Alfred Bernhard Nobel

Alfred Bernhard Nobel (October 21, 1833 – December 10, 1896) was a chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist from Sweden. He is best remembered for bequeathing his riches to establish the Nobel Prize, but he also made several significant scientific contributions, holding 355 patents during his lifetime. Nobel's most famous innovation was dynamite, a safer and easier way of harnessing the explosive potential of nitroglycerin; it was invented in 1867 and quickly became popular in mining and infrastructure building around the world.

Early on, Nobel showed a propensity for science and study, especially in chemistry and languages; he was fluent in six languages by the time he was 24 and had already submitted his first patent application. He and his family started a number of businesses, but his most notable was Bofors, an iron and steel factory that he expanded into a significant producer of cannons and other armaments.

Nobel was motivated to leave his riches to the Nobel Prize organization, which would annually honor people who "conferred the greatest benefit to humankind". His name and legacy also lives on in businesses like Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are the offspring of mergers with enterprises he founded. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. Nobel was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which, according to his will, would be in charge of selecting the Nobel laureates in physics and chemistry.

Nobel was charged with high treason against France for exporting Ballistite to Italy, so in 1891 he relocated from Paris to Sanremo, Italy. He died of a stroke on December 10, 1896. Unbeknownst to his family, he had placed the majority of his wealth in a trust to fund the Nobel Prizes. He is buried in Stockholm's Norra begravningsplatsen. The Alfred Nobel Monument in Saint Petersburg is located on the Petrogradskaya Embankment beside the Bolshaya Nevka River. It was dedicated to commemorating the 90th anniversary of the first Nobel Prize presentation in 1991.