BIOGRAPHY OF Alfred Nobel

                                                     

                                  Biography of  Alfred Nobel 

Alfred Nobel We remember him for the annual prizes thathe gifted to the world, but Alfred Nobel also left us with another legacy - explosives. He was the inventor of dynamite and its evenmore deadly incarnation, gelignite. They made him rich beyond his wildest dreams,but also left him with a tortured conscience. In this week’s Biographics, we examine thelife of Alfred Nobel.

                                      Early Years

 Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born on October21st, 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was a sickly child who almost died duringthe first week of birth. As it was, he was one of just four out ofeight children to survive. His illness kept him indoors while his threebrothers played outside. Alfred’s father, Immanuel, was an inventorand engineer, but he struggled to realize his ambitions and, as a result, the familystruggled to get by. Just three months prior to Alfred’s birth,his father had been forced to declare bankruptcy and shut down his business. Immanuel was now being chased by creditors. Things became almost unbearable when a fireravaged the family home. To help make ends meet, the Nobel childrenwere sent out onto the streets to sell matches. Alfred was an extremely pallid, sickly child. He suffered from epileptic convulsions alongwith a host of gastric diseases and debilitating migraine headaches. For the first six years of his life, Alfredwas schooled by his mother. He proved himself to be a gifted student fromthe start.

By the age of three he was able to read. From that time onward, he was rarely seenwithout a book in hand. He also had a great memory. When Alfred was four year old, his fathermoved to Russia in order to pursue a business venture. Immanuel had managed to get a meeting withthe Chairman of the Czar’s Committee for the Promotion of Industry and Trade. He steered the conversation towards landmines,his area of expertise, and was able to secure an invitation to Turku to meet some influentialpeople. Immanuel worked in Turku for two years, wherehe invented the product we know today as plywood. He then moved to St. Petersburg. There he was introduced to Czar Nicholas 1st. Seizing the opportunity, Immanuel told theCzar about his plans to develop a submerged explosive mine. Nicholas immediately saw the potential touse the invention to prevent enemy ships from entering into Russian waters.

A Change of Fortune Things were now looking up for the Nobels. With the money he received from the Russiangovernment as compensation for his development of the submerged explosive mine, Immanuelset up a mechanical workshop and armaments factory. As well as making the new mine, the factoryalso produced industrial tools and cannon shells. In 1842, when, Alfred was nine years old,Immanuel sent for his family to join him from Stockholm. The new life of the Nobel’s was vastly differentto what they had known in Sweden. Their St. Petersburg house was luxurious incomparison to their old home. Immanuel was now able to hire a tutor forhis sons.Unlike his brothers, Alfred was studious and intellectual. He was also intensely curious about the worldaround him. He loved the poetry of Percy Shelley, especiallythose concerned with the subjects of nature and justice. From these readings, he developed a deep desireto stand up to injustice. Alfred’s other loves were chemistry andlanguages. By the time he was seventeen, he could speakfive languages. His father also recognized in the boy a naturalaffinity for solving problems, marking Alfred as the most promising of his sons to followin his inventive footsteps.

 The boy loved nothing better than to spendhis time in his father’s factory, silently taking in everything that his dad was doing. Before long, his father allowed him to handlethe chemicals himself. Alfred’s tutors encouraged his passion forchemistry and literature. At the same time they coaxed him to come outof his shell socially. Largely as a result of his ill health he wasa painfully shy and introverted boy. Yet, with the help of his tutors, he beganto stretch himself academically in his mid teens. He began participating in debating clubs andstarted to share his passions with family members. Then, around the age of 15, he had a growthspurt which put him at the height of most of his peers. This went a long way to boost his confidence. In 1850, Immanuel paid for Alfred to studyin Paris. He had already been studying with chemistNikolai Zinin, and it was chemistry that he pursued in France. The Nitro Fascination In Paris, Alfred spent time with Ascanio Sobrero,who had recently invented nitroglycerin. Sobrero was totally opposed to any commercialuse of his invention due to its highly unpredictable explosive potential.

