Maya Bhadauria
It is a well-known fact that the world's largest Nobel Prize was started in 1901 due to the will of Swedish chemist, engineer and industrialist Alfred Nobel, but the question is how did he distribute his enormous wealth in such a way that there was a family dispute? And yet people benefited from it.
What was so special about the will? On this date in 1895, Alfred Nobel wrote his last will and testament in Paris, expressing his desire to use the interest from his entire fortune to reward those working for peace throughout the world. This award is the most prestigious Nobel Prize in the world. According to his wishes, the award should be given to those working in the fields of physics, chemistry, medical science or medicine, literature and peace, who have made the greatest contribution to mankind during the year. He also wrote that a portion should go to the person who had done the best work for brotherhood among nations, the abolition or removal of standing armies, and the organization and promotion of peace conventions.
Will Controversy After reading Nobel's will everyone was surprised especially his family. After the will, two of Alfred Nobel's nephews challenged the will and repudiated it. Even King Oscar II of Sweden opposed Nobel's wishes saying that he was not of 'patriotic spirit'. Another thing was that according to him, this will is also considered invalid because Nobel did not appoint any executive to carry out his wishes, nor did he consult any institutions for giving this award. He should have thought first whether any organization would actually do such a thing. Four years after the testamentary dispute, the Nobel Foundation was created to manage the capital of Alfred Nobel's estate, and five institutions agreed to award the prize as he wished. Thus, the Nobel Prize was started in 1901 in honor of his wishes. The Nobel Prize for Economics was not mentioned in the will. In 1968, the Central Bank of Sweden announced the sixth category of the Nobel Prize 'Economic Sciences' – Economics in memory of Alfred Nobel. After that, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded for the first time in 1969.
Mystery of prize hidden in brother's death Scholar Alfred Nobel amassed a fortune after inventing dynamite in 1867. The invention brought him money and fame, but an incident left him with lifelong regrets. Originally, his intention to invent dynamite was to help industry. This invention would make many tasks faster and easier. The work which used to take months with the use of machines could be done in less time with the help of dynamite, but one day there was a terrible explosion in the factory. Many people died, including his brother. His brother's death gave him an unbearable shock and he regretted it for life. The death of his brother is also responsible somewhere in the origin of the prestigious Nobel Prize.
2024 Nobel Peace Prize In the event of a war between Russia and Ukraine, all eyes were on who would win the Nobel Peace Prize this time. In this way, there were speculations about whether the Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded this year in the conflict going on in different parts of the world. However, in the midst of all this, this year's Nobel Peace Prize has been announced to 'Nihon Hidankyo', an organization working for the survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during the Second World War. Apart from this, South Korean writer Han Kang has been awarded the Nobel Prize in the field of literature.
Which organization selects the winner? Every year the Nobel ceremony is held in Oslo. The Nobel Prize winner is selected by the Nobel Committee, which consists of a 5-member committee selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Karolinska Institutet, the Swedish Academy, and the Norwegian Parliament.
How many awards have been given so far? According to the official Nobel Prize website, a total of 621 Nobel Prizes have been awarded between 1901 and 2023. A total of 965 people have been awarded in it, some of them have received it more than once and 27 organizations have also been honored with this award. The Nobel Prize is awarded 11 million Swedish kroner, which is equivalent to about 8.1 crore in Indian rupees.
How many Indians have won the Nobel Prize so far? Year Subject Person 2019 Economics Abhijit Banerjee 2014 Shanti Kailash Satyarthi 2009 Chemistry Venkataraman Ramakrishnan 1998 Economics Amartya Sen 1983 Physics Subramanian Chandrasekhar 1979 Shanti Mother Teresa 1968 Medicine Hargobind Khurana 1930 Physics Sir C.V. Raman 1913 Literature Rabindranath Tagore (Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Prize a total of five times (1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1948), but unfortunately he was denied the Nobel Prize)
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
