George Schoener
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Roman Catholic priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
who became known in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as the "Padre of the Roses" for his experiments in rose breeding, especially in the use of wild species. Only two of his creations survive today, however: 'Arrilaga' and 'Schoener's Nutkana'
Rosa 'Schoener's Nutkana'
Schoener's Nutkana is a rose variety named after Father Georg Schoener, a priest who became a notable rose breeder, who developed this rose in 1930 as a cross between Rosa nutkana and Rosa 'Paul Neyron'....
.
He was born into a peasant family of Steinach
Steinach, Baden-Württemberg
Steinach is a municipality in the district of Ortenau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
, Baden. He studied in Engelberg
Engelberg Abbey
Engelberg Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Engelberg, Canton of Obwalden, Switzerland. It was formerly in the Diocese of Constance, but now in the Diocese of Chur...
and Einsiedeln
Einsiedeln Abbey
Einsiedeln Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the town of Einsiedeln in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, the title being derived from the circumstances of its foundation, from which the name Einsiedeln is also said to have originated...
from 1883 to 1889. An aunt enabled him to emigrate to America, where he became a priest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. Afflicted with illnesses, he ended up in Brooks, Oregon
Brooks, Oregon
Brooks is an unincorporated community in Marion County, Oregon, United States. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Brooks as a census-designated place . The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same...
in 1911, where the rose growing activity in nearby Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
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
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
.
In 1939 he took up a position at Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
in Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
, but died just two years later.
The Georg-Schöner-Schule in Steinach is named after him.