An unusual monument was erected on Petrogradskaya Square in St. Petersburg. It is a bronze tree of a bizarre shape, the roots of which go into granite. A large bird sits in the branches. On the edge of the pedestal there is the inscription Alfred Nobel. The biography of this person is filled with a variety of events. Let's look at some of them.

Memorable place

The embankment on the Vyborg side is directly related to the life and work of Alfred Nobel. Here, until 1999, there was a world-famous engineering plant. It was founded in 1862 by Ludwig Nobel. Alfred - a great scientist - is his younger brother. The family stayed in Russia for quite a long time. The father, together with his sons, was engaged in the industrial production of engines, components for mechanisms and machines. They also worked in the oil sector. They established the extraction, processing and transportation of raw materials. The family took an active part in equipping Russian fleet and armies with shells, mines, bombs. Meanwhile, the Nobels were involved not only in commerce. They also devoted a lot of money and effort to charitable causes. They established various scholarships, financed research, and maintained medical, cultural and educational institutions.

Family

The future great scientist spent his childhood in Stockholm. His father was Emmanuel Nobel. By 1842, Alfred was one of 4 children who survived when they arrived in Russia. The need to move was due to the plight of the family. My father was very talented. He understood construction, architecture and many other areas. He tried his best to provide for his family. The latest attempt was the opening of an enterprise for the production of elastic fabrics. However, things didn’t work out, so the family moved first to Finland, which was part of Russia at that time, and then to St. Petersburg. I actually grew up here Alfred Nobel. Nationality did not prevent him from subsequently achieving outstanding success.

Stay in Russia

At that time the Empire was on the rise. The era of formation and development of industry began in Russia. The family got used to the new place quite quickly. My father began producing lathes and equipment for them. In addition, he was engaged in the production of metal cases for mines invented by him. The family settled in big house. Teachers were hired for the children. All of Emmanuel's sons were hardworking and talented people. From an early age he showed a love for work and Alfred Nobel. Interesting facts about him early years can be found in different sources. In one of them, for example, it is indicated that the future scientist was fluent in several languages. Among them were Russian, English, German and French. At the age of 17, Alfred headed to the USA, Germany and France. For three years he continued his education.

Alfred Nobel: biography of a scientist

After three years of study abroad, he returned to Russia and got a job at his father’s company, which produced ammunition for the Crimean campaign. At the end of the war in 1856, the manufactory required urgent reorganization. This was done by brothers Robert and Ludwig. The parents and their younger children returned to Sweden. Started in Stockholm new era for the family. The parents settled on an estate in the suburbs of Stockholm. An experimental laboratory was created here. The elder Nobel conducted his experiments with detonation there. Alfred soon joined his father in research. Black powder was used as the only explosive at that time. At the same time, the properties of nitroglycerin have already been described. It was first synthesized in 1847 by the Italian chemist Ascaño Sobrero. However, it was impossible to use nitroglycerin as intended. The danger lay in the rapid transition of the substance into an explosive gas from any state.

First achievements

The bulk of the experiments were carried out by Emmanuel Nobel. Alfred first looked for sponsors. In 1861 the philanthropist was found. He gave the researchers 100 thousand francs. It is worth saying, however, that Alfred was not particularly interested in working with explosive compounds. But at the same time, he could not refuse his father’s help. After 2 years, Alfred Bernhard Nobel created the first device that makes it possible to safely work with nitroglycerin. The substance was placed in a separate, sealed container. The detonator was placed in the adjacent compartment - the capsule, which was subsequently cast from metal. The created device almost completely eliminated the possibility of a spontaneous explosion. With its subsequent improvement, black powder began to be replaced with mercury. During one of the experiments, an explosion occurred, which killed 8 people, including Alfred's younger brother, Emil. The father took the death of his son very hard. Some time later, there was a stroke that confined him to bed for almost 7 years. Emmanuel Nobel was never able to get back on his feet and died in 1872 at the age of 71.

Love of books

Alfred Nobel was noted for his love of reading. In his library he included not only scientific works different authors, but also classical works. Nobel was very fond of French and Russian writers. Among them were Hugo, Balzac, Maupassant. Nobel read Turgenev's novels in both Russian and French. It is worth saying that he was not only a chemist, but also a philosopher. Nobel had a doctorate.

