Chemistry

Alfred Nobel

1833–1896 · Chemist and Inventor

A Swedish chemist who invented dynamite, then used his fortune to create the Nobel Prizes — rewarding those who benefit humanity.

“to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”

BORN

October 21st, 1833

NATIONALITY

Swedish

FIELD

Chemist and Inventor

SUBJECT

Chemistry

Why is this scientist famous?

Invented dynamite and founded the Nobel Prizes, the world’s most famous awards for scientific and cultural achievement.

Alfred's story

The Inventor's Son

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm in 1833, the third of four sons. His father, Immanuel Nobel, was an engineer and inventor who had gone bankrupt that same year, partly because a factory he built burned down. When Alfred was nine, his father moved to St. Petersburg in Russia to start a new business making explosives and naval mines for the Russian military. There, Alfred received a first-rate private education in chemistry, physics, and literature. He was fluent in Swedish, Russian, German, English, and French by his late teens. His father sent him abroad to study, and the young Alfred spent time in Paris working with the chemist Théophile-Jules Pelouze and in the United States under the Swedish-American inventor John Ericsson. He returned to the family business with a deep interest in nitroglycerine, a recently discovered explosive so unstable that even a small jolt could cause a devastating blast. Alfred became determined to tame it.

Taming Nitroglycerine

Nitroglycerine was extraordinarily powerful but far too dangerous for practical use. Explosions killed workers, destroyed factories, and killed Alfred's own younger brother Emil in 1864 when a shed he was working in blew up. Nobel experimented relentlessly. In 1867, he discovered that by mixing nitroglycerine with a porous mineral called diatomaceous earth, he could produce a mouldable explosive that was substantially safer and easier to transport and handle than liquid nitroglycerine. He called it dynamite, from the Greek word for power. Dynamite revolutionised construction, mining, and engineering — it made it possible to blast tunnels through mountains, dig canals, and build railways far faster than ever before. Nobel patented the invention and built factories across Europe. He went on to invent gelignite, a more powerful and flexible explosive, and ballistite, one of the earliest smokeless powders. By the 1880s he ran a growing network of explosives factories serving industrial and military buyers. Over his lifetime, he obtained 355 patents.

Planning His Legacy

Nobel accumulated a large fortune from his inventions and international businesses, but he also had strong interests in literature, science and peace. His correspondence shows that he thought deeply about how wealth and scientific progress might benefit humanity. He maintained a long friendship and correspondence with peace campaigner Bertha von Suttner, who later received the Nobel Peace Prize. On 27 November 1895 Nobel signed his final will in Paris, directing that the bulk of his estate should establish annual prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace.

The Most Famous Prizes in the World

Nobel's will caused an enormous controversy. His relatives were furious at being largely disinherited. The Swedish institutions he named as prize-awarding bodies were reluctant to take on the responsibility. The Swedish press attacked him for being unpatriotic — the peace prize, in particular, was criticised because it was to be awarded by a Norwegian committee. But Nobel's executors, two young engineers named Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljeqvist, fought doggedly to carry out his wishes. Nobel's will ultimately directed more than 31 million Swedish kronor, the largest share of his estate, into the fund for the prizes. On 10 December 1901 — the fifth anniversary of Nobel's death — the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in Stockholm and Oslo. Among the first laureates were Wilhelm Röntgen for physics (discovery of X-rays) and Emil von Behring for medicine (diphtheria treatment). The economics prize was added later, in 1968, funded by Sweden's central bank. Today the Nobel Prize is widely considered the highest honour a scientist, writer, or peacemaker can receive. The ceremony is held every year on 10 December — the day Alfred Nobel died.

What did they discover?

Dynamite

By mixing highly unstable nitroglycerine with diatomaceous earth, Nobel created a much safer and more manageable form of nitroglycerine-based explosive. It transformed mining, tunnelling, and construction worldwide.

Gelignite

A more powerful and flexible explosive than dynamite, gelignite could be used underwater and in harder rock, further expanding the reach of industrial blasting.

Ballistite

One of the earliest smokeless propellants, ballistite became a predecessor to modern gunpowder and had major military applications.

The Nobel Prizes

His will established annual prizes for the greatest contributions to physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace — funded from the bulk of the estate he directed into a prize fund and awarded annually since 1901.

Amazing facts

Nobel was fluent in five languages by his late teens: Swedish, Russian, German, English, and French.

He held 355 patents in his lifetime, covering explosives, rubber, leather, and artificial silk.

He never married. He maintained a long friendship and correspondence about peace with Bertha von Suttner, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905.

His younger brother Emil was killed in a nitroglycerine explosion in 1864 — a tragedy that only strengthened Alfred's determination to make the explosive safer.

He also wrote literature, including the play Nemesis; most printed copies were destroyed shortly after his death.

The Nobel Prize ceremony is always held on 10 December, the anniversary of his death, and the prize includes a gold medal, a diploma, and a sum of money.