Alfred Nobel

Alfred Nobel (http://www.nobelprize.org/ ())

Imagine an image of a stereotypical businessman. He is big, he is shrewd, and he is corrupt. He will do anything to help his company get money, and will do anything to help himself to money, greedily raking in his income as if he will never see it again. Alfred Nobel was not that industrialist. When he was a young boy, his parents were able to send Nobel to private tutors, where he excelled in his studies. He was often sick, but had a curiosity that came into play when patenting his creations. With his patent of dynamite, he was soon able to create a network of factories that snaked around the world. Perhaps his most important feat, however, was a feat of kindness, of pure goodwill: the Nobel prizes. Alfred Nobel is the most successful industrialist of the nineteenth century. However, Nobel's humbleness and moral intellect keep him from the stereotypical businessman clique.

Bertha Von Suttner. (tumblr.com)

Alfred Nobel's humility was his least prevalent trait, yet it was his best. Instead of leaving, ignoring his wrongs and seeking comfort in his money, he founded the Nobel Prize Foundation in order to help award heroes that made a good change in the community. "A reporter unintentionally, through oversight, wrote the man's obituary. It was the man's brother who had died. The effect of the mistaken obituary on the horrified man was life-transforming. The man started evaluating the purpose of his life."(Merchant of peace.) Nobel's Brother, along with 5 other workers died in a dynamite manufacturing plant accident On 3 September 1864. Alfred Nobel had looked at himself and realized the wrong that he had done, and what his creation had caused. Nobel was also a passionate advocate for peace: "Alfred Nobel continued to observe the peace work in Europe. He even employed a former Turkish diplomat, Aristarchi Bey, with the main task to keep Nobel au courant with the activities of the peace movements .." ( Alfred Nobel's Thoughts about War and Peace ) . Alfred Nobel was so inspired by the works of Bertha Von Suttner that he wanted to be informed about peace movements around the globe. He promoted peace, and only wished to right the wrong he believed he had done, as a hero would do.

A model of Nobel (jakvydelat.com)

Nobel always endured every obstacle, and had strong grit. Nobel was often sick and cold, but that didn't stop him from exploring the world around him. "Alfred was prone to illness as a child, but he enjoyed a close relationship with his mother and displayed a lively intellectual curiosity from an early age."(Britannica Biographies). Even with his ailments, Alfred Nobel kept his life continued to be curious, at a time when many children would refuse to do anything. He continued to move past his illnesses, well into his old age. Alfred Nobel also was relentless with his factories. "Alfred dealt with failures in the same resolute manner as he did successes. In September 1864, a major explosion at the Nobel factory in Stockholm claimed the lives of Alfred's brother Emil and four other people. Just one month later, Alfred - resolutely and without sentimentality - founded his first joint stock company." (Alfred Nobel - Life and Philosophy). Even though Nobel would slow down to reconsider the effects of the deaths later, he continued to push through the calamities. He persevered though the hardest part of his life. Nobel's perseverance lead to his success.

A Nobel Prize Medal. (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/about/medal)

Alfred Nobel's creativity had flourished in his younger years, in an attempt to beat the bedridden boredom he was forced to endure as a child. He patented over 355 inventions, including smokeless gunpowder called Balliste. His work was so creative, that "Nobel's [invention] was an epoch-making invention, and it has been said that "The introduction of the percussion cap in the initial ignition. are undoubtedly the greatest discovery ever made in explosives technology, either theoretical or practical"(Swedish Academy). His patent of nitroglycerine convinced the French bank that he was one to invest in, "and he successfully arranged a large loan from a French bank."(nobelprize.org) and the start of his industrialist life had begun. Creativity was the spark of the leadership in him, and without it, he would be just another average industrialist.

Alfred Nobel is always a hero to everyone. Though he was a businessman, he was an eccentric yet kind man; selflessly giving away all his money posthumously. All his inventions may have given him a big head, but his humility is revealed once said, "If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied." Some people will applaud Alfred Nobel as the creator of the Nobel Prize, but he should really be applauded as a great, indigenous hero. He was truly a Man of Noble Thought.

Works Cited

1. "Alfred Nobel." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2012. 18 December 2012. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/alfred_nobel.html

2. "Alfred Nobel - His Life and Work". Nobelprize.org. 11 Dec 2012http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/biographical/articles/life-work/index.html

3. "Alfred Nobel." Scientists: Their Lives and Works. Gale, 2006. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

4. "A prized past." Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication 24 Oct. 2011: 5. Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

5. Brazas, Julia Borst. "Nobel, Alfred Bernhard." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2012. Web. 11 ec. 2012.

6. "Dynamite." Faces: People, Places, and Cultures Mar. 2011: 25. Student Resources in Context. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

7. Lindqvuist, Svante. "A Tribute to the Memory of Alfred Nobel: Inventor, Entrepreneur, and Industrialist." Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, n.d. Web. .