This is the unholy origin of the Nobel Prize money

A Alfred Nobel -who passed away on a day like today, but in 1896- was nicknamed ‘the merchant of death’. However, currently his name is associated with the maximum performance that a person can achieve, with contributions to humanity.

How did your image change so radically?

The third child of seven siblings, he was born in Stockholm in 1833. As a member of a wealthy family thanks to his father’s inventions, Immanuel Nobel, Alfred became a polyglot and an engineering connoisseur. According to “La Nación”, he learned science thanks to the teachings of “Ascanio Sobrero, the inventor of nitroglycerin”.

And that was what changed his life: would it be possible to modify that compound to make it manageable?

The medium adds that, as expected, several people died in the development of the formula, including his brother emily.

Despite the loss, Alfred made several discoveries, such as the gelignite Y ballistitebut more relevant was the dynamite.

Destruction or development?

Dynamite revolutionized the time. It was used to demolish, develop mining and build more lines for the railways. It was also used, remember National Geographicfor him “discovery of the legendary city of Troy”, achievement that was achieved “based on exploding what was ‘in the way’, something that today we would consider aberrational due to the destruction of a lot of information in the process”.

Nat Geo adds that dynamite was also used in the military, though it was quickly discarded for other technologies. “Nonetheless, […] Alfred Nobel deserved in the eyes of many to be labeled a ‘merchant of death’, since munitions were also manufactured in his factories and, certainly, his invention brought both progress and destruction”.

But Nobel did not want to go down in history that way. Their legacy was important enough to take action on the matter. He wanted to be respected.

A year before he died, he wrote his will, where he stated that “With his fortune a fund would be created to reward the best exponents in Physics, Literature, Physiology or Medicine, Chemistry and Peace”.

“La Nación” tells that, after his death in 1896, his family did not want to accept his wishes. However, they had no choice. In June 1900, the Nobel Foundation was created.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.