Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( , ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a
Swedish chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe t ...
, engineer, inventor, businessman, and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
. He is best known for having bequeathed his fortune to establish the
Nobel Prize, though he also made several important contributions to science, holding 355
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s in his lifetime. Nobel's most famous invention was
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and patented in 1867. It rapidly ...
, a safer and easier means of harnessing the explosive power of
nitroglycerin; it was patented in 1867.
Nobel displayed an early aptitude for science and learning, particularly in chemistry and languages; he became fluent in six languages and filed his first patent at age 24. He embarked on many business ventures
with his family, most notably owning
Bofors
AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms concern BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years.
History
Located ...
, an iron and steel producer that he developed into a major manufacturer of cannons and other armaments.
Nobel was later inspired to donate his fortune to the
Nobel Prize institution, which would annually recognize those who "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
The synthetic element
nobelium
Nobelium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol No and atomic number 102. It is named in honor of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and benefactor of science. A radioactive metal, it is the tenth transuranic element and is the pen ...
was named after him,
and his name and legacy also survives in companies such as
Dynamit Nobel and
AkzoNobel, which descend from mergers with companies he founded.
Nobel was elected a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which, pursuant to his will, would be responsible for choosing the
Nobel laureates in
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which re ...
and in
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, propertie ...
.
Personal life
Early life and education
Alfred Nobel was born in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropol ...
,
United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...
on 21 October 1833. He was the third son of
Immanuel Nobel (1801–1872), an inventor and engineer, and
Karolina Andriette Nobel (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...
Ahlsell 1805–1889).
The couple married in 1827 and had eight children. The family was impoverished and only Alfred and his three brothers survived beyond childhood.
[''Encyclopedia of Modern Europe: Europe 1789–1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire'', "Alfred Nobel", 2006 Thomson Gale.] Through his father, Alfred Nobel was a descendant of the Swedish scientist
Olaus Rudbeck
Olaus Rudbeck (also known as Olof Rudbeck the Elder, to distinguish him from his son, and occasionally with the surname Latinized as ''Olaus Rudbeckius'') (13 September 1630 – 12 December 1702) was a Swedish scientist and writer, professor ...
(1630–1702), and in his turn, the boy was interested in engineering, particularly explosives, learning the basic principles from his father at a young age. Alfred Nobel's interest in technology was inherited from his father, an alumnus of
Royal Institute of Technology
The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and techno ...
in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropol ...
.

Following various business failures, Nobel's father moved to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Russia and grew successful there as a manufacturer of machine tools and explosives. He invented the veneer lathe (which made possible the production of modern plywood) and started work on the
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
.
In 1842, the family joined him in the city. Now prosperous, his parents were able to send Nobel to private tutors and the boy excelled in his studies, particularly in chemistry and languages, achieving fluency in English,
French,
German and
Russian. For 18 months, from 1841 to 1842, Nobel went to the only school he ever attended as a child, in Stockholm.
Nobel gained proficiency in Swedish, French, Russian, English, German, and Italian. He also developed sufficient literary skill to write
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...
in
English. His ''
Nemesis
In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view.
Etymology
The n ...
'' is a prose tragedy in four acts about the Italian noblewoman
Beatrice Cenci. It was printed while he was dying, but the entire stock was destroyed immediately after his death except for three copies, being regarded as scandalous and
blasphemous. It was published in Sweden in 2003 and has been translated into
Slovenian,
French, Italian, and Spanish.
Religion
Nobel was
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
and regularly attended the
Church of Sweden Abroad during his Paris years, led by pastor
Nathan Söderblom who received the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1930.
He became an
agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...
in youth and was an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
later in life, though still donated generously to the Church.
Health and relationships
Nobel travelled for much of his business life, maintaining companies in Europe and America while keeping a home in Paris from 1873 to 1891.
