Gregor Johann Mendel (20$$^{th}$$ July 1822 - 6$$^{th}$$ January 1884) was a German speaking Moravian scientist and Augustinian friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the modern science of genetics. Though, farmers had known for centuries that cross breeding of animals and plants could favour certain desirable traits. Mendel's pea plant experiments conducted between 1856 and 1863 established many of the rules of heredity, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance. The profound significance of Mendel's work was not recognized until the turn of the 20$$^{th}$$ century with the independent rediscovery of these laws.
Thus, the correct answer is option C.