Alfred Nobel – Omul, Dinamita, PremiileA fost una dintre cele mai ilustre personalităţi ale secolului al XIX-lea. Invenţiile, viziunea şi generozitatea sa aveau să marcheze profund cursul şi dezvoltarea civilizaţiei umane. A fost un vizionar dar şi - poate într-o măsura mai mare - un Mecena în toată puterea cuvântului. A rămas un punct de referinţă, un simbol viu şi o sursă de inspiraţie pentru mulţi. Astăzi, numele său a rămas ataşat de cel mai râvnit şi prestigios premiu de pe mapamond, a cărui decernare continuă să fie cel mai important eveniment de gen din mediile politice, culturale şi ştiinţifice internaţionale.O familie de inventatoriDestinul a hotărât ca marele inventator şi vizionar de mai târziu să vadă lumina zilei pe data de 21 octombrie 1833, în sânul unei familii unde ştiinţa şi cunoaşterea se aflau la mare preţ. A fost cel de-al treilea fiu al lui Immanuel Nobel şi al Andriettei Ahlsell Nobel. Tatăl său, un reputat om de ştiinţă şi inventator al vremii, era descendent al celebrului savant suedez Olof Rudbeck.Născut în Stockholm, micul Alfred s-a mutat cu tot cu familie la Sankt Petersburg, unde tatăl său (care, printre altele, a inventat placajul din lemn), avea câteva contracte de onorat.Alfred a moştenit din familie apetitul pentru ştiinţă şi cercetare. A fost atras, în perioada adolescenţei, de tainele chimiei, pe care le-a studiat cu unul din cei mai prestigioşi profesori din acea perioadă, Nikolai Nicolaevici Zinin. Tânărul era deja un om polivalent, fiind înzestrat cu o mare capacitate de a învăţa fel de fel de lucruri (la vârsta de doar 17 ani vorbea fluent suedeza, rusa, franceza, engleza şi germana), dar marea sa dragoste a rămas chimia. După împlinirea vârstei de 18 ani, Alfred a călătorit în Statele Unite unde, pentru o perioadă de 4 ani, şi-a aprofundat studiile de chimie sub îndrumarea profesorului John Ericsson, cel care, printre altele, a conceput şi proiectat nava blindată USS Ironclad, devenită faimoasă cu ocazia Războiului Civil American.Acasă, pe Bătrânul Continent, afacerile familiei întâmpinau probleme, fabrica condusă de fratele său mai mare, Ludvig, intrând în cele din urmă în faliment. Întors în Suedia natală, alături de tatăl său, Alfred decide să îşi continue cercetările în Franţa.Fire deosebit de inteligentă şi pragmatică, tânărul suedez intuieşte valoarea şi importanţa explozibililor în diversele domenii de activitate ale proaspăt instalatei Epoci Industriale.Se apucă deci de cercetări asupra explozibililor, în paralel cu comercializarea nitroglicerinei, cel mai puternic explozibil al vremii, descoperit în anul 1847 de către Ascanio Sobrero.Experimentează şi combină noi formule ale puternicului exploziv lichid, încercând să creeze un tip de nitroglicerină cât mai stabil posibil, care să nu explodeze la cele mai mici mişcări. Cumplita explozie din anul 1864, de la propria fabrică de explozibili Heleneborg, din Stockholm, duce la moartea tragică a 5 oameni, printre aceştia aflându-se şi mezinul familiei Nobel, fratele lui Alfred, Emil.Profund şocat şi considerându-se vinovatul moral din spatele tragediei, Alfred Nobel mai primeşte o lovitură din partea autorităţilor suedeze, care iau decizia de a-i închide uzina, considerând activităţile din domeniul explozibililor ca fiind prea periculoase pentru a mai putea fi permise.Cu toate acestea, tatăl şi fratele său îşi continuă afacerile în Rusia, livrând Imperiului Ţarist explozibili pentru armată şi lansându-se plini de succes în exploatarea petrolieră din nordul Caucazului. Cel puţin pe plan financiar, norocul începuse să surâdă din nou încercatei familii Nobel, contractele cu armata ţaristă şi sondele de petrol din Azerbaidjan şi Cecenia transformându-i într-unii dintre cei mai bogaţi oameni ai acelei perioade.

