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Alfred Bernhard Nobel
 Nobel
was born on October 21, 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. Nobel,
who invented dynamite, endowed a $9 million fund in his
will. The interest on this endowment was to be used as
awards for people whose work most benefited humanity. He
wanted the profit from his invention to be used to reward
human ingenuity. First awarded in 1901, the Nobel Prize ,is
still the. most honoured in the world.
In 1842 Nobel's family moved to St. Petersburg, Russia where
he obtained his education. He travelled widely as a young
man, becoming fluent in five languages. Nobel was interested
in literature and wrote novels, poetry and plays in his
spare time. In the 1860s he began experiments with
nitroglycerin in his father's factory. He tried many ways to
stabilise this highly volatile material. Nobel discovered
that a mix of
nitroglycerin and a fine porous powder called kieselguhr
was most effective. He named this mixture as dynamite, and
received a patent in 1867.
He set up factories around the world to manufacture dynamite
and other explosives. Construction and mining companies, and
the military ordered large quantities of this relatively
safe explosive. Sales of dynamite brought Nobel great
wealth. His other chemical research provided valuable
information on the development. of artificial rubber,
leather, silk and precious stones.
Background and Establishment of the Nobel Foundation
Alfred Nobel died on Dec. 10, 1 896. The provisions of his
will and their unusual purpose, as well as their partly
incomplete form, attracted great attention and soon led to
skepticism and criticism, also aimed at the testator due to
his international spirit. Only after several years of
negotiations and often rather bitter conflicts, and after
various obstacles had been circumvented or overcome, could
the fundamental concepts presented in the will assume solid
form with the establishment of the Nobel Foundation.
On. June 29, 1900, after series of alterations, suggestions,
modifications, the Statutes of the newly created legatee,
the Nobel Foundation, and special regulations for the
Swedish Prize-Awarding Institutions were promulgated by the
King in Council (Oscar II). The same year as the political
union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved in 1905,
special regulations were adopted on April 10, 1905, by the
Nobel Committee of the Storting (known since January 1, 1977
as the Norwegian Nobel Committee), the awarder of the Nobel
Peace Prize.
Premises : To create a worthy framework around the
prizes, the Board decided at an early stage that it would
erect its own building in Stockholm, which would include a
hall for the Prize Award Ceremony and Banquet as well as its
own administrative offices. Ferdinand Boberg was selected as
the architect. He presented an ambitious proposal for a
Nobel Palace, which generated extensive publicity but also
led to doubts and questions. On Dee. 19, 1918, a building at
Sturegatan 14 was bought for this purpose. After years of
renovation there, the Foundation finally left its cramped
premises at Norrlandsgatan 6 in 1926 and moved to Sturegatan,
14, where the Foundation has been housed ever since.
Objectives of the Foundation : The Nobel Foundation is a
private institution. It is entrusted with protecting the
common interests of the Prize Awarding Institutions named in
the will, as well as representing the Nobel institutions
externally. This includes informational activities as well
as arrangements related to the presentation of the Nobel
Prizes. The Foundation is not, however, involved in the
selection process and the final choice of the Laureates (as
Nobel Prize winners are also called). In this work, the
Prize-Awarding Institutions are not only entirely
independent of all government agencies and organisations,
but also of the Nobel Foundation. Their autonomy is of
crucial importance to the objectivity and quality of their prize decisions. One vital
task of the Foundation is to manage its assets in
such a way as to safeguard the financial base of the prizes
themselves
and of the prize selection process.
Statutes and Significant Amendments during 100 Years :
The
Statutes, as revised in 2000, assign roles to the different
bodies or individuals in the Nobel Foundation's
activities.
