October is that time of the year when the scientific, literary and
peace enthusiasts from across the globe zoom in their attention to the various
press centers in Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Karolinska Institutet and
Swedish Academy in Stockholm, Sweden and the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Oslo,
Norway. Here’s a brief account of some of the well-known facts about the
coveted Prize and the man behind it.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel
Alfred Bernhard Nobel had a humble childhood with his seven siblings in Stockholm with his parents Immanuel and Caroline Nobel. Poverty stricken, four of Immanuel’s children succumbed to death. An engineer by training, Immanuel moved to Russia and started his own business of machine tools and explosives for mines. The business prospered bestowing young Alfred with opportunities to get good formal education in world-class training centers. Unfortunately, the family had to return to Sweden due to unforeseen bankruptcy. Back in Stockholm, Alfred experimented with explosives in his father’s backyard. The black gunpowder which was popularly used those days had relatively unknown contents and unpredictable results. Though in 1847 Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero invented a more powerful liquid nitroglycerin, it wasn’t used as an explosive as the reaction couldn’t be controlled or contained. Alfred experimented extensively, risking many lives of his factory workers, finally designed the very first detonator and blasting cap to contain nitroglycerin explosion, which were later patented. Later, he found out that mixing porous siliceous earth kieslguhr with nitroglycerin makes the explosion containable thus leading to the discovery of the blockbuster explosive dynamite. This was put to use in numerous ways, for cutting canals, blasting tunnels, mining, quarrying, building roads and railroads. His business empire widened in no time and he amassed immeasurable assets. An ever enthusiastic researcher and consistent explorer, Alfred held 355 patents in explosives and the related tools in later years which include the infamous ballistite (predecessor of cordite) and gelignite.
Alfred Nobel’s lab in Krummel, Germany
where his extensive experiments on explosives had taken place once.
Though extremely successful in his business, he was known to be an
utterly depressed man in close circles. With no close family of his own, his
contemporaries remembered him to be dejected in personal life. It is assumed
that, on 12th April 1888, when his brother Ludvig Nobel died in
France, French newspaper Ideotie
Quotidienne mistook it as Alfred Nobel and published an obituary titled “Le marchand de la mort est mort” meaning
“The Merchant of death is dead”. Alfred, who was then 55 years old, is believed
to have had a serious reflection on his life reading his own obituary in which he
was portrayed as a ruthless facilitator of mass murders. He earnestly wanted to
change the way world would remember him posthumously. Eight years after this
life-changing incident he succumbed to a fatal cerebrovascular accident on 10th
December 1896 in Italy. At the time of his death, he held an expansive business
empire of more than ninety factories around the world and had assets worth
nearly $250m. It came as a total surprise to his extended family, friends and
colleagues that contrary to his previous will, he had allocated 94% of his
assets to a Trust to be formed by young engineers Rudolf Lilljequist and Ragnar
Sohlman. It was stated in his last will that the Trust is to recognize
outstanding efforts for the betterment of mankind through breakthrough findings
in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine. An ardent art-lover and poet himself, he
wanted to acknowledge great literary contributions “in the right direction” for
which a prize was allocated. His close association with pacific Bertha Von
Suttner is believed to be his drive for devoting a prize “to the
person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between
nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and
promotion of peace congresses." (Bertha Von Suttner won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1905 for her works against international armament.) After many legal
battles between relatives and business associates of Alfred, the Nobel
Foundation was formed by the Trust on 29th June 1900 and the Prizes were
awarded from 1901. The Nobel Foundation is now worth no less than three quarter
of a billion US dollars.
Excerpt from the will of Alfred Nobel
“The whole of my remaining
realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital,
invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the
interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those
who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to
mankind. The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall
be apportioned as follows: one part to the person who shall have made the most
important discovery or invention within the field of physics; one part to the
person who shall have made the most important chemical discovery or
improvement; one part to the person who shall have made the most important
discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one part to the person
who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in
an ideal direction; and one part to the person who shall have done the most or
the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of
standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses. The
prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of
Sciences; that for physiological or medical work by the Caroline Institute in
Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm, and that for
champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be elected by the
Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that in awarding the prizes no
consideration whatever shall be given to the nationality of the candidates, but
that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be a Scandinavian or
not.
As Executors of my
testamentary dispositions, I hereby appoint Mr Ragnar Sohlman, resident at
Bofors, Värmland, and Mr Rudolf Lilljequist, 31 Malmskillnadsgatan, Stockholm,
and at Bengtsfors near Uddevalla…..”
Paris, 27 November, 1895
Alfred Bernhard Nobel
The Prize
All the Prizes except that for peace are awarded by Sweden.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden awards the Nobel
Prizes in Physics and Chemistry. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is
awarded by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. The
Swedish Academy awards the Nobel Prize for Literature. Whereas, the Prize for
peace is awarded by a five-member committee nominated by Norwegian Parliament. The
Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was
established by Sweden’s Central Bank in 1969 when the Nobel Foundation gave a
generous donation to the bank on its 300th anniversary.
Even though, the last will of Alfred Nobel states to
recognize the works of the previous year, the Prizes are given many years later
only after the achievements are proven to have stood the tests of time. The
respective bodies send out 3000 applications to members of academies,
university professors, scientists, previous Nobel Laureates, members of
parliamentary assemblies and selected others for their nominations for these
Prizes for the coming year. The applications are received by January and
shortlisted to 300. The nominators are chosen in such a way
that as many countries and universities as possible are represented over time.
The scrutiny and selection processes are strictly confidential and the list of
nominees is kept in secrecy for a period of fifty years. Every year, the names
of winners of the Prizes are announced in the first week of October and the
annual Prize Award Ceremony is conducted on 10th December (the death
anniversary of Alfred Nobel) in Stockholm, Sweden. The Peace Prize Award
Ceremony is held in Oslo, Norway on the same day. The Prize includes eight
million Swedish Kronor ($960,000), a diploma customized for the recipient with
their picture and citation and a gold medal. A total of 889 eminent persons and
organizations from around the world have been honored since 1901.
The Medal
As the pioneers in their respective fields are being honored this week,
RGCB Blog will do an exclusive segment on this year’s Nobel Laureates in the
coming days. Stay tuned.
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