Alfred Bernhard Nobel (pronounced noh-BEL) was born on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden, and died on December 10, 1896. He was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and businessman. He is best known for inventing dynamite, a powerful explosive. He also left his fortune to create the Nobel Prizes, which honor people who have done the most to help humanity. During his life, he held 355 patents for his inventions.
Nobel was born into a well-known family in Stockholm. He showed an early talent for science and learning, especially in chemistry and languages. He could speak six languages fluently and got his first patent when he was 24. He worked with his family in many business ventures, including owning a company called Bofors. This company originally made iron and steel, but Nobel helped it grow into a major maker of cannons and other weapons.
His most famous invention, dynamite, was created using nitroglycerin. He patented this invention in 1867. He later invented gelignite in 1875 and ballistite in 1887.
After Nobel died, he left his money to a foundation to fund the Nobel Prizes. A synthetic element called nobelium was named after him. Companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which started from businesses he founded, still exist today. Nobel was also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Because of his will, this group is responsible for selecting the winners of the Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry.
Biography
Alfred Nobel was born on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the third son of Immanuel Nobel (1801–1872), an inventor and engineer, and Andriette Nobel (née Ahlsell, 1805–1889). Immanuel and Andriette married in 1827 and had eight children. The family faced financial difficulties, and only Alfred and his three brothers lived past childhood. Through his father, Alfred was related to Olaus Rudbeck, a Swedish scientist. Immanuel Nobel was a graduate of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. He worked as an engineer, building bridges and buildings, and experimented with ways to break rocks. He taught Alfred from a young age.
Immanuel Nobel’s business failed after losing some building materials, leading to bankruptcy. He moved to Saint Petersburg, then part of the Russian Empire, where he became successful as a manufacturer of machine tools and explosives. He invented the veneer lathe, which helped create modern plywood, and worked on the naval mine. In 1842, the family joined him in Saint Petersburg. With their improved financial situation, Alfred’s parents hired private tutors. He excelled in school, especially in chemistry and languages, becoming fluent in English, French, German, and Russian. He attended the Jacobs Apologistic School in Stockholm for 18 months, from 1841 to 1842, and never went to university.
Alfred became skilled in Swedish, French, Russian, English, German, and Italian. He wrote poetry in English, including Nemesis, a story about an Italian noblewoman named Beatrice Cenci. The book was printed while he was dying but was destroyed after his death, except for three copies, because it was considered offensive and blasphemous. It was published in Sweden in 2003 and translated into Slovenian, French, Italian, and Spanish.
As a young man, Alfred studied with chemist Nikolai Zinin. In 1850, he went to Paris to continue his work. There, he met Ascanio Sobrero, who had created nitroglycerin three years earlier. Sobrero warned that nitroglycerin was dangerous, as it could explode easily with changes in heat or pressure. However, Alfred wanted to find a way to safely use nitroglycerin as an explosive, as it was more powerful than gunpowder. In 1851, at age 18, he studied in the United States for a year, working briefly under John Ericsson, a Swedish-American inventor. In 1857, Alfred received his first patent for a gas meter in England. His first Swedish patent, from 1863, was for methods to prepare gunpowder.
The family’s factory produced weapons for the Crimean War (1853–1856) but struggled to return to regular production after the war ended, leading to bankruptcy. In 1859, his father left the factory to his second son, Ludvig Nobel, who improved the business. Alfred and his family returned to Sweden, and he focused on studying explosives, especially safe ways to use nitroglycerin. In 1863, he invented a detonator, and in 1865, he designed the blasting cap.
On September 3, 1864, a shed used to prepare nitroglycerin exploded at a factory in Heleneborg, Stockholm, killing five people, including Alfred’s younger brother, Emil. He lost his license to produce explosives. To continue his work in a safer location, Alfred founded the company Nitroglycerin AB in Vinterviken. In 1867, he invented dynamite, a safer and easier-to-handle explosive than nitroglycerin. Dynamite was patented in the United States and the United Kingdom and used widely in mining and construction. In 1875, he invented gelignite, a more stable and powerful explosive than dynamite. In 1887, he patented ballistite, a precursor to modern smokeless gunpowder.
Alfred was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1884, the same institution that later chose Nobel Prize winners. He received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in 1893. His brothers, Ludvig and Robert, founded the oil company Branobel and became wealthy. Alfred invested in these businesses, gaining wealth through oil production in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Cheleken, Turkmenistan. During his lifetime, Alfred received 355 international patents, and by his death, his companies operated over 90 factories for explosives and weapons, despite his peaceful beliefs.
Alfred discovered that mixing nitroglycerin with an absorbent, non-reactive material like kieselguhr (diatomaceous earth) made it safer and easier to handle. He patented this mixture as "dynamite" in 1867. He first demonstrated dynamite at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England. To improve his reputation after past controversies, he considered naming the explosive "Nobel’s Safety Powder," as noted in his patent, but chose "dynamite" instead, referencing the Greek word for "power" (δύναμις).
