who was nobel

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, and industrialist best known for inventing dynamite and for founding the Nobel Prizes through his will.

Who was Alfred Nobel?

• Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden, and died on 10 December 1896 in San Remo, Italy.

• He was a chemist, engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, businessman, and also wrote literature such as poetry and drama.

What did he invent?

• Nobel held around 355 different patents, with his most famous invention being dynamite, developed after earlier work on safer handling of nitroglycerin.

• He also developed blasting caps, blasting gelatin, and other powerful explosives that were widely used in construction, mining, and warfare.

Why is there a Nobel Prize?

• Late in his life, Nobel became concerned about his legacy, especially after a premature obituary described him as a “merchant of death” for profiting from explosives and arms.

• In his will (1895), he left the bulk of his fortune—equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars today—to establish the Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace.

Quick Scoop: Nobel Prizes today

• Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded annually to people and organizations worldwide for outstanding achievements in science, literature, and peace.

• The Nobel Peace Prize, linked most directly to his wish for a better legacy, is now one of the most recognized international awards related to peace and conflict resolution.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.