In fact, in later life he made the followingstatement about his invention . . . When I think of all the victims killed duringnitroglycerine explosions, and the terrible havoc that it has wreaked, which in all probabilitywill continue to occur in the future, I am almost ashamed to admit to being its discoverer. Sobrero’s aversion to his discovery didnot put off young Nobel. In fact, the reverse was true - the substancefascinated Alfred. Nobel also met a chemist by the name of JulesPelouze, who was fascinated with nitroglycerin and had a determination to bring it undercontrol. After a year in France, Alfred went to theUnited States to pursue his studies. There he worked with Swedish inventor JohnEriccson. Ericcson would go on to gain fame as the inventorof ironclad warships used in the civil war as well as the inventor of the screw propellor. Erricson filled Alfred’s mind with dreamsof what he could do if he was able to tame nitroglycerin. After a year in America, Alfred returned toSt. Petersburg. His family recognized a changed young man. His brother Ludwig recalled . . . Alfred had grown so that I hardly knew him.

 He is almost as tall as I, and his voice hasbecome so deep and strong that I didn’t recognize it. But Alfred did more than change physically. The young man who had left with lots of ideasbut little direction now had a goal - to turn nitroglycerin into a commercially usable blastingagent for use in tunnels and to create fear inspiring weapons of war that were so terriblethat nations would be deterred from ever going to war. First, though, Alfred had to help out thefamily. He worked alongside his brothers in one ofhis father’s factories. But the physical work proved too much forhis weakened body. He was often too sick to work. On one occasion. in 1854, he became so unwell that his fatherpacked him off to the spa town on Franzenbad to recuperate. By now, Immanuel’s business was flourishing. His submerged explosive mine was in high demand,along with other munitions, to supply the Russian forces fighting in the Crimean Warof 1853 through 56. By 1853, Immanuel was employing more thana thousand people in his factories and the Russian government was so pleased with himthat they awarded him the Imperial Gold Medal in recognition of his ‘diligence and creativeskill in Russian industry’.

In between overseeing his manufacturing empire,Immanuel found time to collaborate with Alfred on the nitroglycerine problem. But even, Immanuel, with his vast experience,could not find a safe way to detonate the substance. The end of the Crimean War in 1856 saw a sharpdownturn in business for the Nobel company. Immanuel was forced to change his focus fromarmaments production to churning out household and industrial implements. But still the business suffered. By 1859, Immanuel found himself facing bankruptcyfor the second time. He closed the factory, liquidated his assetsand moved with his wife and youngest son, Emil, back to Sweden. Alfred and his two older brother, Ludwig andRobert, stayed on in St. Petersburg. Twenty-eight year old Ludwig was given thejob of consolidating and running the remnant of the Nobel’s Russian operation. He rebranded the company as the Ludwig NobelMechanical Factory. Alfred spent about four hours each day helpingout with the family business. The rest of the day he worked on his passionto tame nitroglycerine. Dynamite! Alfred’s first step was to learn to createnitroglycerin himself. By 1861, he had accomplished that goal. After spending up to 18 hours a day in a smallfactory building, the first breakthrough came when he discovered how to transport nitroglycerinsafely - by first soaking it in coal dust. Now, suddenly, nitroglycerin was a viableexplosive. Engineering companies from all over the worldcame to the Nobel Company to purchase the product - and the money started rolling in. Alfred’s next challenge was to find a safeway to detonate nitroglycerin. In September, 1864 tragedy struck the SwedishNobel company factory.

A vat of nitroglycerin had been overheated. In the resulting explosion five people werekilled, including Alfred’s younger brother, Emil. Alfred, himself, was working in the buildingnext door, and he suffered minor injuries in the disaster. Rather than being put off working with nitroglycerin,Alfred threw himself into making the explosive safer. To give up now would be ,in his view, to allowhis brother to have died in vain. In 1865, he built a factory in Hamburg, Germany. It so happened that the soil around the Hamburgfactory was special - it contained minute particles of fossils. When nitroglycerin was poured onto the soil,it turned it into a doughy consistency. This process, in effect, put the nitroglycerinto sleep. In order to wake it up for detonation purposes,Nobel invented the blasting cap. Alfred knew that a fuse could not be useddirectly to detonate nitroglycerin, but that gunpowder could detonate it. A fuse could be used to detonate the gunpowderwhich would then ignite the nitroglycerin. By 1867, he had mastered the use of smallcopper capsules of mercury fulminate, which was ignited by a fuse to detonate nitroglycerin. This blasting cap would wake up the nitroglycerinwhich was packed in a doughy soil base.