Later, Alfred combined nitroglycerin with nitrocellulose compounds to create a more powerful explosive. He developed gelignite, or blasting gelatin, which was patented in 1876. Gelignite was more stable, powerful, and easier to use in mining and drilling than previous explosives. It became the standard for mining during the "Age of Engineering," bringing Alfred great financial success, though it harmed his health. This research also led to his invention of ballistite, a precursor to modern smokeless gunpowder and still used as rocket fuel.
There is a well-known story about the origin of the Nobel Prize, though historians have not confirmed it. In 1888, after the death of his brother Ludvig, some newspapers mistakenly published obituaries about Alfred. One French newspaper criticized him for inventing military explosives, even though dynamite was mainly used for civilian purposes. The obituary reportedly said, "Le marchand de la mort est mort" ("The merchant of death is dead"), and claimed, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday." Alfred was upset by this description and decided to leave a better legacy. He donated most of his wealth to create the Nobel Prize. However, some historians question whether this
Personal life
Alfred Nobel was a Lutheran who attended the Church of Sweden Abroad in Paris during his time there. The church was led by Pastor Nathan Söderblom, who later received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930. As a young man, Nobel was agnostic, and later in life, he became an atheist. Despite this, he gave money to the Church throughout his life.
Nobel was a private person and often felt sad or depressed. He never married, though some people who studied his life say he had at least three romantic relationships. His first love was a girl named Alexandra in Russia, who turned down his marriage proposal.
In 1876, Countess Bertha von Suttner became Nobel’s secretary. After a short time, she left him to marry her former lover, Baron Arthur Gundaccar von Suttner. Although their time together was brief, Bertha and Nobel stayed in contact until Nobel’s death in 1896. She may have influenced his decision to create the Nobel Peace Prize in his will. Bertha won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905 for her efforts to promote peace.
Nobel’s longest relationship was with Sofija Hess from Celje, whom he met in 1876 in Baden bei Wien. At the time, Sofija worked in a flower shop that served wealthy customers. Over 15 years, Nobel sent Sofija 221 letters. When they met, Nobel was 43 years old, and Sofija was 26. Their relationship was not just friendly, but it ended when Sofija became pregnant with another man’s child. Nobel continued to support her financially until she married the child’s father to avoid being shunned by others. In his letters, Nobel expressed dislike for Sofija’s Jewish heritage and made negative comments about Jews in general. Sofija did not challenge his remarks and even used harsh language against Jews herself. She later converted to Protestantism in 1894, hoping to connect with Nobel. Despite her harsh words about her heritage, Sofija always supported her family financially. Nobel once called her his “great devourer of banknotes.”
In his letters to Sofija, Nobel also showed chauvinistic views. He wrote, “You neither work, nor write, nor read, nor think,” and told her she had a “microscopic brain.” He also made her feel guilty by saying, “I have sacrificed [to you] my intellectual life, my reputation, and my connection with the cultured world.”
Nobel spent much of his life traveling for business, managing companies in Europe and America. From 1865 to 1873, he lived in Krümmel (now part of Geesthacht, near Hamburg). From 1873 to 1891, he lived in a house on the Avenue de Malakoff in Paris.
In 1891, after being accused of treason against France for selling Ballistite to Italy, Nobel moved to Sanremo, Italy. He lived in Villa Nobel, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea, until his death in 1896.
In 1894, Nobel acquired Bofors-Gullspång, which included Björkborn Manor. He spent summers there, and the manor is now a museum.
Monument to Alfred Nobel
The Monument to Alfred Nobel is located in Saint Petersburg along the Bolshaya Nevka River on the Petrogradskaya Embankment, the street where Nobel's family lived until 1859. It was dedicated in 1991 to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the first Nobel Prize presentation. Diplomat Thomas Bertelman and Professor Arkady Melua started the project in 1989 and helped pay for the monument. The metal sculpture was designed by local artists Sergey Alipov and Pavel Shevchenko. It looks like an explosion or tree branches. The monument's coordinates are 59°57′39″N 30°20′06″E (59.960787°N 30.334905°E).
Criticism
Criticism of Alfred Nobel often highlights his involvement in making and selling weapons. Some people believe he created the Nobel Prize to improve his reputation. For example, the 1984 artwork Nobel Metamorphoses in Troisdorf, Germany—where Dynamit Nobel's headquarters was located at the time—compares war-related death numbers with the number of peace prize winners since the prize began in 1901. This artwork presents these facts in a way that shows disagreement with Nobel's legacy.
The newspaper Haaretz has criticized Nobel for writing antisemitic comments in letters to his mistress, Sofie Hess. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many parts of Europe experienced strong antisemitism, or intense dislike for Jewish people. Nobel's letters include negative remarks about Jewish people, such as Hess's family. For example, he wrote: "In my experience, [Jews] never do anything out of goodwill. They act merely out of selfishness or a desire to show off… among selfish and inconsiderate people, they are the most selfish and inconsiderate… all others exist to be fleeced."