Alfred Nobel
(1833-1896)
BIRTH
October 21, 1833
PLACE
Stockholm, Sweden
NAME
Alfred Bernhard Nobel
DEATH
December 10, 1896
PLACE
Sanremo, Italy
FAMILY
FATHER
Immanuel Nobel
(1801–1872)
CHILDREN
Immanuel Nobel
(1801–1872)
CHILDREN
Andriette Nobel
(1803–1889; 1805 in some biographies)
HOMES
POLITICAL VIEWS
PEACE ADVOCATE
RELIGIOUS VIEWS
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION UNCERTAIN
DENOMINATION UNCERTAIN
MEMBERSHIPS
ROYAL SWEDISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MEMBER
AWARDS
Swedish chemist and industrialist Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and left most of his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes. The family joined him in Saint Petersburg in 1842. In 1864 an explosion at the family's factory in Stockholm killed his younger brother Emil and others. In 1867 he patented dynamite, nitroglycerin absorbed in a stable earth, which transformed construction and mining. In 1894 he bought the Bofors armaments company in Sweden.
EARLY LIFE
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, the son of Immanuel Nobel, an engineer and inventor, and Andriette Ahlsell. His father's business failed, and in 1837 he left for Finland and then Russia, where he succeeded as a manufacturer of machine tools and naval mines. The family joined him in Saint Petersburg in 1842. Alfred was educated by private tutors and became fluent in Swedish, Russian, French, English, and German. In 1850 his father sent him abroad to study chemical engineering, and in Paris he worked in the laboratory of Théophile-Jules Pelouze, where he met Ascanio Sobrero, the inventor of nitroglycerin.
Alfred Nobel developed his career through chemistry, engineering, and the family businesses associated with his father. Work in Russia and travel abroad exposed him to industrial techniques and the problems of using powerful explosives. He investigated nitroglycerin, whose effectiveness was matched by severe risks in handling and transport. A factory explosion in Stockholm in 1864 killed his brother Emil and others, emphasizing the dangers that his later products sought to control.
In 1867 Nobel patented dynamite, using an absorbent material to make nitroglycerin more manageable. The product spread through mining, tunneling, and construction, connecting laboratory work with expanding infrastructure markets. He subsequently developed blasting gelatin and ballistite, a smokeless propellant. His inventions did not eliminate explosive hazards, and their uses included military as well as civilian applications. Patents, manufacturing agreements, and factories in several countries helped establish a large international business network.
Nobel acquired interests in other industrial ventures, including his brothers' oil enterprise at Baku and the Swedish firm Bofors. He maintained laboratories and continued experimentation while managing a fortune created by production, licensing, and investment. His personal interests also included literature, philosophy, and social questions. Relations with the peace advocate Bertha von Suttner formed part of his engagement with debates about war. The familiar story that one mistaken newspaper obituary alone caused his final bequest is an oversimplification of motives that cannot be reduced to a single incident.
His will of November 1895 directed most of his estate toward prizes for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Nobel died at Sanremo in 1896, leaving executors and participating institutions to resolve practical and legal difficulties before the first awards in 1901. His career joined invention and large-scale industrial organization with a philanthropic arrangement of exceptional durability. The prizes should be distinguished from the industries that generated their endowment: the latter served construction and commerce while also contributing to armaments. His legacy therefore includes safer practical explosive systems, the expansion of industrial capability, and the attempt to direct accumulated wealth toward scientific, literary, and peaceful achievement.
CAREER
DEATH
In his letters to his mistress, Hess, Nobel described constant pain, debilitating migraines, and "paralyzing" fatigue, leading some to believe that he suffered from fibromyalgia. However, his concerns at the time were dismissed as hypochondria, leading to further depression. By 1895, Nobel had developed angina pectoris. On 27 November 1895, he finalized his will and testament, leaving most of his wealth in trust, unbeknownst to his family, to fund the Nobel Prize awards. On 10 December 1896, he suffered a stroke/intracerebral hemorrhage and was first partially paralyzed and then died, aged 63. He is buried in Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. Based on his experimentation with explosives, his strenuous work habits, and the decline in his health at the end of the 1870s, some hypothesize that nitroglycerine poisoning was a contributing factor to his death. His final period was spent largely at San Remo in Italy, where illness increasingly affected the routines of a man who had maintained business and scientific interests across several countries. He died there on December 10, 1896, after a stroke. The chronic pain and fatigue reported in his correspondence are evidence of longstanding difficulties, but retrospective labels proposed for those symptoms remain uncertain. The later establishment of the Nobel Prizes arose from his will and the administration of his estate; it was not a project whose ceremonies he lived to witness. His medical history and the legal aftermath should therefore remain separate.
Norra begravningsplatsen
Solna kyrkväg, Gate 3, Solna, Sweden
GRAVE
POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
1. Nobel: The Enigmatic Alfred, His World and His Prize — Ingrid Carlberg. Find on Amazon
2. Alfred Nobel: A Biography — Kenne Fant. Find on Amazon
3. Alfred Nobel: The Man and His Work — Erik Bergengren. Find on Amazon
4. Alfred Nobel: The Man Behind the Peace Prize — Kathy-jo Wargin. [Children's biography] Find on Amazon
5. Alfred Nobel: Dynamite King, Architect of Peace — Herta E. Pauli. Find on Amazon
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