Nobel called the combination of nitroglycerin,blasting cap and soil ‘dynamite’. Nobel patented dynamite and began to put iton the commercial market. It was an immediate success, with engineersfrom all over the world clamoring to get their hands on it. Virtually overnight, Alfred became rich beyondhis wildest dreams. Fabulous Wealth We can get an idea of high much money camein by an anecdote, apparently true, concerning his housemaid’s wedding. When Alfred asked her what she would likefor a gift, the very astute girl replied, ‘As much as you make in a day’. The following day, Nobel gave her a checkfor $100,000. Alfred himself never married, though he didhave at least three great loves throughout his life. While living in Russia in his early twentieshe fell for a Russian girl by the name of Alexandria. Painfully shy, he finally built up the gumptionto tell the girl how he felt about her, but his affections were roundly rejected. The rebuff hurt him badly, and for the nexttwenty years, he refused to let his heart be broken again. Nobel consciously portrayed himself as a hermitand an eccentric. He once wrote the following about himself. . . I am a misanthrope and yet utterly benevolent,have more than one screw loose, yet am a super idealist who digests philosophy more efficientlythan food. Even though he had enough money to purchaseanything he wanted, Alfred was rather frugal.

This may have been a reflection of the extremepoverty that he experienced in his childhood. He had no interest in purchasing such personaltokens of wealth as elegant carriages, clothing or food, but would invest liberally in newestates and business ventures. Nobel was known to have a temper. He was a man who did not suffer fools withmany occasions being recorded when he was rude with people, usually those who workedfor him. He was a get to the point type of guy, yethe also had the ability to charm potential investors when the need warranted it. The Women in His Life In 1876, Alfred, apparently tired of his lifeof solitude, placed an advertisement in the newspaper that read as follows . . . Wealthy, highly educated gentleman seeks ladyof mature age, versed in languages as secretary and supervisor of household. After interviewing a number of applicants,Alfred employed a woman by the name of Bertha Kinsky. Thirty three year old Bertha was extremelyattractive and Nobel was immediately attracted to her. He was also taken with her obvious intelligenceand wit. But Bertha did not return her employer's affections.

In fact, she had a fiancee. After a few months, probably feeling ill atease with the situation, she resigned as Nobel’s secretary. Still, the two remained friends and they maintainedan active letter correspondence right up until the time of Nobel’s death. Bertya, in fact, became the recipient of theNobel Peace Prize in 1905. Some weeks after Bertha left his employ, Nobelmet a young woman by the name of Sofie Hess. Despite the fact that Alfred was 43 and Sofiewas just twenty they entered into a relationship that was to last for eighteen years. Apparently embarrassed by the age gap, Nobelkept the relationship secret. The age difference was not the only thingthat seemed to work against the relationship. Sofie was uncouth, uneducated and ill mannered. Their relationship was a toxic one. In 1891, Sofie became pregnant to anotherman but Alfred held out hope for their relationship until she married the child’s father threeyears later.

 Even then, he sent her an annual allowanceof 6,000 florins. International Businessman Nobel never had any children. Despite his immense wealth, he filled hisdays with work, often going nonstop for twenty hours. In 1875 he invented gelignite, which provedto be a safer explosive than dynamite. In the late 1860’s Alfred set up a numberof plants across Europe and the United States. In June, 1866, he started the United StatesBlasting Oil Company, the first nitro company in the US. He also spent increasing amounts of time andmoney protecting his patented inventions from fraudsters who tried to make money off hishard work. Alfred was convinced that his invention ofdynamite would ultimately be for the good of mankind, saying that . . . My dynamite will sooner lead to peace thana thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armes can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide in golden peace. As history has borne out, his faith in mankindwas sadly misplaced. In 1869, while traveling in France, Nobelmet Paul Barbe, a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique. Barbe, who came from an affluent family, wasfascinated with Nobel’s dynamite and proposed a partnership.