He remained a solitary character, given to periods of
depression. He remained unmarried,
although his biographers note that he had at least three loves, the first in Russia with a girl named Alexandra who rejected his proposal. In 1876, Austro-Bohemian Countess
Bertha Kinsky became his secretary, but she left him after a brief stay to marry her previous lover Baron Arthur Gundaccar von Suttner. Her contact with Nobel was brief, yet she corresponded with him until his death in 1896, and probably influenced his decision to include a peace prize in his will. She was awarded the 1905 Nobel Peace prize "for her sincere peace activities". Nobel's longest-lasting relationship was with Sofija Hess from
Celje whom he met in 1876.
The liaison lasted for 18 years.
Residences
In the years of 1865 to 1873, Alfred Nobel had his home in
Krümmel,
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, he afterward moved to a house in the Avenue Malakoff in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
that same year.

In 1894, when he acquired Bofors-Gullspång, the
Björkborn Manor was included, he stayed at his manor house in Sweden during the summers.
The manor house became his very last residence in Sweden and has after his death functioned as a museum.
Alfred Nobel died on 10 December 1896, in
Sanremo
Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivi ...
, Italy, at his very last residence,
Villa Nobel, overlooking the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
.
Scientific career
As a young man, Nobel studied with chemist
Nikolai Zinin; then, in 1850, went to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
to further the work. There he met
Ascanio Sobrero, who had invented
nitroglycerin three years before. Sobrero strongly opposed the use of nitroglycerin because it was unpredictable, exploding when subjected to variable heat or pressure. But Nobel became interested in finding a way to control and use nitroglycerin as a commercially usable explosive; it had much more power than
gunpowder. In 1851 at age 18, he went to the United States for one year to study, working for a short period under Swedish-American inventor
John Ericsson, who designed the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
ironclad,
USS ''Monitor''. Nobel filed his first patent, an English patent for a
gas meter
A gas meter is a specialized flow meter, used to measure the volume of fuel gases such as natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. Gas meters are used at residential, commercial, and industrial buildings that consume fuel gas supplied by a ga ...
, in 1857, while his first Swedish patent, which he received in 1863, was on "ways to prepare gunpowder".

The family factory produced
armaments for the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
(1853–1856), but had difficulty switching back to regular domestic production when the fighting ended and they filed for
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debto ...
. In 1859, Nobel's father left his factory in the care of the second son,
Ludvig Nobel
Ludvig Immanuel Nobel ( ; russian: Лю́двиг Эммануи́лович Нобе́ль, Ljúdvig Emmanuílovich Nobél’; sv, Ludvig Emmanuel Nobel ; 27 July 1831 – 12 April 1888) was a Swedish-Russian engineer, a noted businessman and a ...
(1831–1888), who greatly improved the business. Nobel and his parents returned to Sweden from Russia and Nobel devoted himself to the study of
explosives
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ...
, and especially to the safe manufacture and use of nitroglycerin. Nobel invented a
detonator
A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common.
The commercial use of explosives uses electr ...
in 1863, and in 1865 designed the
blasting cap
A detonator, frequently a blasting cap, is a device used to trigger an explosive device. Detonators can be chemically, mechanically, or electrically initiated, the last two being the most common.
The commercial use of explosives uses electr ...
.
On 3 September 1864, a shed used for preparation of nitroglycerin exploded at the factory in
Heleneborg, Stockholm, Sweden, killing five people, including Nobel's younger brother
Emil.
Fazed by the accident, Nobel founded the company Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget AB in
Vinterviken so that he could continue to work in a more isolated area.
Nobel invented
dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and patented in 1867. It rapidly ...
in 1867, a substance easier and safer to handle than the more unstable
nitroglycerin. Dynamite was patented in the US and the UK and was used extensively in
mining and the building of transport networks internationally. In 1875, Nobel invented
gelignite, more stable and powerful than dynamite, and in 1887, patented
ballistite, a predecessor of
cordite.
Nobel was elected a member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1884, the same institution that would later select
laureates for two of the Nobel prizes, and he received an
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
from
Uppsala University
Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation.
The university rose to significance duri ...
in 1893.