Writing

Alfred Nobel also showed interest in him. Dynamite, a substance he patented, was not the goal of all his activities. In general, we can say that commerce was a means of subsistence, and not a favorite pastime. It is quite possible that he would have become a writer. Unfortunately, only one of his works has survived - a play in verse about Beatrice of Chechnya ("Nemesis").

Work after father's death

All, what Alfred Nobel invented, brought him big income. At the same time, he himself exercised control over technological processes, selected personnel for the enterprise, corresponded with partners. Nobel showed exceptional responsibility. He monitored accounting operations, advertising campaigns, product sales, and participated in negotiations with suppliers. Alfred Nobel's inventions used in a variety of industrial sectors. At the same time, the scientist saw great prospects in the use of explosive compounds for peaceful purposes. Thus, Nobel's dynamite was used in the mountainous region of Sera Nevada to lay railroad tracks.

First foreign enterprise

It was founded in 1865. The main office was in Hamburg. It is worth saying that working with explosive compounds is never without accidents. The new enterprise was no exception. Nobel was forced to constantly address security issues. His greatest desire was to create explosives that would be used exclusively for peaceful purposes.

Trip to America

Nobel went to the USA in 186. Here he wanted to found a new enterprise. However, the business world did not really please the entrepreneur. He formed the opinion that local businessmen were too keen on getting money. Because of this, the pleasure of communicating with them was lost. Actions taken American businessmen, clouded the joy of cooperation and constantly reminded them of their true goals.

Successful experiment

In 1867, safe explosives were finally created. Nobel patented dynamite. It was a powder containing nitroglycerin and a chemically inert substance. The latter was the mineral kieselguhr. These are the fossilized remains of a diatom (sea plant). Dynamite was poured into drilled holes and exploded using a cord connected to a detonator. This allowed a person to be on safe distance from the epicenter. Nobel's invention is still used in various fields today.

Ballistitis

He became the next discovery. After dynamite, explosive jelly was created. It was a mixture of gunpowder and nitroglycerin. Subsequently, Nobel created ballistite - a smokeless explosive. A few years later it was improved by Ael and Dewar. They created cordite based on ballistite. The scientists patented their invention as a novelty. However, this was incorrect, since its basis was ballistite. Nobel tried to challenge the patent in court, but the English government opposed it, and the scientist lost. It is worth saying that he often had to enter into such conflicts.

Public views

Nobel opposed granting voting rights to women. He expressed great doubts about the wisdom and effectiveness of the democratic model. At the same time, Nobel was against despotism. The workers of his enterprises were socially protected many times better than the staff of other owners. Nobel believed that a well-educated, well-fed and healthy person with high moral principles would bring much more benefit to the cause than a grossly exploited mass of illiterate people. He spent a lot of money on creating conditions for normal operation. Special attention he paid attention to safety measures. Contemporaries called him a socialist. Although he didn’t consider himself that way.

Good of society

Nobel believed that all his inventions should be used for peaceful purposes. In the second half of the 19th century, the steam engine was created. Its appearance gave a huge impetus to the development of the economy. As a result, railways began to be built everywhere and tunnels were made. All of these works used Nobel's dynamite. The explosive was used to clear canals and deepen the bottom of reservoirs when laying shipping routes. If we talk about the military sphere, Nobel believed that if both sides had the same weapons, then there would be no clashes.

Error in obituary

At the beginning of his career as an industrial magnate, Nobel did not plan to bequeath his capital to charitable causes. However, his views changed in his declining years. Ludwig died in 1888. The newspapers mistakenly reported Alfred's death. At the same time, he was called a merchant of death, a man who made his fortune from blood. These messages greatly shocked Nobel's mother. She fell ill and died a year later. Of course, Alfred himself also could not remain indifferent to the articles. He moved to Italy. There Nobel settled in San Remo, in a secluded villa. On it he equipped a laboratory and conducted experiments on the synthesis of artificial silk and rubber.