He offered to finance the production of dynamitein France and told Nobel that he wanted to learn how to produce it himself. He had Nobel’s interest, mainly becauseFrance was envied in the industry for the state monopoly that it held over explosivesproduction. The two men came to an agreement by whichall profits would be split 50:50. The French enterprise was a success and hadsoon expanded to factories in Spain, Switzerland and Italy. In 1868, Alfred set his sights on establishinga dynamite company in England. He considered this to be the prime location,as it would open up the whole British Empire as his new market. He spent several months travelling aroundBritain’s mining districts looking for suitable factory locations. The best chances for investment came fromScotland. After much negotiation, the British DynamiteCompany was founded. In 1871, Alfred purchased a four storey mansionand estate in Paris. As well as a greenhouse for his prize orchidsand stables for his beloved horses, the estate had a private laboratory.

 For the next decade, Alfred spent the bulkof his time working in this lab, along with his assistant Georges Fehrenbach. It was here that he discovered what he consideredto be dynamite 2.0 - gelignite. Gelignite was not only more stable than dynamite- it caused a greater explosion and was easier to shape. Overall, gelignite was also much safer andeasier to handle than dynamite. The new invention was an even greater successthan dynamite and it caused even more money to flow into the Nobel coffers. In 1881, Alfred had grown dissatisfied withthe facilities in his Parisa mansion laboratory. He bought another estate, this one locatedsome 15 miles from Paris in the town of Sevran. Here he built a larger and better equippedlab. He based himself at Sevran, but ran into problemswith the French authorities when he refused to comply with their new regulations and policies,which he considered to be unnecessarily restrictive. Amazingly, the French government charged himwith ‘high crimes and treason’. He was forced to close his new lab in Sevranand left for Italy. The French government forbade him from everworking in their country again. Prior to his ouster from France, Alfred hadbeen working on his latest invention, ballistite. He continued this work at his new lab in SanRemo, Italy. Ballistite was a smokeless propellant thatcombined nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. The rights to the new explosive were leasedto the Italian government, who began using M1890 Vetterli rifles, which used cartridgesthat were loaded with ballistite.

A Shocking Realization Alfred’s brother Ludwig died in 1888. The newspapers, however, reported that itwas the far more famous Alfred who had passed away. As a result, Nobel had the rare experienceof reading his own obituary. What he read shocked him to the core. Virtually every newspaper that he looked atseemed to glory in his supposed demise. One French headline announced . . . The Merchant of Death is Dead. Another report stated . . . Dr. Alfred Nobel (the mutilator), who becamerich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday. Nobel was devastated at the realization thatthe end result of his life's work was to be worldwide condemnation. He decided that he had to do something toturn around his reputation in whatever time he had left. In 1893, Alfred employed a personal assistantby the name of Ragnar Solman and and appointed him as executor of his will. The two men worked diligently on the documentover the next two years. Then, on November 27th, 1895, Alfred signedthe will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris. It was a will like no other.. Alfred left 94 percent of his total wealth- the equivalent of 265 million 2018 dollars - to the awarding of a number of annual prizesto individuals who, according to the will . . . during the preceding year, have conferredthe greatest benefit on mankind.

The will spelled out five categories - physics,medicine, chemistry, literature and peace. The peace prize was to to be given to . . . The person who has done the most, or the bestwork, for fraternity between the nations and abolition or reduction of standing armiesand the formation and spreading of peace congresses. Today, there is a sixth category, economics,but this was not added until the end of the 20th century. Death and a Legacy In his late 50’s, Nobel’s health issuesincreasingly caused him problems. His heart was especially weak. In an attempt to self medicate, he began administeringdoses of nitroglycerin. This quite likely contributed to his deterioratingstate. His body finally gave out on December, 10,1896., following a stroke. He was 63 years of age. The Nobel Prizes began to be awarded in five years later.