The
Nobel Prizes came to my mind when I was thinking about gold medals and Susan
Roebuck’s query wondering why there was not a gold medal for literature ...
which as she said I answered in my Cultural Olympiad post.
 |
| Nobel Prize |
Alfred
Nobel (1833 – 1896) is remembered for dynamite and the Nobel Prizes ... but the
family’s background is interesting ... he was the third son born in Sweden into a
family of engineers becoming a chemist, engineer and inventor.
His
father lost his engineering business in St Petersburg and with his wife and two
younger children (Alfred and Emil) moved back to Sweden.
 |
| Montage: St Petersburg |
Ludvig
(the 2nd eldest) stayed on in St Petersburg opening up an
engineering factory producing cast-iron shells, which then became the largest
manufacturer of gun carriages in Russia.
While
running the factory, Ludvig asked their elder brother, Robert, to explore
southern Russia for wood to make gun stocks for the Tsar’s military
requirements. Robert found oil instead,
and in 1876 they set up a distillery in Baku, Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea.
 |
| Baku 1861 |
Alfred had
joined in the various family engineering ventures in Sweden and Russia, Emil,
the youngest brother, had too – but was killed in an explosion during an
experiment.
Ludvig
Nobel was a strong humanitarian as well as business man, full of ideas and
vision. He introduced profit sharing and
worked actively to improve working conditions in his factories. His humanity and social approach was unique
for the time.
The
Nobel brothers must have influenced each other greatly for this humanitarian
legacy to be thought about let alone put into practice. Alfred’s fluency in languages, notably
English, French, German and Russian brought other attributes to the table.
 |
Sweden (dark green), Europe (light green) and
the eastern countries of Russia in dark gray |
They
invented all manner of things that are invaluable today ... plywood being one
of them ... oil tankers, and better refineries, pipelines ... and of course
explosives.
...
their Wikipedia pages make interesting reading on the development of the oil
industry via their investments in Baku and give an insight into life in
Scandinavia/ Eastern Europe/ Western Asia in the 1800s ... before the Russia we
know today came into existence.
Alfred
amassed a fortune during his lifetime, with most of his wealth coming from his
355 inventions and investments, of which dynamite is the most famous ... but he
also invented ballistite, a precursor to many smokeless military explosives,
especially the British smokeless powder ‘cordite’.
The
Nobel prizes came about by one of those unintended circumstances ... in 1888, Alfred
was astonished to read his own obituary, titled “The merchant of death is dead”, in a French newspaper.
 |
| Montage of Baku, Azerbaijan |
As it
was Alfred’s brother, Ludvig, who had died, Alfred’s obituary was eight years
premature ... but this inspired him to change his will ... he did not want to
be remembered as the merchant of death
...
In his
will, 1895, the Swedish philanthropist inventor Alfred Nobel established the
disposition of prizes .... for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine,
Literature, while the Peace prize came into being in 1901.
The
family agreed to Alfred’s investment in Baku being withdrawn, and this along
with his Swedish fortune enabled the Nobel Prizes to be established.
 |
| The Peace Prize logo |
Their
administration and management is under the auspices of the Nobel Foundation,
set up in 1900 ... while the selection of candidates and ultimate prize
winner/s (maximum of 3 for any one category) is overseen by the various
professional Swedish and Norwegian Committees.
So it
has been for over a century that Nobel’s desire for a better legacy has been
these prizes for those who confer the “greatest benefit of mankind” in the five
categories ...
The
journey from Olympia acknowledging sporting, artistic or cultural triumph rewarded
with olive and laurel wreaths, to Nobel Prizes measured in millions of dollars received by
candidates whose research has benefited mankind, to sporting records, perhaps
an Olympic medal, and who, we hope sincerely, will encourage all citizens to lead the best life possible for the benefit of all ...
perhaps ultimately to a Nobel Peace Prize ...
Hilary
Melton-Butcher
Positive
Letters Inspirational Stories
