Alfred Nobel Death Anniversary: Alfred Bernhard Nobel was Swedish inventor and scholar who made a vast fortune from his invention of dynamite and ordered the creation of the famous Nobel Prizes in his will.
He was born on 21st October 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden to Immanuel Nobel, an inventor and engineer, and Karolina Andriette Nobel. He was interested in engineering, particularly explosives, learning the basic principles from his father at a young age. He held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him.
Nobel also owned Bofors. Primarily an iron and steel producer he shifted his concern to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. His total assets were used to establish 5 Nobel prizes. The first three of the Nobel prizes are awarded for eminence in physics, chemistry and medical science or physiology. The fourth Nobel is for literary work and the fifth prize is to be given to the person or society that given the greatest service to the cause of international fraternity.
Each year on 10 December, the Nobel Prize ceremony is held in Stockholm, Sweden on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. In 1901, the committee kept the first winners secret until the 10 December ceremony. Since then, the committee announces the Nobel Laureates in October each year. Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded annually on December 10th.
On his 175th death anniversary today, here are some quotes by the Merchant of Death, Alfred Nobel:
1. Hope is nature’s veil for hiding truth’s nakedness.
2. Lawyers have to make a living, and can only do so by inducing people to believe that a straight line is crooked.
3. I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results.
4. For me writing biographies is impossible, unless they are brief and concise, and these are, I feel, the most eloquent.
5. A recluse without books and ink is already in life a dead man.
6. Contentment is the only real wealth.
7. Justice is to be found only in imagination.