The first Board of Directors of the Nobel Foundation was
elected by the Trustees on September 27, 1900 (Hans Forsell,
Ragrar Tornebladh, Henrik Santesson, and Ragnar Sdhlman,
with Mauritz Salin and Oscar Montelius as Deputies). On the
following day, former Prime Minister Erik Gustaf Bostrom
was appointed Chairman of the Board by the King in Council
with the Justice of the Supreme Court C. G. Hernmarck as
Deputy. On October 3, 1900 the Board elected Assistant
Circuit Judge Henrik Santesson as the first Executive
Director of the Foundation. Effective on January 1, 1901
the Board assumed management of the Foundation's assets.
Financial Management : The main task of the Nobel Foundation
is to safeguard the financial base of the Nobel Prizes and
of the work connected to the selection of the Nobel
Laureates.
In its role as a financial manager, the Nobel Foundation
resembles an investment company. The investment policy of
the Foundation is naturally of the greatest importance in
preserving and increasing its funds, thereby ensuring the
size of the Nobel Prizes.
Then, in 1953, the Government approved a radical
liberalisation of the investment rules. The Foundation was
granted a more extensive freedom to manage its capital
independently, as well as the opportunity to invest in
stocks and real estate. Freedom of investment, coupled
with tax-exemption and the financial expertise of the Board,
led to a transformation from passive to active management.
This can be regarded as a landmark change in the role of the
Foundation's Board.
During the 1960s and I 970s, the value of the Nobel Prizes
multiplied in Swedish krona terms but rapid inflation
meanwhile undermined their real value, leaving each prize
largely unchanged. The same was true of the Foundation's
capital.
The first Nobel Prize in 1901 amounted to SEK 150,000,
equivalent to SEK 7.4 million in 2006 money.
By 1991, the Foundation had restored the Nobel Prizes to
their 1901
real value. Today the nominal fund capital of the Nobel
Foundation is about SEK 3.6 billion. In 2006 each of the
five Nobel Prizes as well as the Economics Prize was worth
SEK 10 million (about USD 1.45 million). This is well above
the nominal value of the entire original fund, and higher
than the real value of the original prizes. Since January I,
2000, the Nobel Foundation has also been permitted to apply
the capital gains from the sale of assets toward the prize
amounts.
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory
of Alfred Nobel : On the occasion of its 300th anniversary in
1968, the Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's central bank) made a
large donation to the Nobel Foundation. A Prize in
Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel has been
awarded since 1969. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is
entrusted with the role of Prize Awarding-Institution, in
accordance with Nobel Prize rules. The Board of the Nobel
Foundation has subsequently decided that it will allow no further new
prizes.
Nobel Symposia : An important addition to the activities of
the Nobel Foundation is its Symposium program, which was
initiated in
1965 and has achieved a high international standing.
Approximately
135 Nobel Symposia, dealing with topics at the frontiers of
science and culture and related to the Prize categories,
have taken place.
Nobel Festivities : The Nobel Foundation is an "investment
company" with rather unusual facets. Every year this
investment company moves into show business by organising
the Nobel Festivities and numerous related arrangements that
take place in December. The Nobel Foundation is responsible
for organising the Nobel Festivities in Stockholm, while in
Norway the Norwegian Nobel Committee is in 'Charge of the
corresponding arrangements. On December 10, 1901, the
Nobel Prizes were awarded for the first time in Stockholm
and in Christiania (now Oslo) respectively.
Christiania / Oslo
The King of Norway is present, but it is the Chairman of the
Nobel Committee who hands over the Prize to the Laureate or
Laureates. The Nobel Banquet in Norway is a dignified formal
occasion, but much less pretentious than the Banquet in
Stockholm. It takes place at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, with
approximately 250 guests.
A New Century : After more than a hundred years of existence,
the Nobel Prizes - as well as the centenarian Nobel
Foundation - have become solid institutions, based on a
great tradition since their beginning. The original
criticisms aimed at the whole idea of the Nobel Prizes have
faded into oblivion. Both in Sweden and in Norway, the
awarding of the prizes is regarded as an event of national
importance. The Nobel Foundation has now entered a new
century, with museum and exhibition projects, while being
able to look back at its past successes in many fields. |