Inventatorul dinamiteiPe de altă parte, nici Alfred nu s-a lăsat doborât de primele insuccese din cariera sa, care se anunţa a fi una de excepţie. După ce autorităţile suedeze i-au interzis să mai facă experimente pe raza capitalei Stockholm, Alfred îşi amenajează un laborator în apropierea Lacului Malaren, o zonă izolată, fără aşezări umane. Afectat profund nu doar de moartea fratelui său, dar şi de miile de decese ale minerilor din întreaga Europă, care foloseau drept principal explozibil periculoasa nitroglicerină, Alfred Nobel îşi dedică toate eforturile descoperirii unui explozibil sigur şi eficient.Porneşte având ca material de bază tot nitroglicerina, căreia îi adaugă diferite tipuri de substanţe amelioratoare. Varianta norocoasă s-a dovedit a fi kieselgur-ul, numit şi diatomită (o rocă

sedimentară silicioasă), pe care l-a amestecat cu nitroglicerina, transformând astfel periculosul lichid explozibil într-o pastă care ulterior s-a solidificat.Nobel jubila. Noua substanţă avea aceeaşi forţă de explozie devastatoare a nitroglicerinei, doar că era mult mai stabilă şi rezistentă la şocurile mecanice.Alfred Nobel a botezat-o, în premieră, dinamită şi a patentat-o în anul 1867.Pentru a fi detonată cu succes şi în condiţii sigure, genialul om de ştiinţă a mai inventat şi sistemul de detonare clasic - capsa explozivă care se ataşa la capătul batoanelor de dinamită şi care era activată prin intermediul fitilului aprins.În aceeaşi perioadă istorică, au fost inventate şi ciocanul perforator pneumatic, alături de burghiul cu cap de diamant artificial. Astfel, industria mineritului a căpătat noi proporţii. Cu ajutorul ciocanului pneumatic şi al burghiului special, se puteau face orificii în cele mai dure roci, iar în orificiile create erau introduse batoanele explozive de dinamită create de inventatorul suedez.Primele demonstraţii practice au avut loc în mina Redhill din Surrey, Anglia.Pentru a-şi disocia numele de companiile anterioare legate de explozibilii periculoşi, Nobel insistă ca pe recipientele cu noul explozibil să fie inscripţionat iniţial cu sigla "Nobel's Safety Powder", fiind ulterior schimbat cu dinamită, termen ce-şi are originea într-un cuvânt din greaca veche care semnifică puterea, forţa (tot de aici avem şi termenul de dinamism sau, dacă vreţi, Dinamo...)Nobel combinase mai înainte nitroglicerina cu diferiţi compuşi nitrocelulozici dar, nemulţumit de rezultate, a adăugat apoi în amestec

nitraţi, obţinând în cele din urmă o substanţă explozivă mai puternică chiar decât dinamita. Este vorba de gelignită, o gelatină explozibilă patentată în anul 1877. Foarte stabilă şi uşor de modelat în diverse forme, gelignita a fost cea care l-a îmbogăţit pe Nobel. Cu toate acestea, căutările şi cercetările sale în domeniu nu au fost stăvilite de succesul financiar, Alfred Nobel descoperind şi balistita, un compus chimic precursor al pulberilor explozibile din prezent, încă folosit la lansarea rachetelor.Savantul şi florăreasaSuccesul său depăşise orice estimări şi aşteptări. Nobel călătorea prin lume, fondând peste 90 de laboratoare şi centre de producţie în 20 de ţări. Cu toate că alesese Parisul drept reşedinţă oficială, era mai tot timpul pe drumuri. Victor Hugo, unul dintre prietenii apropiaţi, obişnuia să-l tachineze

denumindu-l "cel mai bogat vagabond din Europa".