Last will

During his years in San Remo, the scientist and entrepreneur began to think about how to manage his fortune. By that time it was acting reliable system management of enterprises, control over the distribution of profits was carried out. Overseeing all this himself is considered the key achievement of this man. In his last will, he indicated that most of his fortune should go to rewards great scientists and people whose activities are aimed at strengthening peace. 31 million Swedish marks - the amount allocated for this Alfred Nobel. Nobel Prize was established in the fields of chemistry, physics, medicine/physiology. A reward was also given to the person who created an outstanding literary work. A fifth should be given to someone who has made a significant contribution to the abolition of slavery, the unity of peoples, the promotion of peace and the reduction of the number of armies. Alfred Nobel's will contained his special wish. He pointed out that the reward should be given to a person regardless of his nationality. That is, the main criterion should be achievement, and not belonging to any country.

Women

Of course, the personality of this man aroused great interest among his contemporaries. And if about his entrepreneurial and scientific activity was known to everyone, the intimate side was carefully hidden from outsiders. It is not even possible to establish from existing sources whether Alfred Nobel was married. This man's personal life, however, took place. His first love was Anna Desri. She was the daughter of a pharmacist. There is evidence that Nobel even wanted to get married. There are two versions explaining the reasons that the marriage did not take place. According to one of them, Anna fell ill and died. According to another, she started an affair with a certain Lemarge, a mathematician. According to rumors, this is precisely the reason for the absence of achievements in this discipline in the premium set. Another woman for whom the scientist had tender feelings was Sarah Bernhardt. Nobel saw her at a performance and fell in love. Another woman who captivated Nobel was Sophie Hess. She was only 20. She worked in flower shop. This novel might not have been known if Hess had not made a claim to the inheritance after Nobel’s death. According to sources, she was in his custody for 19 years. Hess introduced herself to her neighbors as Madame Nobel. However, the relationship was not officially registered. In 1876, Nobel met Bertha Kinski. They could well have gotten engaged, but for unknown reasons this did not happen. It is known that it was Bertha who inspired Nobel to establish the prize. It is worth saying that they supported good relationship right up to last day his life. Bertha Kinski was among the first people to receive the Peace Prize. She actively participated in the cause of preserving humanity from the beginning of the Third World War.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896)

The word dynamite in Greek means "strength". This explosive, which consists of nitroglycerin, potassium or sodium nitrate and wood flour, depending on the volume, can destroy a car, a house, or destroy a rock. Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemical engineer Alfred Nobel, who patented it in 1867 and proposed using it for tunneling. This invention made Nobel famous throughout the world and brought him enormous income. In 1895, he made a will, according to which the majority of his capital was allocated for prizes for outstanding achievements in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and peace.

In 1842, his youngest son, 9-year-old Alfred, came to St. Petersburg to visit the Swedish owner of a company producing steam engines in Russia, Emmanuel Nobel, from Stockholm. He was sent to a private school. Alfred was a good student, interested in chemistry and physics, and all free time spent at his father's company. When he turned 17, he was sent to study in Germany. The father wanted his youngest son to become acquainted with the basics of chemistry and physics at German universities. After Germany, Alfred trained in Paris, then went to the USA, where he worked at the factory of the famous inventor of Swedish origin, John Erickson, and became acquainted with the production of steam engines and steamships.

Nobel returned to St. Petersburg in 1853 and began working in his father’s company, which at that time specialized in the production of ammunition - Russia was fighting a difficult Crimean War (1853-1856). After the war, the demand for military products subsided, there were few orders for parts for steamships, which they produced before the war, and Alfred and his parents returned to their homeland in Stockholm. He spent all his free time in a small laboratory that his father made for him. There he experimented with chemicals. He was interested in explosions. He tried to tame nitroglycerin and made a special detonator for it.

As a result of numerous experiments, the detonator was obtained - a small metal capsule filled with mercury. From the compound of nitroglycerin and various organic matter Nobel obtained an explosive substance which he called dynamite. The discovery was made. Nobel patented it in 1867 and immediately proposed it to the Swedish government. railways use explosives to build tunnels. Considering natural conditions country, its mountainous terrain, this was very relevant.

