14 Facts About Alfred Nobel
8. It is believed that the idea behind the Nobel Peace Prize was greatly influenced by Bertha von Suttner who was very active in the peace movement and even wrote the famous book, “Lay Down Your Arms”. She was awarded the Nobel in 1905.
9. French poet, novelist, and dramatist, Victor Hugo is known to have described Alfred Nobel as “Europe’s richest vagabond”.
10. Alfred Nobel died of a stroke on 10th December, 1896.
11. At the time of his death, Alfred Nobel had immense fortune and instructed most of the money to be used to endow annual Nobel prizes.
12. These Nobel awards were to be given to those who excelled in the fields of peace, literature, chemistry, physics, and physiology or medicine.
13. It is estimated that to fund the Nobel prizes, Alfred Nobel left 31,225,000 Swedish kronor which in 2008 was equivalent to 250 million U.S dollars.
14. The first Nobel Prize was awarded in the year 1901, five years after Alfred Nobel’s death.