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Spirit căutător, Nobel a contribuit şi la inventarea cauciucului arficial, a pielii artificiale şi a mătăsii artificiale. Până în momentul morţii sale din anul 1896, Nobel brevetase 355 de invenţii.Cu toate că a rămas necăsătorit până la sfârşitul vieţii, conform datelor culese de biografii săi, genialul om de ştiinţă nu a rămas indiferent la farmecul sexului frumos, având cel puţin 3 iubiri memorabile. Prima sa relaţie a avut loc în Rusia, cu o tânără pe nume Alexandra, care i-a respins însă cererea de căsătorie.Munca intensivă şi cercetările nu i-au lăsat prea mult timp pentru viaţa sentimentală. La 43 de ani, după cum mărturisea unor apropiaţi, se simţea deja bătrân şi obosit.Oricum, un anunţ postat de ilustrul savant într-o gazetă a vremii ne spune mult despre Alfred Nobel, omul din spatele inventatorului:"Gentleman bogat şi foarte educat, caut o doamnă de vârstă medie, cunoscătoarea a mai multor limbi de circulaţie, în rol de secretară şi cameristă... "Singura care a corespuns criteriilor savantului s-a dovedit a fi Bertha Kinsky, o contesă austriacă, de care Nobel s-a îndrăgostit. După o relaţie de scurtă durată, contesa l-a părăsit pentru a se mărita cu fostul ei iubit, baronul Arthur Gundaccar von Suttner.În ciuda despărţirii, contesa a ţinut o corespondenţă neîntreruptă cu Nobel până în anul morţii savantului. Pe baza scrisorilor, se crede că Bertha Kinsky a avut o influenţă majoră în ceea ce priveşte ideea premiului pentru pace.Ultima şi cea mai lungă relaţie sentimentală a lui Nobel a fost cu o simplă florăreasă din Viena, pe nume Sofie Hess. Relaţia a durat peste 18 ani, iar Alfred o numea deseori "Doamna Sophie Nobel" .

Premiul Nobel - ultimul omagiu al unui geniu generosEvenimentul care a stat la baza creării Premiilor Nobel de astăzi a fost unul tragic şi personal, în egală măsură, pentru inventator. După ce fratele său Ludvig a decedat în anul 1888, în timpul unei vizite în Franţa, un jurnal franţuzesc de scandal a publicat, din greşeală, un necrolog din care reieşea că cel care murise era Alfred Nobel, pe care publicaţia îl condamnă pentru invenţiile făcute.Puternic marcat de titlul care afirma: "Negustorul Morţii a murit - Dr. Alfred Nobel, care s-a îmbogăţit descoperind mijloace fără precedent de a ucide alţi oameni, a murit ieri", Alfred Nobel a început tot mai des să se gândească la modul în care şi-l vor reaminti generaţiile viitoare.Pe data de 27 noiembrie 1895, în cadrul Clubului Suedezo-Norvegian din Paris,

marele inventator avea să anunţe în public crearea premiului care-i va purta numele pe veci.Tot atunci şi-a citit testamentul, care stipula ca toată averea sa să fie transformată într-un fond de lichidităţi din care, anual, să fie răsplătite mari realizări în ştiinţă, precum şi eforturile făcute de o persoană pentru instalarea păcii pe planetă - indiferent de religia, naţionalitatea, rasa ori sexul celor ce înfăptuiseră aceste realizări.După ce şi-a plătit toate taxele, Nobel şi-a cedat integral averea administratorilor fondului din care aveau să fie răsplătiţi laureaţii de mai târziu. Era vorba de suma de 31.225.000 coroane suedeze, adică aproximativ 250 milioane USD la nivelul anului 2008.Ulterior, premiul avea să fie divizat pe domenii precum literatură, fizică, chimie şi medicină.Premiul pentru pace este în continuare acordat persoanei sau societăţii care, în decursul unui an, întreprinde cele mai multe eforturi pentru dezvoltarea fraternităţii între oameni, luptă pentru reducerea cursei înarmărilor sau acţionează ca mediatori eficienţi în cadrul conflictelor armate.Astăzi, premiul Nobel este mult mai cunoscut decât omul care l-a înfiinţat şi i-a dat numele - un mare inventator şi savant al Epocii Industriale, ale cărui izbânzi ştiinţifice au permis crearea premiilor ce stimulează mai departe cunoaşterea şi aventura spiritului uman.

