Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833. His father was an engineer and inventor who built bridges and buildings in Stockholm.
The family moved to Finland and then to Russia. Immanuel Nobel started a mechanical workshop in St.Petersburg which provided equipment for the Russian army.
In St.Petersburg both sons of Immanuel Nobel were given a first class education by private teachers. The training included natural sciences, languages and literature. Alfred’s father wanted his sons to join his enterprises as engineers, so Alfred was sent abroad for further training in chemical engineering.
Alfred Nobel became very interested in nitro-glycerine and how it could be put to practical use in construction work. He also realized that the safety problems had to be solved and a method had to be developed for the controlled denotation of nitro-glycerine. In 1852 he together with his father performed experiments to develop a new commercially and technically useful explosive.
In 1866 his new material dynamite was patented. This invention drastically reduced the cost of blasting rock. Over the years factories and laboratories were founded by A.Nobel in some 90 different places in more than 20 countries.
Although he lived in Paris much of his life he was constantly travelling. Nobel himself worked intensively in various laboratories in Stockholm (Sweden), Hamburg (Germany), Ardeer (Scotland), Paris (France) and San Remo (Italy). He focused on the synthetic rubber and leather, artificial silk etc. By the time of his death in 1896 355 patents had been received by Alfred Nobel.
Alfred Nobel’s greatness lay in his ability to combine the penetrating mind of the scientist and inventor with the forward looking dynamism of the industrialist. Nobel was very interested in social and peace-related issues and held what were considered radical views in his era. He had a great interest in literature and wrote his own poetry and dramatic works. The Nobel Prizes became an extension and fulfilment of his lifetime interest.
He died in San Remo, Italy, on December 10, 1896. When his will was opened it came as a surprise that his fortune was to be used for Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace. The Nobel Foundation was set as an organization to take care of the financial asserts left by Nobel for this purpose and to co-ordinate the work of the Prize-Awarding Institution.