Alfred Bernhard Nobel, a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman, was born in 1833 in Stockholm. His grandfather was a scientist and his father was also educated at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. When Alfred was a child, his father, Emanuel Nobel, went bankrupt due to consecutive business failures, causing the family’s financial situation to collapse, so that only half of the eight children in the family managed to overcome childhood to adulthood.
Alfred Nobel’s father moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia and found success there as a manufacturer of machinery and explosives. In 1842, Alfred and his family joined his father in Saint Petersburg where his parents, now affluent, could afford to send him to private tutors. Alfred, who was very talented, excelled in chemistry and languages. Besides Swedish, he mastered several languages including English, French, German, and Russian, and even later wrote poetry in English. In 1851, at the age of eighteen, Alfred Nobel went to the United States for education and in 1857, he registered his first invention there, which was related to a gas meter.
In the late 1950s, Alfred Nobel’s father entrusted his struggling factory to his second son, Ludvig Nobel. He also managed to significantly improve the family’s business. Alfred Nobel and his parents returned to Sweden from Russia, and Nobel dedicated himself to the study of explosives, especially the safe production and use of nitroglycerin. Nobel met with the inventor of nitroglycerin, Ascanio Sobrero, in Paris. Sobrero strongly opposed the use of nitroglycerin because it was unpredictable and could explode due to heat or variable pressure. However, the power of nitroglycerin was much greater than that of gunpowder,
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which motivated Nobel to find a way to control nitroglycerin and use it as a commercial explosive material.
In 1863, he registered his first invention in Sweden, which was a detonator. However, in 1864, an incident occurred in the shed designated for nitroglycerin that led to the death of five people, including Alfred Nobel’s younger brother Emil. This incident prompted Nobel to found the company Nitroglycerin far away from the city. Nobel’s continuous efforts finally paid off, and in 1867, he invented dynamite, a substance that was easier and safer to work with than nitroglycerin, and soon became widely used in mines and transportation networks worldwide. Nobel later combined nitroglycerin with various materials until he found a more efficient nitrated explosive material. It was a transparent, gelatin-like explosive material stronger than dynamite. Blasting gelatin was patented in 1876. This explosive material was both more stable and easier to transport than previous compounds. Moreover, it could be easily placed in hollows such as holes used in drilling and mining. This technology was accepted as the standard technology for mining extraction in the “Age of Engineering” and brought great financial success to Nobel. One branch of these researches led to the invention of a substance by Nobel, which became a precursor to many smokeless powder explosives and is still used as rocket propellant. Due to his professional engagements, Nobel traveled extensively. During the 1870s and 1880s, he founded companies across Europe and America. Nobel had a reclusive and introverted personality, with most of his focus on his work and inventions.
He never married, had no children, but apparently had several loves in his life. Nobel’s religious views were Lutheran, but according to another account, he was an agnostic in his youth, later becoming an atheist; although he always generously supported the church. Nobel’s brothers, Ludvig and Robert, founded the oil company Branobel and became very wealthy. Nobel also amassed a considerable fortune through his investment in this company and by developing new oil regions. In 1884, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and in 1893, he received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University.
Throughout his life, Nobel registered more than 350 inventions. Nobel’s scientific life is defined by his tireless effort for innovation and commitment to improving the world.
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through his inventions. However, until his death, despite his seemingly peace-loving personality, Nobel founded more than 90 armaments factories. Despite much debate over the use of his inventions in wars, Nobel continued to contribute to the advancement of science as a means to improve human life. However, ultimately, the arms manufacturing became a danger to Alfred Nobel himself.
In 1891, Alfred Nobel was accused of treason by the French government for selling explosives to Italy, which led him to leave Paris. He spent his final years in Italy, and there he passed away in 1896. After his death, his body was transferred to Sweden, cremated, and his ashes were interred in a cemetery in Stockholm. Today, streets and squares all around the world are named after Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prize. In 1991, on the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Nobel Committee, a memorial dedicated to Alfred Nobel was built in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on the same street where his family lived in the 1940s and 1950s.
As for the origin of the Nobel Prize; there is a famous story about how the idea of this prize came about to Alfred Nobel, but it has not been proven. The story goes that Ludvig Nobel, Alfred’s older brother, passed away in 1888, but many journalists mistakenly believed that Alfred Nobel had died, and this news was reported in the newspapers. When Nobel saw his own obituary in the newspaper, he was shocked, not because he was still alive but because of the text that accompanied his obituary.
“The merchant of death is dead. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”
Some believe that when a person looks in the mirror, they see what they desire. When Alfred Nobel looked in the mirror, he saw an honest, hardworking, thoughtful, scientist, entrepreneur, self-made man, and even a peace-loving person who had managed to rise from rags to riches through his admirable perseverance. However, this was not the image that others had of him. When Nobel, who was advanced in age, read this obituary, he was horrified; therefore, he decided to devote all his wealth to changing people’s perception of himself. In 1895, just one year before his death, he drafted his final will, bequeathing 94% of his fortune to establish the Nobel Prize. In his will, it is stated that each year, from the profits of the companies and assets of Alfred Nobel, prizes and rewards should be awarded to individuals who have contributed to.
