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WonderCoincidence

A famous story says Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, read a mistaken obituary calling him a 'merchant of death' and decided to change his legacy. Historians are unsure it is true. What is documented is his will of 1895, which left most of his fortune to fund the prizes.

History

HistoryBiography

The story behind the card

Nobel's plans took shape over years rather than in one moment. His fortune came from dynamite and other explosives made in factories in many countries, and late in life he also bought the Swedish arms maker Bofors. In January 1893 he wrote to the Austrian peace campaigner Bertha von Suttner, a friend who had briefly been his secretary, about a prize for work towards peace in Europe. His final will, signed in Paris on 27 November 1895, named five fields: physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace, and said nationality must play no part in choosing winners. Relatives contested it, and the first prizes were awarded only in 1901, five years after his death.

Türkçe oku
Yaygın bir hikâyeye göre dinamitin mucidi İsveçli Alfred Nobel, kendisini “ölüm tüccarı” diye anan, yanlışlıkla yayımlanmış bir ölüm ilanını okuyunca nasıl anılacağını değiştirmeye karar verdi. Tarihçiler bunun doğruluğundan emin değil. Belgelenmiş olan, servetinin büyük kısmını ödüllere bırakan 1895 tarihli vasiyetidir.

Nobel'in ödül fikri tek bir anda değil, yıllar içinde olgunlaştı. Servetini pek çok ülkedeki fabrikalarında üretilen dinamit ve öteki patlayıcılardan kazanmıştı; hayatının son yıllarında İsveçli silah üreticisi Bofors'u da satın aldı. Ocak 1893'te, bir süre sekreterliğini de yapmış olan dostu, Avusturyalı barış savunucusu Bertha von Suttner'e yazdığı mektupta Avrupa'da barış için çalışanlara verilecek bir ödülden söz etti. 27 Kasım 1895'te Paris'te imzaladığı son vasiyeti beş alan belirliyordu: fizik, kimya, tıp, edebiyat ve barış. Vasiyete göre kazananlar seçilirken milliyet hiç hesaba katılmayacaktı. Akrabaları vasiyete itiraz etti; ilk ödüller ancak 1901'de, Nobel'in ölümünden beş yıl sonra verilebildi.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Alfred Nobel
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