Nobel Explained

The homage

Alfred Nobel and the prize he left behind

Every prize on this site exists because one man rewrote his will. Here is what it says.

He also invented dynamite. Your cursor is now a stick of it. Click anywhere.

“The capital, converted to safe securities by my executors, is to constitute a fund, the interest on which is to be distributed annually as prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.”
Alfred Nobel, will, signed in Paris on 27 November 1895. Full text on NobelPrize.org

Who he was

Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 October 1833. He was a chemist, an engineer and an inventor. In 1867 he patented dynamite, and by the time he died he held 355 patents around the world. He died at his home in Sanremo, Italy, on 10 December 1896.

1833
Born in Stockholm, on 21 October.
1867
Patents dynamite.
1895
Signs his third and last will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, on 27 November.
1896
Dies in Sanremo, Italy, on 10 December. He holds 355 patents.
1901
The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.
1969
The first prize in economic sciences is awarded.

What the will says

Nobel left most of his estate, more than 31 million Swedish kronor, to a fund. The interest was to be split into five equal parts:

“one part to the person who made the most important discovery or invention in the field of physics; one part to the person who made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the person who made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one part to the person who, in the field of literature, produced the most outstanding work in an ideal direction; and one part to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.”Official English translation, Jeffrey Ganellen, 2018

It took five years to set the prizes up. The first were awarded in 1901. Since then they have been presented every year on 10 December, the anniversary of Nobel's death. The prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine and literature are awarded in Stockholm. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, as the will asks.

Five prizes, and a sixth

The prize in economic sciences is not in the will. Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, established it in 1968 in memory of Alfred Nobel, and it was first awarded in 1969. Its full name is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It is announced in the same week, so we explain it too, under its own name.

How we honour it

We do

  • Quote every official citation word for word.
  • Link every prize to its page on NobelPrize.org.
  • Start with the people and the work, then explain it at the depth you choose.
  • Say on every page that we are an independent project.

We never

  • Use the Nobel medal, the logo or the official laureate illustrations.
  • Copy the official look.
  • Republish the prize committees' own explanations.
  • Call ourselves official, or suggest that anyone endorses us.

Nobel Explained is an independent educational project. It is not affiliated with the Nobel Foundation, the prize-awarding institutions or Sveriges Riksbank. For the official record, go toNobelPrize.org.

Sources