Dynamite immediately demonstrated its excellent penetration properties. Directed explosions made it possible to lay in the Alps near Mont Blanc (the very high mountain V Western Europe, 4808 m) road tunnel 11.6 kilometers long, clear the Danube bed, build the Corinth Canal in Greece, remove underwater rocks in the navigable East River Strait in New York.

With the help of dynamite, drilling work was carried out in the Baku oil fields, where Nobel’s two older brothers worked, who were called “Russian Rockefellers” for the money they earned from this.

Dynamite production plants were built in Europe and overseas. Nobel himself owned 20 similar manufactories. But dynamite began to be actively used not only for engineering structures, but also in military affairs. Nobel made a significant fortune from all this.

In 1873, Nobel went to Paris, where he had a small chemical laboratory, and from there he ran his companies. In the late 1880s, he patented a new, more powerful explosive - smokeless gunpowder, which was called "ballistite". He sold his patent to the Italian government, and immediately had a conflict with the French government. He was accused of fraud, and the laboratory was searched. Angered by these actions, Alfred left France in 1891 and moved to San Remo on the Italian Riviera.

Nobel never married, lived as a hermit, remained unpretentious in everyday life, spoke fluent French, German, Russian and English languages, strived for peaceful life, worldwide fame weighed heavily on him. Among the orange trees of his villa, he created a new chemical laboratory. Soon he began to suffer from pain in his heart, he felt general fatigue, and he developed angina. Nobel died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

In 1888, reporters from a French newspaper mistakenly published a report about Nobel's death. He was called a “millionaire on blood”, “merchant of death”, “dynamite king”. This made a strong impression on the businessman; he did not want to remain in the memory of mankind as a “villain on a global scale.” On November 27, 1895, at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Nobel signed a will, according to which most of his fortune was to be used to establish international prizes for achievements in the main branches of science, literature, and for activities to strengthen peace.

Alfred Nobel short biography outlined in this article.

Alfred Nobel short biography

Alfred Bernhard Nobel- Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor of dynamite

Nobel's father was an experienced engineer and an outstanding inventor, and tried to found profitable business in Sweden. In 1842, the family moved to St. Petersburg, where the father headed the production of explosives. In Russia, Alfred's wealthy parents hire private teachers. He easily masters chemistry and speaks fluently, in addition to his native Swedish, English, French, German and Russian.

In 1850, when Alfred reached the age of 17, he went on a trip during which he visited Europe and then the United States. In Paris he studied chemistry, and in the USA he met John Ericsson, the Swedish inventor of the steam engine. After 3 years, returning to St. Petersburg, Alfred Nobel began working in his father’s company, which specialized in the production of ammunition during the Crimean War. At the end of the war, the company began to produce parts for ships being built on the Caspian Sea and the Volga River. Returning to Sweden with his family, Alfred devoted all his time to mechanical and chemical experiments.

In 1863, Alfred managed to invent a detonator, which made it possible to use gunpowder to explode nitroglycerin. This invention created his reputation and increased his prosperity. He became the richest chemist in history. But a successful invention turns into tragedy. His Stockholm laboratory is blown up. His brother Emil and his close friend, chemist Hetzman, are killed in a powerful explosion.

Nobel never entertained the idea that dynamite would be used not only in construction and mining work, but also for the destruction of people. The news of the latter caused the inventor a heart attack. Subsequently, he repeatedly made unsuccessful attempts to ban the use of this explosive for military purposes.

In the eighties years XIX century Nobel invents smokeless gunpowder. All European countries began to purchase this explosive.

Nobel continues to invent. Total number his patents reach 355. Nobel also experimented with artificial substitutes for silk, leather and rubber.

In 1891, having fallen out with France, Nobel established his residence in San Remo. There he built a small chemical laboratory, and in 1894 he acquired an ironworks in Verland. At the same time, Alfred began to feel pain in his heart. He consulted doctors in Paris and was warned about the development of angina pectoris (the heart muscle is not supplied with enough oxygen). Nobel tried to finish and left a handwritten note of his dying wish.

On December 10, 1896, Alfred Nobel died at his villa in San Remo, Italy, of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 63 years old.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator and weapons manufacturer.

Nobel's most important invention was the creation of dynamite.

