The Dark side of the Noble Prizes

The Dark Side of the Nobel Prizes

By Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor 

The profile of Alfred Nobel appears on the side of the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway. Credit: Vladislav Gajic | Shutterstock.com View full size image

For more than 100 years, the Nobel Prizes have recognized the finest in human achievements, from literature and science to the Nobel Peace Prize, which is given "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses," according to the last will and testament of founder Alfred Nobel.
But the origins of the Nobel Prizes, and the life of Alfred Nobel, tell a very different story, one tainted by the deaths of untold thousands of people.
Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. His father, Immanuel Nobel, was an inventor and engineer who struggled financially for much of his life. Forced to declare bankruptcy, Immanuel left Sweden and began working in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he impressed the czar ith one of his inventions — submerged explosive mines that could thwart a naval invasion.