by Åke Erlandsson “Thus it [the child] grew and developed into a thinking, sentient being with an inner world of poesy that no tyranny could extinguish. The lyrics of our wonderful poets became for me entrancing and consoling echoes of the spiritual world of feeling and thought.” Beatrice Cenci in Alfred Nobel’s tragedy Nemesis Introduction…

by Åke Erlandsson “A recluse without books and ink is already in life a dead man” – Alfred Nobel During his lifetime, Alfred Nobel was undoubtedly more renowned for his work as an inventor and industrialist than for his interests in the arts. However, to understand his versatility, his complex and at times contradictory nature,…

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on 21 October 1833. His family was descended from Olof Rudbeck, the best-known technical genius in Sweden in the 17th century, an era in which Sweden was a great power in northern Europe. Nobel was fluent in several languages, and wrote poetry and drama. Nobel was also…

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by Lorenette Gozzo Alfred Nobel once said, “Home is where I work and I work everywhere.” It was a running commentary on the kind of life he had led as a result of his growing business empire. Rootless, though, he was not. Nobel managed to “settle down” at fixed points, from where he could oversee…

It is a lovely summer’s eve. I’ve left The crowded city’s busy haunts to breathe A purer air in the delicious place Where the deep solitude is seldom broken By distant steps, or sounds of human voice; For Vice holds here no Fair to tempt the crowd Who ever flock where Lewdness leads the way…

  Alas, Alas, the mirror’s retrospection Is all that time has left us of that age, And even that is but a faint reflection Of what is written on that beauteous page The history of childhood and of youth Ere sweetest day-dreams have been quenched by truth, If truth it be while that takes Minerva’s…

A memorial address by Tore Frängsmyr The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences26 March 1996 Probably no Swede is as well-known throughout the world as Alfred Nobel – not our medieval saints, nor even our contemporary sports heroes. At the same time, we must admit that his renown is more indirect than direct. This means that…

Swedish chemist, inventor, engineer, entrepreneur and business man Alfred Nobel had acquired 355 patents worldwide when he died in 1896. He invented dynamite and experimented in making synthetic rubber, leather and artificial silk among many other things. Here is a list of 29 Swedish and 58 English patents. Swedish patents 1863. Patent number 1261. Ways…