He also owned the Swedish metallurgical concern Bofors Arms Company, which was a major manufacturer of guns and other weapons. Nobel's multiple inventions were registered in the development and application of 350 different patents. He bequeathed his successful arms business and acquired property posthumously to the Institute Nobel Prize. Additionally, the synthetic element Nobelium was named after him. His name also survives in today's vast international industrial empires, such as the German firm Dynamit Nobel and the Dutch-Swedish group Akzo Nobel.

Life and career

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, the fourth son of an inventor and engineer. The family was poor, and only Alfred and his three brothers survived their childhood. Since childhood, the boy was interested in mechanical engineering, explosives, and studying the basic principles of mechanics, physics, and chemistry at a young age. Alfred Nobel inherited his interest in technology from his father, a graduate of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

After various business failures, Nobel's father moved to St. Petersburg in 1837 and in 1842 the family and the future inventor of dynamite joined him in the city. Now the parents of an already prosperous family were able to send the future inventor to private tutors and the boy excelled in his studies, especially in the field of chemistry and languages, achieving fluency in English, French, German and Russian. As a young man, he studied with the famous Russian organic chemist Nikolai Zinin, and then, in 1850, went to Paris to study further work. At age 18, he went to the United States for four years to study chemistry, collaborating for a short period with the Swedish-American inventor and mechanical engineer John Ericsson who was developing warships.

Future inventor Nobel filed his first patent in 1857.

The family plant produced weapons for the Crimean War (1853 - 1856), but when fighting They ended up filing for bankruptcy. In 1859, Nobel's father left his factory to his second son, Ludwig (1831-1888), who greatly improved the business. His entire family and parents returned to Sweden from Russia and the future founder of the Nobel Prize began studying explosives. Due to the special danger of the substances, the manufacture and use of nitroglycerin (discovered in 1847 by Ascanio Sobrero, one of his fellow students at the University of Paris) was special. Nobel invented the detonator in 1863 and the fuse in 1865.

On September 3, 1864, a room used to prepare nitroglycerin exploded at a factory in Stockholm, killing five people, including his younger brother. Nobel continued to build further factories with an emphasis on improving the stability of the explosives he was developing.

Nobel's main invention, dynamite, was registered in 1867.

The substance is easier and safer to handle than the more unstable nitroglycerin. Dynamite has been patented in the US and UK and is widely used in mining and transport networks internationally.

In 1875, Nobel's invention was gelignite, a more stable and powerful substance than dynamite, and in 1887 he patented ballistic smokeless gunpowder.

Inventor Nobel was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1884, which would later select laureates for the Nobel Prizes. The future founder received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in 1893.

Brothers Ludwig and Robert, thanks to exploited oil fields along the Caspian Sea, became extremely wealthy in their own right. The inventor of dynamite invested his accumulated wealth by developing these new oil regions.

During his lifetime, Nobel registered 350 patents internationally and created 90 weapons factories, despite his belief in pacifism.

In 1888, the death of his brother Ludwig changed his attitude towards wealth. The newspaper erroneously published an obituary that dynamite inventor Alfred "the merchant of death is dead." After reading his own obituary and evaluating his activities, the inventor created a fund that will be given to those who brought greatest benefit to people.

In 1891, after the death of his mother and his brother Ludwig, Nobel moved from Paris to San Remo, Italy. Suffering from a sore throat, Nobel died at home from a hemorrhage in 1896. Having no family, he left most of his wealth in trust to fund the awards that became known as the Nobel Prize.

Nobel's inventions and discoveries

Nobel's discovery was that when nitroglycerin is combined with an absorbent inert substance like diatomaceous earth (rock) it becomes safer and more easily processed, a mixture he patented in 1867 as "dynamite." The inventor demonstrated his explosive for the first time in his career in Surrey, England. In order to improve the image of his business from the controversy associated with dangerous explosives, the scientist lived for some time next to dynamite.

Later, the inventor, in combination with various nitrocellulose compounds, settled on more effective recipe and received a transparent jelly, which was a more powerful explosive than dynamite. "Gelignite" or explosive gelatin, as it was called, was patented in 1876 and thereafter there were many similar combinations, variations and additions of potassium nitrate and various other substances.