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) never married and lived most of his life in France and Italy.

The Nobel PrizesWhere does the money for the Nobel Prizes come from?At the age of 17, Swedish Alfred Nobel spoke five languages fluently. Nobel became an inventor and busi-nessman, and at the time of his death on 10 December 1896, he had 355 patents worldwide – one of them was the patent on dynamite. Furthermore, he had started 87 companies all over the world. According to his will, Alfred Nobel's enormous fortune was to be used to establish prizes to award those who had done their best to benefit mankind in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, five years after Nobel's death. In 1969, another prize was added "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel".The Nobel Prize Award Ceremonies

The Nobel Laureates are announced at the beginning of October each year. A couple of months later, on 10 December, the anniver -sary of Alfred Nobel's death, they receive their prizes from the Swedish King – a Nobel diploma, a medal, and 10 million Swedish crowns per prize. All Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, except for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo, Norway. (When Alfred Nobel was alive, Norway and Sweden were united under one monarch, until 1905 when Norway became an independent kingdom with its own king.)

Norway and Sweden are situated in Scandinavia, northern Europe. Oslo is the capital of Norway and Stockholm is the capi -tal of Sweden.

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He's the one that made the dynamites. Yup, those things that go *boom explode*.Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in October 21, 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. He died in December 10, 1896 in Sanremo, Italy. He was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator and armaments manufacturer. That last thing he did when he died was using his enor-mous fortune to institute the Nobel prizes. The Nobel prizes as well, were named after him

Born in October 21, 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden Died in December 10, 1896 in Sanremo, Italy at age of 63 Religion is not listed but is believed to be a christian His family, he was the third son of the Nobel family, though he was not married, he had three lovers in his life. http://myconcordia.ciss.com.cn/myconcordia/blog/post.php?id=12435 (The web)

Nobel found that when nitroglycerin was incorporated in an absorbent inert substance like kieselguhr, it became safer and more con-venient to handle, and using this mixture, in 1867 he made the dynamite. Nobel demonstrated his explosive for the first time that year, at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey England.The invention of dynamites made it so that the workers wouldn't have trouble "exploding" things up. Since exploding large quantities of space was really time wasting, and it often resulted to injuries, the workers use dynamite to prevent the incidents and use the least time possible. Though there were other reasons listed, the main reason was to "Get rid of space". The impact caused by the birth of the dynamite was extreme, it was soon spread all over, though there were no listings of which country used it, a "mass" number of countries used it, so assuming it would be over a hundred countries used it.Alfred died by old age, in Sanremo, Italy at the age of 63, he died in his bed.Sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_nobel ; http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0313040/ahis.html ; http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWnobel.htmOne hundred years ago this year, the world’s most prestigious scientific and humanitarian prizes were first awarded. Carrying out the final wishes of inven-tor Alfred Bernhard Nobel, his executors established an annual tradition of recognition in the sciences, literature and the pursuit of peace. The awards bring instant fame and celebrity to the recipients.Nobel was born into a family of engineers on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden, the fourth son of Immanuel and Andrietta Nobel. At the age of nine Nobel and his family moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, to join his father, who had rebounded from business bankruptcy in Sweden to success in Russia’s defense industry during the Crimean War. St. Petersburg, at that time, was a world metropolis that imprinted on young Nobel a love of scientific, social and cultural discovery.Given a first-class private education that focused on both the humanities and the sciences, Nobel was a competent chemist by the age of 16 and able to speak five languages fluently. Excelling in the sciences, he spent a year in Paris studying chemistry and then traveled to the United States to work under the famous Swedish engineer John Ericsson, who built the Civil War ironclad warship Monitor. Upon his return to St Petersburg, Nobel went to work for his father designing explosive mines at Nobel & Sons Iron Foundry and Mechanical Workshop.Nitroglycerine, which had been created by Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero and then abandoned because of its dangerous instability, became Nobel’s pas-sion. He was well aware of the volatile hazard the chemical presented—his youngest brother, Emil, had died in a tragic nitroglycerine explosion—yet this did not dampen his interest in explosives. He patented his first major invention, a blasting cap or detonator, at the age of 30.