Nobel's brothers Ludvig and Robert founded the oil company
Branobel and became hugely rich in their own right. Nobel invested in these and amassed great wealth through the development of these new oil regions. During his life, Nobel was issued 355
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
s internationally, and by his death, his business had established more than 90 armaments factories, despite his apparently
pacifist character.
Inventions
Nobel found that when
nitroglycerin was incorporated in an absorbent inert substance like ''kieselguhr'' (
diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth (), diatomite (), or kieselgur/kieselguhr is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that can be crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from more than 3 μm to ...
) it became safer and more convenient to handle, and this mixture he patented in 1867 as "dynamite".
Nobel demonstrated his explosive for the first time that year, at a quarry in
Redhill,
Surrey, England. In order to help reestablish his name and improve the image of his business from the earlier controversies associated with dangerous explosives, Nobel had also considered naming the highly powerful substance "Nobel's Safety Powder", but settled with Dynamite instead, referring to the
Greek word for "power" ().
Nobel later combined nitroglycerin with various nitrocellulose compounds, similar to
collodion
Collodion is a flammable, syrupy solution of nitrocellulose in ether and alcohol. There are two basic types: flexible and non-flexible. The flexible type is often used as a surgical dressing or to hold dressings in place. When painted on the skin, ...
, but settled on a more efficient recipe combining another nitrate explosive, and obtained a transparent, jelly-like substance, which was a more powerful explosive than dynamite.
Gelignite, or blasting gelatine, as it was named, was patented in 1876; and was followed by a host of similar combinations, modified by the addition of potassium nitrate and various other substances.
Gelignite was more stable, transportable and conveniently formed to fit into bored holes, like those used in drilling and mining, than the previously used compounds. It was adopted as the standard technology for mining in the "Age of Engineering", bringing Nobel a great amount of financial success, though at a cost to his health. An offshoot of this research resulted in Nobel's invention of
ballistite, the precursor of many modern smokeless powder explosives and still used as a rocket propellant.
Nobel Prize
There is a well known story about the origin of the Nobel Prize, which seems to be an urban legend. In 1888, the death of his brother Ludvig supposedly caused several newspapers to publish
obituaries of Alfred in error. One French newspaper condemned him for his invention of military explosives—in many versions of the story, dynamite is quoted,
although this was mainly used for civilian applications—and this is said to have brought about his decision to leave a better legacy after his death. The obituary stated, ' ("The merchant of death is dead"), and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Nobel read the obituary and was appalled at the idea that he would be remembered in this way. His decision to posthumously donate the majority of his wealth to found the
Nobel Prize has been credited to him wanting to leave behind a better legacy.
However, there appears to be no evidence that the obituary in question actually existed, suggesting that the whole story is false.
On 27 November 1895, at the
Swedish-
Norwegian Club in Paris, Nobel signed his last will and testament and set aside the bulk of his estate to establish the
Nobel Prizes, to be awarded annually without distinction of nationality.
After taxes and bequests to individuals, Nobel's will allocated 94% of his total assets, 31,225,000
Swedish kronor, to establish the five Nobel Prizes. This converted to £1,687,837 (GBP) at the time.
In 2012, the capital was worth around SEK 3.1 billion (US$472 million, EUR 337 million), which is almost twice the amount of the initial capital, taking inflation into account.
The first three of these prizes are awarded for eminence
in physical science,
in chemistry and
in medical science or physiology; the fourth is
for literary work "in an ideal direction" and
the fifth prize is to be given to the person or society that renders the greatest service to the cause of international
fraternity, in the suppression or reduction of standing armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of peace congresses.
The formulation for the literary prize being given for a work "in an ideal direction" (' in Swedish), is cryptic and has caused much confusion. For many years, the Swedish Academy interpreted "ideal" as "idealistic" (') and used it as a reason not to give the prize to important but less romantic authors, such as
Henrik Ibsen and
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
. This interpretation has since been revised, and the prize has been awarded to, for example,
Dario Fo and
José Saramago, who do not belong to the camp of literary idealism.