Gelignite was a more stable, transportable and convenient format to fit into drilling and mining holes than previously used compounds and was adopted as the standard technology for mining in the age of engineering. This brought a large amount of financial success in the form of money. Research led to the development of ballistic agents, the forerunner of many modern smokeless explosives still used as fuel today.

Nobel Prize

In 1888, the scientist's brother Ludwig died while visiting Cannes and a French newspaper mistakenly published an obituary for Alfred. The newspaper condemned him for inventing dynamite and he decided to leave his best legacy after his death as the Nobel Prize.

On November 27, 1895, while visiting the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Nobel signed his last will and testament, in which he set aside the bulk of his property for the creation of the Nobel Prizes, awarded annually without distinction of nationality.

After taxes, the bequest was allocated 94% of his total assets in the amount of SEK 31,225,000 to establish five Nobel Prizes. This converted to $250,000,000 ($250 million) at the time.

The annual Nobel Prize is worth just over $1 million.

A total of five awards: The first three of these prizes are awarded for services in physical science, chemistry and medicine or physiology, the fourth for literary work, and the fifth prize is given to the individual or society who renders the greatest service to the cause of international brotherhood, in the suppression or reduction of armies, institutions, or the achievement of peace.

In his will, the founder stipulates that the money goes for discoveries or inventions in natural sciences and discoveries or improvements in chemistry. He opened the door to technological solutions, but left no instructions on how to interpret the differences between science and technology.

Because scientific bodies make decisions, prizes go to scientists more often than to engineers, technicians and other inventors.

Since 1996, the Bank of Sweden has included a prize in economics named after Alfred Nobel, although there was nothing about economists in the founder's will.

In 2001, a great-nephew, Peter Nobel (b. 1931), asked the Bank of Sweden to differentiate the award for economists. This request adds to the controversy over whether the Bank of Sweden is allowed to award premiums in the field economic sciences named after the memory of Alfred Nobel and called the “Nobel Prize”.

The invention of dynamite was outstanding.

Almost all people in the world know about Alfred Nobel today. His famous Nobel Prize is sought by researchers and scientists. This is exactly how this amazing man entered world history.

Although many also know that he also invented the great Alfred Nobel is dynamite during his lifetime. Biography of Nobel – interesting story life of the inventor and personality.

On October 21, 2833, the future famous chemist and inventor, engineer and founder of a huge world-scale prize, Alfred Bernhard Nobel, was born in the Swedish city of Stockholm. Biography of this interesting person surprises many biographers to this day.

Alfred was born to the family of Emmanuel and Andrietta Nobel, who had a total of eight offspring. But only four remained alive: Alfred, Robert, Emil and Ludwig.

Although later, at the age of twenty, during experiments with dynamite discovered by Alfred Nobel, another son of the Nobel couple, Emil, dies. This grief paralyzes the father of the family and leaves a deep, bitter mark in the soul of Alfred himself. But he still does not give up his ideas and makes discoveries one after another.

Key dates in the life of the founder of the famous Nobel Prize

A brief biography of Alfred Nobel can be represented by the following main events:

• 1842 - the Nobel family moved to St. Petersburg. Alfred Nobel develops the idea of ​​​​producing torpedoes.
• 1849 - Alfred Nobel begins studying in Europe and America. For two years the young man travels around the world, visiting Denmark, Italy, Germany, France, and then America.
• 1851 – return to Russia. Alfred Nobel becomes a manufacturer, fulfilling orders for the Russian army.
• 1853 – Crimean War helps the Nobel family business make good profits and enter its heyday.
• 1859 - Ludwig Emmanuel Nobel becomes a manufacturer. Due to bankruptcy family business Alfred returns to Sweden with his father and begins to work closely on explosives. At the same time, he receives a loan of 100 thousand francs and begins research work in the field of chemistry, conducting experiments and inventing new elements, compounds and mixtures.
• 1868 - Alfred Nobel discovers dynamite, consisting of a mixture of nitroglycerin with other substances that have the ability to absorb it.
• 1876 ​​- discovery of “explosive jelly” - a combination of nitroglycerin with collodion. This “jelly” had a stronger explosiveness than the previously discovered dynamite. The following years were full of discoveries of other combinations of nitroglycerin with substances. The first smokeless powder, called ballistite, was a huge leap forward that dynamite left far behind. Ballistitis is followed by the discovery of cordite.
• 1889 – participation in the World Peace Congress.
• 1894, 1895 - legal proceedings over Nobel's statement that cordite was already included in his previously registered patent of discoveries.
• 1896, December 10, villa in San Remo in Italy - Alfred Nobel died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of sixty-three. Nobel's grave is located in Stockholm's Norra Begrävningsplatsen cemetery.