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In 1866, Nobel fortuitously made the discovery that changed construction and destruction forever. He discovered that nitroglycerine—when absorbed to dryness in kieselguhr, or diatomite (a porous, silicified earth that can be formed into a paste)—could be shaped into sticks that were safer to use and han-dle. Nobel coined the new product dynamite (from the Greek dynamis, “power”).The middle of the 19th century was an unparalleled boom time for massive public works projects on both sides of the Atlantic: harbors, bridges, tunnels, dams, great canals and transcontinental railroads. All of these gigantic engineering projects required the use of dynamite to displace tons of earth and gran-ite. Great armies also quickly found use for the new explosive, and so the so-called lord of dynamite made a handsome profit selling his sometimes murder-ous creation (often to both sides) in major European conflicts.Labeled the “millionaire vagabond,” Nobel, who never married, was a reclusive, single-minded worker who incessantly traveled Europe protecting and ex-panding his industrial empire. There is little evidence that the razor-sharp businessman had many friends; it appears he preferred his inventions to human attachments. He continued to develop new explosive devices: blasting gelatin in 1875, and in 1887 a smokeless blasting powder called ballistite, which in-fluenced weapons design for the next quarter century.Nobel was often scathingly depicted as a war profiteer who grew wealthy by inventing new ways to maim and kill. Had it not been for a bizarre incident in 1888, he may never have bequeathed to the world the Nobel prizes. That year his brother Ludvig died, and the French newspapers incorrectly printed front-page obituaries for Alfred. Viewing the piercing headlines that claimed, “The Merchant of Death is Dead,” Nobel was able to read how he would be remem-bered.By 1895, while in his early 60s, his health began to fail. Right to the point of his death, though he enigmatically considered himself a pacifist, Nobel was in-vesting in armaments companies and conducting research in weapons technology. Inventions in this field—along with several of a more peaceful nature, such as artificial silk, and synthetic rubber and leather—made Nobel the holder of 355 patents. When he died of a stroke on December 10, 1896, his world-wide network of 93 factories was producing 66,500 tons of explosives annually.The opening of his will attracted worldwide attention as it revealed that the bulk of his enormous wealth should be used to endow “prizes to those who, dur-ing the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” The prizes to be awarded were in the fields of chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature and, ironically, peace. (The prize for economics was added in 1968 by the Bank of Sweden.)Nobel lived in a tumultuous age of international activism in which politicians often resorted to military establishments to solve political conflicts, and yet the popularity of peace congresses was growing. Nobel himself put little faith in politicians or peace congresses, believing rather that by improving war matériel and thus increasing the dangers of war, he was contributing his share toward the pacification of the world. His fervent belief was in the promotion of scien-tific discovery and the ability of science to improve the human condition, because, he argued, “to spread knowledge is to spread well-being.”The renowned annual peace prize goes “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or re-duction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” While Nobel realized the need for peace, he was seemingly able to overlook the way in which his own powerful inventions were used.Albert Einstein, in a speech following the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, discussed the dilemma of scientific discovery in relation to peace. Einstein concluded that his own situation mirrored Nobel’s. “Alfred Nobel,” he said, “invented an explosive more powerful than any then known—an exceedingly effective means of destruction. To atone for this ‘accomplishment’ and to relieve his conscience, he instituted his award for the pro-motion of peace.”Sadly, in retrospect, the prizes Nobel established have accomplished little in the quest for true peace. Though some claim scientific discovery and educa-tion to be the last, best hope for humanity, the 20th century has shown us that humankind, despite incredible scientific enlightenment, does not know the way to true, enduring peace. NEAL H. HOGBERG

