Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( October 21,1833 – December 10,1896)

Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer

Known for inventing Dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments.

Alfred Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous

Despite the lack of formal secondary and tertiary level education,Alfred Nobel gained proficiency in 6 languages - Swedish,French,Russian,English,German and Italian

Alfred Nobel was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1884, the same institution that would later select laureates for two of the Nobel prizes, and he received an Honorary Doctorate from Uppsala University in 1893.

Alfred Nobel's brothers Ludvig and Robert exploited oilfields along the Caspian Sea and became hugely rich in their own right.

Alfred Nobel invested in these and amassed great wealth through the development of these new oil regions.

 During his life Alfred Nobel issued 355 Patents internationally and by his death his business had established more than 90 armaments factories, despite his belief in pacifism.

Alfred Nobel travelled for much of his business life, maintaining companies in various countries in Europe and North America and keeping a permanent home in Paris from 1873 to 1891

Alfred  Nobel remained unmarried,though his biographers note that he had at least three loves

On 27 November 1895, at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament and set aside the bulk of his estate to establish the Nobel Prizes, to be awarded annually without distinction of nationality

After taxes and bequests to individuals, Nobel's will allocated 94% of his total assets, 31,225,000 Swdihs Kronor, to establish the five Nobel Prizes

The first three of these prizes are awarded for eminence in Physical Science,in Chemistry and in Medical Science or Physiology,the fourth is for literary work "in an ideal direction" and the fifth prize  is to be given to the person or society that renders the greatest service to the cause of international fraternity,in the suppression or reduction of standing armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of peace congresses.