Johann Dzierzon, or Jan Dzierżon [ˈjan ˈd͡ʑɛrʐɔn] or Dzierżoń [ˈd͡ʑɛrʐɔɲ], also John Dzierzon (16 January 1811 – 26 October 1906), was a Polish apiarist who discovered the phenomenon of parthenogenesis in bees. Dzierzon came from a Polish family in Silesia. Trained in theology, he combined his theoretical and practical work in apiculture with his duties as a Roman Catholic priest, before being compulsorily retired by the Church and eventually excommunicated over the question of papal infallibility. In 1905, he was reconciled with the Catholic Church.