Mr nobel11/3/2023 In 1888, Nobel’s brother Ludvig had died in France from a heart attack. What persuaded the “dynamite king” to devote his fortune to charity? Nobel never spoke publicly about the motivations behind the pledge, but many believe it was inspired by an earlier case of mistaken identity. The testament of Alfred Nobel is displayed at the Nobel Museum in the Old Town of Stockholm. ![]() READ MORE: 6 Things You May Not Know About the Nobel Prizes By the time he wrote his will, Nobel was hugely wealthy and owned nearly 100 factories that made explosives and munitions. In 1867, he had invented dynamite, which was widely used both in construction and in warfare. Among his 355 patents were designs for nitroglycerin detonators, blasting caps and a smokeless gunpowder called ballistite. Alfred, meanwhile, was famous for developing new types of explosives. Falnes later noted, his family name was “associated not with the arts of peace but with the arts of war.” Nobel’s father Immanuel was an engineer who had run armaments factories and built underwater mines for Russia during the Crimean War. While Nobel’s award fund would eventually become famous, there’s no denying that he was an unlikely source for a peace prize. The fifth award was designated for “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses.” Three were for the greatest discoveries or inventions in the fields of physics, chemistry and medicine, while a fourth was devoted to the author of the “most outstanding work” of literature. In fewer than 1,000 handwritten words, Nobel outlined a plan to devote the vast majority of his estate-worth around $265 million today-to a series of prizes for “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Nobel listed five awards in his will (a sixth, for economics, was added in 1968). The 62-year-old industrialist had previously mused about using some of his personal fortune to support the work of scientists and inventors, but the document he produced described a project far more ambitious than anyone could have imagined. On 10 December 1896, he died in Sanremo, Italy.On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament at Paris’ Swedish-Norwegian Club. He would spend summers at Bjorkborn and the manor house is now a museum. In 1894, he bought Bofors-Gullspang, a property that included Bjorkborn Manor, which became his last residence in Sweden. He travelled for much of his life, maintaining companies in Europe and America while lived in Paris, Hamburg and other places. ![]() Nobel was fluent in several languages, and wrote poetry and drama. He was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833, into a family of scientists. ![]() Nobel was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which his will charged with choosing the Nobel laureates in physics and in chemistry. It was five years before the first Nobel Prize could be awarded in 1901. His family initially opposed creating the Nobel Prize, and the prize awarders he named in the will also refused follow requests from Nobel. He ordered that the remaining estate should be used to endow “prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”. Nobel left relatives some money but most of it went into creating the awards in physics, chemistry, Physiology or medicine, literature, Economics, and Peace. On November 27, 1895, Nobel signed a will that laid out a plan and provided the money to finance the honours. Why are the Nobel Prizes named after him?Īfter seeing the obit - published by mistake when his brother died - he was inspired to create the Nobels and laid out bequests in his will to fund them.
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