The not-so-noble Nobel.

 

While what is to follow might have been subject to your earlier knowledge, I myself was to find this particular piece of information only today and thought it unwise to not be sharing it with those who never knew. It seems to me that there would not be a majority who has not heard of the name Alfred Nobel. Even if you didn't, you still are sure to have heard about the Nobel Prize that is given in various fields so, if you got your guess right, yes, Alfred Nobel was the man who gave life to the idea of the Nobel prize. But little did I know the story, or should I say history, that led to the upcoming of such a series of awards.

Turns out, Alfred Nobel was the man who invented the dynamite. An explosive, though not by use, familiar to us all. Prior to this invention, he experimented with Nitro glycerine, a chemical explosive known to be extremely unstable and therefore, not often used. Alfred, in determination to find ways to make use of it, opened his own lab which ended up exploding and killing his younger brother and several people along with it. Not utterly moved by the incident, he went on to open another lab and several others in his lifetime. It is estimated that he has above 350 patents, a majority of which were acquired upon the creation of various forms of explosives. While the explosives were initially invented with the aim of breaking huge rocks in mines, it gradually also gave support in war, which as Nobel saw it, was a ticket to peace.

It was not until 1888, when Alfred's brother Ludvig had died, did he get a view on the effect of his doings. Upon the death of Ludvig, a local newspaper, mistaking the death to have been that of Alfred's, printed the next day's headline in bold letters- "Le marchand de la mort est mort” which translates to "The merchant of death is dead". Imagine being called the 'merchant of death'! He was always considered quite a pessimistic and secluded human but news as such could be saddening to any one of human form and not until he died, did anyone know that he had done anything about it at all. It is evident that all the explosive sale would have got him ample money and bereft of a wife or any children it was his remaining brothers who were to expect shares of what he had and it could have overcome them with a great deal of surprise to discover that he had left almost 93% of his life's earnings in trust to establish what is the currently most popular award known as the Nobel prize.

While the reason behind his doings were never made clear of by Alfred himself, the events narrated are not but mere speculations of what could have been the possible motive. Speculation or not, his is a story that can be a spur to someone repenting on their deeds and believing themselves to be undeserving of forgiveness or that there is not a thing in the world that they could possibly do to make right what they did wrong. Alfred, through his story, shouts out to the world that whatever be your past, it is never too late to take credit for it and to correct it. If the merchant of death could serve awards of peace, what could you possibly not correct?

- Fathima Naushad