There was room for interpretation by the bodies he had named for deciding on the physical sciences and chemistry prizes, given that he had not consulted them before making the will. In his one-page testament, he stipulated that the money go to discoveries or inventions in the physical sciences and to discoveries or improvements in chemistry. He had opened the door to technological awards, but had not left instructions on how to deal with the distinction between science and technology. Since the deciding bodies he had chosen were more concerned with the former, the prizes went to scientists more often than engineers, technicians or other inventors.
Sweden's central bank
Sveriges Riksbank celebrated its 300th anniversary in 1968 by donating a large sum of money to the Nobel Foundation to be used to set up a sixth prize in the field of economics in honour of Alfred Nobel. In 2001, Alfred Nobel's great-great-nephew, Peter Nobel (born 1931), asked the Bank of Sweden to differentiate its award to economists given "in Alfred Nobel's memory" from the five other awards. This request added to the controversy over whether the
Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel is actually a legitimate "Nobel Prize".
Death

Nobel was accused of high treason against France for selling
Ballistite to Italy, so he moved from Paris to
Sanremo
Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivi ...
, Italy in 1891.
On 10 December 1896, he suffered a stroke and died.
He had left most of his wealth in trust, unbeknownst to his family, in order to fund the
Nobel Prize awards. He is buried in
Norra begravningsplatsen
Norra begravningsplatsen, literally "The Northern Cemetery" in Swedish, is a major cemetery of the Stockholm urban area, located in Solna Municipality. Inaugurated on 9 June 1827, it is the burial site for a number of Swedish notables.
Notab ...
in Stockholm.
Monuments and legacy
The ''Monument to Alfred Nobel'' (, ) in Saint Petersburg is located along the
Bolshaya Nevka River on Petrogradskaya Embankment. It was dedicated in 1991 to mark the 90th anniversary of the first
Nobel Prize presentation. Diploma
Thomas Bertelmanand Professor
Arkady Melua were initiators of the creation of the monument (1989). Professor A. Melua has provided funds for the establishment of the monument
J.S.Co. "Humanistica" 1990–1991). The abstract metal sculpture was designed by local artists Sergey Alipov and Pavel Shevchenko, and appears to be an explosion or branches of a tree. Petrogradskaya Embankment is the street where Nobel's family lived until 1859.
Criticism of Nobel focuses on his leading role in weapons manufacturing and sales, and some question his motives in creating his prizes, suggesting they are intended to improve his reputation.
How ‘merchant of death’ Alfred Nobel became a champion of peace
in '' The Local'' 4 October 2010
See also
* Nobel Foundation
References
Further reading
* Schück, H, and Sohlman, R., (1929). ''The Life of Alfred Nobel'', transl. Brian Lunn, London: William Heineman Ltd.
* Alfred Nobel US Patent No 78,317, dated 26 May 1868
* Evlanoff, M. and Fluor, M. ''Alfred Nobel – The Loneliest Millionaire''. Los Angeles, Ward Ritchie Press, 1969.
* Sohlman, R. ''The Legacy of Alfred Nobel'', transl. Schubert E. London: The Bodley Head, 1983 (Swedish original, ''Ett Testamente'', published in 1950).
*
External links
Alfred Nobel – Man behind the Prizes
Nobelprize.org
* ttp://azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai102_folder/102_articles/102_nobels_asbrink.html "The Nobels in Baku" in ''Azerbaijan International'', Vol 10.2 (Summer 2002), 56–59.
The Nobel Prize in Postage Stamps
* A German branch or followup ''(German)''
*
*
Alfred Nobel and his unknown coworker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nobel, Alfred
1833 births
1896 deaths
Burials at Norra begravningsplatsen
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Alfred
Nobel Prize
Engineers from Stockholm
19th-century Swedish businesspeople
19th-century Swedish scientists
19th-century Swedish engineers
Swedish chemists
Swedish philanthropists
Explosives engineers