- George Schoener
George Schoener, or Georg Schöner (
March 21 ,1864 -October 2 ,1941 ) was a German-bornRoman Catholic priest who became known in theUnited States as the "Padre of the Roses" for his experiments inrose breeding , especially in the use of wild species. Only two of his creations survive today however; 'Arrilaga' and 'Schoener's Nutkana'.He was born into a peasant family of Steinach, Baden. He studied in Engelberg and Einsiedeln from 1883 to 1889. An aunt enabled him to emigrate to America, where he became a priest in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . Afflicted with illnesses, he ended up inBrooks, Oregon in 1911, where the rose growing activity in nearby Portland caught his interest. He searched the nearby hills for specimens of wild species such as "Rosa nutkana ".A fire in 1915 destroyed church and house, and in 1917 he moved to
Santa Barbara, California .In 1939 he took up a position at
Santa Clara University inSanta Clara, California , but died just two years later.The "Georg-Schöner-Schule" [ [http://www.georg-schoener-schule-steinach.de/ Index ] at www.georg-schoener-schule-steinach.de] in Steinach is named after him.
Notes
External links
* [http://www.rdrop.com/~paul/padre.html Online bio, with pictures]
* [http://www.rosenpfarrer.de/curr_vitae.html Another bio (in German)]
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