Alfred Nobel's WillOn November 27, 1895, in Paris, Alfred Bernhard Nobel signed his will. After his death in December 1896, many people tensely awaited the publication of the contents of the will, since it was widely known that Nobel had left one of the world's largest private for -tunes. To the great disappointment of some of his relatives and friends, he declared the following last will: "The whole of my remaining realisable estate shall be disposed of in the following way:the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually awarded as

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prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind. The interest shall be divided into five equal parts, to be apportioned as follows: one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery or in -vention in the field of physics; one part to the person who shall have made the most important chemical discovery or invention; 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 in the field of literature shall have produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency; and one part to the per-son 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. The prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; for physiological or medical works by the Carolinska Institute in Stockholm; for literature by the Academy in Stockholm, and for advocates of peace by a committee of five persons to be selected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my ex-press wish that in the awarding of the prizes no consideration shall be given to national affiliations of any kind, so that the most wor -thy shall receive the prize, whether he be Scandinavian or not." [Emphases added.] Some of the relatives sought to have the will declared invalid, and to begin with they had the support of King Oscar II, who held that family claims could not be set aside on the grounds of the aging Alfred Nobel's fanciful ideas. There were moreover many among Sweden's conservatives who hoped to see the realisation of the will prevented because it was "unpatriotic" - the prizes ought to have been reserved for Swedes. But following long and difficult negotiations, in which the Swedish Government was also involved, the ex-ecutors Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist finally succeeded in untangling the legal knots. On June 29, 1900, King Oscar II ap-proved the statutes of the newly established Nobel Foundation. That meant that Alfred Nobel's grand vision could finally come to fruition. On December 10, 1901, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in Stockholm and Oslo.Full text of Alfred Nobel's WillI, the undersigned, Alfred Bernhard Nobel, do hereby, after mature deliberation, declare the following to be my last Will and Testa-ment with respect to such property as may be left by me at the time of my death:To my nephews, Hjalmar and Ludvig Nobel, the sons of my brother Robert Nobel, I bequeath the sum of Two Hundred Thousand Crowns each;To my nephew Emanuel Nobel, the sum of Three Hundred Thousand, and to my niece Mina Nobel, One Hundred Thousand Crowns;To my brother Robert Nobel's daughters, Ingeborg and Tyra, the sum of One Hundred Thousand Crowns each;Miss Olga Boettger, at present staying with Mrs. Brand, 10 Rue St Florentin, Paris, will receive One Hundred Thousand Francs;Mrs. Sofie Kapy von Kapivar, whose address is known to the Anglo-Oesterreichische Bank in Vienna, is hereby entitled to an annuity of 6000 Florins Ö.W. which is paid to her by the said Bank, and to this end I have deposited in this Bank the amount of 150,000 Fl. in Hungarian State Bonds;Mr. Alarik Liedbeck, presently living at 26 Sturegatan, Stockholm, will receive One Hundred Thousand Crowns;Miss Elise Antun, presently living at 32 Rue de Lubeck, Paris, is entitled to an annuity of Two Thousand Five Hundred Francs. In ad-dition, Forty Eight Thousand Francs owned by her are at present in my custody, and shall be refunded;Mr. Alfred Hammond, Waterford, Texas, U.S.A. will receive Ten Thousand Dollars;The Misses Emy and Marie Winkelmann, Potsdamerstrasse, 51, Berlin, will receive Fifty Thousand Marks each;Mrs. Gaucher, 2 bis Boulevard du Viaduc, Nimes, France will receive One Hundred Thousand Francs;My servants, Auguste Oswald and his wife Alphonse Tournand, employed in my laboratory at San Remo, will each receive an annuity of One Thousand Francs;My former servant, Joseph Girardot, 5, Place St. Laurent, Châlons sur Saône, is entitled to an annuity of Five Hundred Francs, and my former gardener, Jean Lecof, at present with Mrs. Desoutter, receveur Curaliste, Mesnil, Aubry pour Ecouen, S.& O., France, will receive an annuity of Three Hundred Francs;Mr. Georges Fehrenbach, 2, Rue Compiègne, Paris, is entitled to an annual pension of Five Thousand Francs from January 1, 1896 to January 1, 1899, when the said pension shall discontinue;A sum of Twenty Thousand Crowns each, which has been placed in my custody, is the property of my brother's children, Hjalmar, Ludvig, Ingeborg and Tyra, and shall be repaid to them.The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my ex-ecutors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the pre-ceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on 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 award-ing 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. To compensate for their pains and attention, I grant to Mr. Ragnar Sohlman, who will presumably have to devote most time to this matter, One Hundred Thousand Crowns, and to Mr. Rudolf Lilljequist, Fifty Thousand Crowns;At the present time, my property consists in part of real estate in Paris and San Remo, and in part of securities deposited as follows: with The Union Bank of Scotland Ltd in Glasgow and London, Le Crédit Lyonnais, Comptoir National d'Escompte, and with Alphen Messin & Co. in Paris; with the stockbroker M.V. Peter of Banque Transatlantique, also in Paris; with Direction der Disconto Gesellschaft and Joseph Goldschmidt & Cie, Berlin; with the Russian Central Bank, and with Mr. Emanuel Nobel in Petersburg; with Skandinaviska Kredit Aktiebolaget in Gothenburg and Stockholm, and in my strong-box at 59, Avenue Malakoff, Paris; further to this are accounts receivable, patents, patent fees or so-called royalties etc. in connection with which my Executors will find full informa-tion in my papers and books.This Will and Testament is up to now the only one valid, and revokes all my previous testamentary dispositions, should any such ex-ist after my death.Finally, it is my express wish that following my death my veins shall be opened, and when this has been done and competent Doctors have confirmed clear signs of death, my remains shall be cremated in a so-called crematorium.Paris, 27 November, 1895

