Alfred Nobel-From merchant of death to Nobel prize

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Alfred Nobel, a famous Swedish scientist, inventor, and founder known for his invention, dynamite. In his whole life, he was known by various names such as “Merchant of Death”, “Europe’s richest vagabond”. Alfred’s life was full of inventions. He got 355 patents in his whole life. Today you are going to learn the unstoppable willpower of Alfred Nobel.

Early life

Alfred Bernhard  Nobel, the pioneer of Nobel Prize was born into a very prestigious family in Stockholm, Sweden on October 21, 1833. Immanuel Nobel, father of Alfred was an inventor and engineer who built bridges and buildings. 

The year Alfred was born, his father’s business suffered losses and arrived at a situation of closure. To save his business Immanuel Nobel decided to try his business somewhere else. And in 1837, when Alfred was only 4 his father left for Russia. His mother Andriette Ahlsell Nobel stayed in Sweden to take care of him along with his two elder brothers, Robert born in 1829, and Ludvig born in 1831. In those days his mother, Andriette Anlsell started a grocery store. Though she came from a wealthy family she had to do it in supporting the family.

The Nobel family moves to Russia

In 1837, Immanuel Nobel went to Russia for the betterment of his business. He started a mechanical shop in St. Petersburg that supplies equipment for the Russian army. He also made Russian Tsar and sea mines, used in the seas to stop the enemy from entering. In the Crimean War(1853-1856) these mines helped to stop British Royal Navy from entering the firing zone. By selling these military equipment he grew his business and was able to move his family to Russia.

In 1842, Andriette along with her children moved to St. Petersburg to her husband. And in the succeeding year a baby, Emil Nobel was born. Alfred along with his brothers were given first class education by privet tutors. Alfred could speak and write Swedish, English, German, Russian, and French by the age of 17. 

Traveling through the world

Though Alfred had an interest in literature, chemistry, and physics his father wanted his sons to follow in his footsteps. So, he sent Alfred to France to become a chemical engineer. In Paris, Alfred worked with T. J. Pelouze in his privet laboratory. Then Alfred met with an Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero who invented nitroglycerin, a highly explosive chemical. After knowing about nitroglycerin Alfred became interested in it and started to think about how it could be used to construction sites. When returned to Russia, he and his father worked together to develop nitroglycerin as a controlled explosive.

Back to Sweden and Become merchant of death

Immanuel Nobel did business by selling military equipment and when the Crimean War was over, the business went bad. As a result, the Nobel family returned to Sweden except for Robert and Ludvig. They did not lose hope. They kept trying and became successful by developing the oil industry in the southern part of Russia.

When back to Sweden Nobel started to develop nitroglycerin as a controlled explosive. For this, he started many explosive experiments. But sadly these experiments result in accidents. Many people died including his younger brother, Emil. A French newspaper mixed the death of Emil with Alfred and printed in headline ”The Merchant of Death is dead”. The government of Sweden bans these experiments in Stockholm City. But he did not give up his work. Alfred moved his experiment to a flat bottom boat on Malaren Lake and experiments went on.

Alfred invents Dynamite

In 1864, Alfred could produce nitroglycerin in mass form. These nitroglycerins are highly explosive and when produced can be very dangerous. Alfred wanted the nitroglycerin to produce safely. So, he did not stop his experiment. Through experiment, he found that by mixing with kieselguhr, a fine sand the liquid form of nitroglycerin turns into paste form which can be shaped like rods. In working sites, these rods could be used in drilling. 1866 was the year in the calendar when the invention was made. He got a patent for his invention in 1867 and named it “Dynamite”.

Factories around the world

Dynamite and detonator caps, invented by Alfred for safe blasting purposes were in demand for the construction industry. This huge demand for dynamite helped Alfred put up factories in 90 different places. Alfred had factories in more than 20 countries which he visited several times. The rising factories named him “Europe’s richest vagabond”. After getting all these names and reputations Alfred didn’t stop. Alfred tried to make synthetic rubber, artificial silk, and so on. In 1896, the inventions of Alfred ended with his death.  Before death, Alfred patented 355 inventions.

Meets Bertha Von Suttner and Alfred’s will

Alfred and Bertha were friends. At first, Bertha worked as a secretary for Alfred. After working for a short time, she left for Austria and got married.

The friendship between Alfred and Bertha Von Suttner remained and they exchanged letters through the years. Bertha Von Sutter, a peace movement activist wrote a famous book “Lay Down Your Arms” later.

Alfred, the inventor of dynamite invents dynamite because of the safe production and blasting. Alfred’s invention was a blessing for the construction industry because dynamite is a controlled explosive. People can control the explosion from a safe distance by using dynamite and the detonator. But some bad people started killing each other using dynamite. Hearing this news Alfred became very upset and decided to do something for which people will remember him. Then Alfred made a will to establish the Nobel Prize.

Alfred’s last will includes giving prizes who have done their best for humanity from much of his assets. Prizes are given in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace from 94% of his total assets, 31 million SEK( US $186 million in 2008). 

At the age of 63, Alfred died on 10 December 1986 in San Remo, Italy. After 4 years in 1901, the first Nobel prizes were given in Stockholm, Sweden.

Conclusion

Alfred Nobel was an inventor, scientist, and engineer. He invented dynamite, a highly explosive which can be controlled. From a very young age, Alfred was talented. At the age of 17, he could speak and write several languages. When experimenting with nitroglycerin, he faced many challenges but didn’t give up and finally invented dynamite. Alfred made a lot of money by selling dynamites and he will give his 94% of assets to the people who have done their best for humanity. 

Learn more: Alfred Nobel

If you want to read informative articles like this, you can visit Cristiano Ronaldo, Titumir, Shakib Al Hasan, Nelson Mandela