who invented the nobel peace prize

Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist and inventor of dynamite, created the Nobel Peace Prize through instructions in his last will, signed in 1895 and executed after his death in 1896.

Quick Scoop

• The Nobel Peace Prize is one of five Nobel Prizes established by Alfred Nobel’s will, alongside prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature.

• Nobel directed that his fortune be placed in a fund whose interest would be used to award people who had benefited humanity, specifically including a prize for work promoting peace and the reduction of standing armies.

• The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901, a few years after Nobel’s death, to Frédéric Passy and Henry Dunant, showing that the “inventor” or founder of the prize was Nobel himself, while the Norwegian Nobel Committee carries out his instructions.

Why Nobel Started It

• Alfred Nobel became very wealthy from explosives and armaments, which led to criticism and the nickname “merchant of death,” something many historians think influenced his decision to endow prizes that would honor benefactors of humanity.

• His friendship with Austrian pacifist Bertha von Suttner, who later won the Peace Prize in 1905, is widely cited as an important inspiration for the idea of a dedicated peace prize.

How It Was Set Up

• In his will, Nobel specified that the Peace Prize should be awarded by a committee of five members chosen by the Norwegian parliament (Storting), giving Norway a special role even though Nobel was Swedish.

• The Storting accepted this task in 1897, formed what is now the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and by 1901 the system was in place to award the prize annually “for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

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