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Alfred Bernhard Nobel That Mr. Alfred Bernhard Nobel, being of sound mind, has of his own free will declared the above to be his last Will and Testament, and that he has signed the same, we have, in his presence and the presence of each other, hereunto subscribed our names as wit -nesses:Sigurd Ehrenborgformer LieutenantParis: 84 Boulevard HaussmannR. W. StrehlenertCivil Engineer4, Passage CarolineThos NordenfeltConstructor8, Rue Auber, ParisLeonard HwassCivil Engineer4, Passage Caroline

Alfred Nobel's will.

TO CITE THIS PAGE:MLA style: "Full text of Alfred Nobel's Will". Nobelprize.org. 18 Oct 2011 http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/will/will-full.html

2011 Nobel Prizes Physiology or MedicineBruce A. Beutler, Jules A. Hoffmann and Ralph M. Steinman PhysicsSaul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess ChemistryDan Shechtman LiteratureTomas Tranströmer PeaceEllen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman Economic SciencesThomas J. Sargent and Christopher A. Sims

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Racheta Nobel

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The Nobel Peace Prize is represented by a medal with the face of Alfred Nobel, with a group of three men forming a frater-nal bond on the other side.

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Ellen Johnson Sirleaf & Leymah Gbowee, Liberia Tawakkul Karman – din Amman - YemenLaureatele pentru pace

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded jointly to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work" .

Tomas Tranströme, laureatul pentru literatură (dreapta, cu soţia sa)The Nobel Prize in Literature 2011 is awarded to Tomas Tranströmer "because, through his condensed, translucent images,

he gives us fresh access to reality".

Ellen Johnson SirleafBorn: 29 October 1938Residence at the time of the award: LiberiaPrize motivation: "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full partici-pation in peace-building work"Role: President of Liberia

Leymah Gbowee

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10 dolari Nobel!

Nobel Museum

On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will in Paris. When it was opened and read after his death, the will caused a lot of controversy both in Sweden and internationally, as Nobel had left much of his wealth for the establishment of a prize. His family opposed the establishment of the Nobel Prize, and

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the prize awarders he named refused to do what he had requested in his will. It was five years before the first Nobel Prize could be awarded in 1901.