This is the fate of Alfred Nobel, presented in a short biography greatest man with a worldwide reputation.

Interesting but little known fact

Few people know, but Alfred Nobel not only invented dynamite and established a personal prize, he revealed his dramatic talent. True, the biography of Nobel the playwright cannot boast of an extensive list of works he created. The bulk of the works he wrote - novels, poems, plays - were never published. Only one work is known - a play about Beatrice Cenci called “Nemesis”, which he completed before his death.

This tragedy in four acts was met with hostility by the clergy, so the entire circulation of the publication, published in 1896, was destroyed after Nobel’s death, with the exception of three copies.

But, fortunately, in Sweden in 2003 a bilingual edition of the play was published, written both in Swedish, and in Esperanto. And in 2005, the world had the good fortune to get acquainted with this work, played on the Stockholm stage in memory of the great scientist on the day of his death.

This fact speaks volumes about how versatile this amazing man Alfred Nobel was. And it will seem quite surprising to many that the famous inventor and chemist was seriously thinking about giving up his research and experiments and taking the path of writing.

I wonder if the world's population would have benefited or lost then? After all, perhaps dynamite would not have been invented then or would have been invented much later. And instead we would receive many talented works of the highest level...

The character of a world-famous person

Alfred Nobel surprised his contemporaries with his controversial character. Not everyone understood his paradoxical behavior. Being quite wealthy, Alfred gravitated towards a Spartan lifestyle and longed for solitude. Indeed, in the era of developing capitalism, many successful businessmen were not like that.

However, fate seemed to deliberately place him in conditions that disgusted him. Life forced Nobel, who could not stand the hustle and bustle of the city, to spend most of his time in cities. Being a homebody and preferring to think in quiet solitude, Alfred Nobel spent a lot of time traveling around the world.

Working on explosives and mixtures, Alfred Nobel was opposed to murder and violence, and carried out enormous work in the name of peace on earth. But the fact remains: dynamite was discovered by him.

Alfred Nobel surprised his contemporaries by leading a healthy lifestyle, as they would say today. He had a negative attitude towards alcohol, smoking, gambling.

At that time, the bigwigs, by and large, were doing two things: making money without thinking about its “smell”, and spending millions, trying to “get everything they can from life.” Alfred Nobel, preferring solitude, loved to read. His luxurious library contained the works of great scientists of that time. Nobel Alfred enjoyed reading his contemporaries: Maupassant, Balzac, Turgenev, Hugo.

The naturalism that was fashionable at that time, inherent in the writing of Emile Zola, was not to Nobel’s taste. But he could re-read the works of philosophers of all times several times, thinking about this or that position and making his own unique notes and developments on this or that issue. After all, Alfred Nobel himself was not only a chemist, but also a doctor of philosophy.

In memory of discoveries

Alfred Nobel, inventing dynamite and other explosive mixtures, was an ardent pacifist. He saw a different application for his discoveries, which would help develop progress for humanity, and not kill each other. But the persecution that began in the media over the fact that Alfred Nobel was able to invent dynamite pushed him to the idea that he needed to leave another bright mark in this world.

So the inventor came to the decision to establish a personal prize after his death, writing a will on November 27, 1895, according to which most of his accumulated fortune - 31 million crowns - goes to the Nobel Prize fund. This fact of Nobel's life made his biography a historical milestone on a global scale.

In addition to the well-known Nobel Prize, Alfred Nobel entered world history as a discoverer chemical element, which was named Nobelium in his honor.

Dnepropetrovsk University and the Stockholm Institute of Physics and Chemistry are named after the great chemist.