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the advancement of humanity and the betterment of the world in five fields. “One prize for the person who has made the most important discovery or invention in the field of physics. One prize for the person who has made the most important discovery or chemical invention. One prize for the person who has made the most important discovery in the field of physiology or medicine. One prize for someone who has created the most outstanding literary work with an idealistic tendency. One prize for the person who has done the most or best work for fraternity among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the formation and spread of peace congresses.
” Alfred Nobel also introduced the institutions responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize: “The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the Physics and Chemistry prizes, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm for the Medicine or Physiology prize, the Swedish Academy in Stockholm for the Literature prize, and a committee of five members selected by the Norwegian Storting, or the Norwegian Parliament, for the Peace Prize.”
The Nobel Foundation was established as a private organization in 1900, four years after Alfred Nobel’s death. The duty of this foundation is to manage financial matters and oversee the Nobel prizes. According to Nobel’s will, the primary duty of this foundation is the management of the Nobel wealth. Another important task of the Nobel Foundation is supervising the management of the prizes. The foundation has no involvement in the selection process of Nobel Prize winners. In many aspects, the Nobel Foundation resembles an investment company, as it invests Nobel’s money to create a solid financial base for prizes and administrative activities. After many ups and downs, the Nobel Foundation reached an agreement on guidelines for awarding prizes and officially began its work in 1901, and the Nobel Prize was awarded to the winners from the same year. From 1901 to 2023, in memory of Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize was awarded 621 times to 965 individuals and 27 organizations. Since 1946, the Nobel Foundation has been exempt from all taxes in Sweden, and since 1953, it has been exempt from investment taxes in the United States. Since the 1980s, the foundation’s investments have become more profitable, and today the total assets of this foundation amount to over 500 million dollars, approximately twice the value of Alfred Nobel’s assets at the time of the foundation’s establishment, considering inflation rates.
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Currently, 50% of the foundation’s assets are invested in shares, 20% in bonds, and 30% in other sectors such as real estate. According to the articles of association, the Nobel Committee consists of a five member board of Swedish or Norwegian nationals based in Stockholm. Previously, the chairman of the board was appointed by the King of Sweden, and the other four members were appointed by the responsible institutions. The executive director and deputy executives are chosen from among the board members by the king and two vice-chairpersons are selected by the responsible institutions. However, since 1995, all board members have been appointed by the responsible institutions, and the executive director and deputy are determined by the board members themselves. Every Nobel Prize winner receives a green-gold medal with a 24-carat gold covering depicting the image of Alfred Nobel on it, a diploma, and a monetary award that was over one million dollars in 2023. A maximum of three winners and two different works can be selected for each prize.
The prizes can only be awarded to individuals except for the Peace Prize, which can be awarded to organizations with more than three members. Nobel Prizes are not awarded posthumously, but if an individual is awarded a prize and they pass away before receiving it, the prize is still given to them. The selection process for Nobel Prize winners involves the Nobel Committee sending nomination forms to approximately 3000 distinguished academics working in the relevant field each year. In addition, for the Peace Prize, input is sought from some governments, previous winners of the Peace Prize, and current or former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The Nobel Committee then presents around 300 potential winners from these forms and additional letters. The nominees are not publicly disclosed, and they are not informed that they are being considered for the prize. The Nobel Committee then prepares a report reflecting the recommendations of experts in the relevant fields. This report, along with the list of initial nominees, is presented to the prize-awarding institutions. The institutions convene to choose the winner or winners of each category by a majority vote. Their decision, which is not subject to appeal, is announced immediately after the vote. The winners are announced in the first half of October by the prize awarding institutions, and the award ceremony is held on December 10th each year, coinciding with the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
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In the field of literature, the prize does not necessarily belong to a specific work of an author, and usually the author receives the prize for their body of work. Likewise, in the peace category, an individual may receive the prize for their continuous efforts throughout their life or a significant work in the field of peace. In the scientific field, the prize is usually awarded after the person’s achievement has been widely recognized. It is possible for a person to receive the prize years after their discovery, once their theoretical results have stood the test of time. Some scientists may not live long enough to see their work recognized formally, and if the impact of their work is identified after their death, they may miss out on the prize.
The ceremonies for the Nobel prizes are held in Stockholm, Sweden except for the ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is held in Oslo, Norway. In Stockholm, the winners of the Nobel Prize receive the award from the hands of the King of Sweden. In Oslo, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee presents the prize to the winner in the presence of the King and the Norwegian royal family. Usually, there is a formal banquet accompanying the ceremony, where the Nobel laureates deliver a speech.