Alfred Nobel, the peace-loving explosives expert

JAKARTA (JP): The name Alfred Bernhard Nobel dominates world news every October when the winners of the five Nobel prizes are announced. The Nobel prizes have been presented every Dec. 10 in Stockholm and Oslo since 1901.

But his name appears more than once a year. When a recipient of his prize dies, Nobel's name is cited in the obituary. Similarly, when a prize winner is part of a joyful event or receives another prestigious award, Nobel's name is surely mentioned.

This year's presentation of the Nobel prizes coincides with the centenary of his death. Alfred Nobel died in San Remo, Italy, on Dec. 10, 1896. The date of his death was chosen as the presentation day for the prizes.

It is somewhat amazing that Nobel should have had an interest in peace, for he was always fascinated by explosives. He was the inventor of nitroglycerine, which he called dynamite. It was also during his early experiments with nitroglycerine that his youngest brother was killed.

Born in Stockholm on Oct. 21, 1833, Alfred Nobel was a lonely man who was often in poor health. He attended first grade in Sweden in 1841. When he was eight the family moved to Russia, where he received instruction from private tutors in St. Petersburg.

He developed an interest in science, especially chemistry, at an early age. He traveled abroad for two years, visiting Paris and the United States, and returned to St. Petersburg to work in the factory of his father, Immanuel, assisting mainly in developing torpedoes and mines.

By 1859, Nobel had begun to experiment with nitroglycerin. He achieved his first explosion in 1862 and obtained a Swedish patent for a percussion detonator in 1863.

At about this time Nobel set up a small plant near Stockholm for the manufacture of nitroglycerine, but the plant blew up in 1864, killing his youngest brother, Emil. Plants subsequently opened in Germany and Norway, and then in other European countries and America.

Following several other accidents involving the explosive, Nobel incorporated nitroglycerine into an inert absorbent substance, turning the nitroglycerine into "dynamite", which he patented in 1867.

The invention quickly proved useful for building and construction work. Production went hand-in-hand with research, energetically carried out in Stockholm at laboratories Nobel established in Stockholm and Hamburg.

About 1875 he combined nitroglycerine and guncotton, obtaining a jellylike substance called blasting gelatin. This explosive, which was more powerful but safer to handle than dynamite, was patented in 1876. In 1888, Nobel developed ballistite, a smokeless powder produced from nitroglycerine. Nobel had many other inventions, and he took out patents on processes for making synthetic rubber, leather and artificial silk.

Outside chemistry and explosives, he also acquired extensive literary and philosophical knowledge, thanks to the ease with which he mastered foreign languages. He did most of his studying on his own, never taking any college or university examinations.

Nobel was engrossed in scientific ideas and in the practical management of his many European enterprises. He devoted himself night and day to his studies and work. It was his dream to be of service to mankind.

A modest man who often appeared shy to other people, Alfred Nobel wound up with a total of 355 patents, some more imaginative than useful, others both extremely practical and valuable. He went on experimenting, most notably with synthetic materials, in pursuit of inventions. Income from the many enterprises he had all over the world made him one of the wealthiest men in Europe.

Nobel took a keen interest in social questions, and is known to have held radical views on many contemporary problems. His scientific and industrial activities took him to most European and American countries. He lived in Paris for a number of years, but planned to return to Sweden and settle down for good at Karlskoga, where he owned property. On Dec. 10, 1896, before the plans could be realized, he died at his home in San Remo.

In January 1987 it was learned that he had left the bulk of his considerable estate -- about US$8.5 million -- to a fund, the interest on which was to be awarded annually to the persons whose work had been of the greatest benefit to mankind. The statutes of the Nobel Foundation, which administers the funds, were adopted on June 29, 1900.

The story has often been told of how Nobel had long been interested in peace. But it was his friend, the peace activist Baroness Bertha von Suttner, who drew his attention to the international movement against war that was becoming organized in the 1890s. It was she who secured his financial support for her peace activities.

In his will, Alfred Nobel states: "The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.

The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the filed of physics; one part to the person who shall have made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one part to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency; and one part to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.

The prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiology or medical works by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm; and that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that in awarding the prizes no consideration whatever shall be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be a Scandinavian or not."

No one knows why Nobel took the surprising step of entrusting the peace award to a Norwegian committee, while giving Swedish committees responsibility for all others. However, there are three main theories concerning his decision.

The first is that when Nobel drew up his will, Norway and Sweden were united. Seeking the bodies in Sweden or Norway with the insight needed to award the respective prizes, he naturally found most of them in Sweden; but it was also appropriate to let the union's junior partner one award.

A second theory emphasizes Nobel's radical views on numerous contemporary problems. Norway, and the Norwegian Storting, had in a number of ways shown a special interest in mediation, arbitration, and the peaceful solution of international disputes.

Thirdly, Nobel was an admirer of Norwegian literature, and may have been influenced by the Norwegian author Bjornstjerne Bjornson and his devotion to the cause of peace.

The three explanations are of course not mutually exclusive, but neither they nor any others definitively answer the question of why the peace prize was made Norwegian. (lem)