Executor of the Will - Ragnar Sohlman(worked for Alfred Nobel in his laboratory in San Remo, Italy)

NOBEL ERA:

1833 Alfred Nobel is born in Stockholm, Sweden. In the same year, his father – Immanuel Nobel – goes bankrupt.

1837 Immanuel Nobel travels to Finland and then to St Petersburg, Russia, where he starts a mechanical workshop; he leaves his family behind in Sweden.

1842 The Nobel family is reunited in St Petersburg.

1850-1852 Alfred Nobel goes to Paris and works for one year in the laboratory of T. Jules Pelouze. He also travels to Italy, Germany and the United States (US).

1853-1856 The Crimean War rages. The Nobel Company flourishes at first, but goes bankrupt as the war ends and the Russian military cancels orders. Alfred Nobel searches desperately for new products. Nikolai N. Zinin, Nobel’s chemistry teacher, reminds him of nitroglycerin.

1862 Alfred Nobel starts his experiments with nitroglycerin.

1863 Nobel obtains the first patent on nitroglycerin (blasting oil) as an industrial explosive. He develops and patents a detonator (blasting cap) for triggering the explosion of nitroglycerin. He also moves to Stockholm, where he continues his experiments.

1864 Emil, Alfred Nobel’s brother, is killed during the preparation of nitroglycerin at Heleneborg, Stockholm. Nobel continues his experiments and forms the company Nitroglycerin AB in Stockholm, Sweden.

1865 Alfred Nobel improves the blasting cap design and moves to Germany to set up the Alfred Nobel & Co Factory in Krümmel near Hamburg.

1866 Nobel establishes the United States Blasting Oil Company in the US.A violent explosion destroys the Krümmel plant. Experimenting on a raft anchored on the river Elbe, Alfred Nobel tries to make nitroglycerin safer to

handle. He finds that nitroglycerin is stabilized by the addition of kieselguhr(a siliceous deposit; also known as diatomaceous earth), and calls this mixture dynamite.

1867 Alfred Nobel obtains a patent for dynamite.

1871 Nobel establishes the British Dynamite Company (Ardeer, Scotland, UK). In 1877 the company name is changed to Nobel’s Explosives Company.

1872 Immanuel, Alfred Nobel’s father, passes away.

1873 At the age of 40 Alfred Nobel is a wealthy man. He moves to Paris and settles at Avenue Malakoff. The manu-facture of nitroglycerin and dynamite starts at Ardeer.

1875 Alfred Nobel invents blasting gelatine in Paris and patents it in 1876. He establishes Société Générale pour la Fabrication de la Dynamite in Paris, France.

1876 Dynamitaktiengesellschaft (DAG), formerly Alfred Nobel & Co (Hamburg, Germany), is formed Alfred Nobel ad-vertises for a housekeeper/personal secretary, meets with Bertha Kinsky von Chinic und Tettau (later von Sut-tner) and hires her. She leaves his employment after a short time and becomes a leading peace activist.

1880 Dynamite Nobel is formed by merging Nobel’s Italian and Swiss companies.

1881 Alfred Nobel buys an estate and laboratory at Sevran outside Paris.

1885 German Union is formed by merging DAG and a group of German dynamite companies.

1886 Nobel-Dynamite Trust Co (London, UK) is formed by merging DAG and the Nobel’s Explosives Company.

1887 Nobel obtains a patent for the blasting powder “ballistite” in France.

1889 Andriette, Alfred Nobel’s mother, passes away.

1891 Alfred Nobel leaves Paris and settles in San Remo, Italy, after a dispute with the French government over bal -listite.

1893 Alfred Nobel hires Ragnar Sohlman, who he later names executor of his will and testament.

1894 Alfred Nobel buys a small machine works (Bofors-Gullspång) and a manor (Björkborn) at Karlskoga, Sweden.

1895 The third and final will of Alfred Nobel is signed at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris.

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1896

Alfred Nobel dies at his home in San Remo, Italy, on 10 December 1896.

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Fountain in the Parco Alfredo Nobel Park, San Remo, Riviera, Liguria, Italy, ...

Casa şi grădina

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Alfred Nobel Institute

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Alfred Nobels last home (today University)

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