Alfred Nobel and the prizes named after him

Born in Stockholm in 1833 of Swedish parents, Alfred Nobel moved with his family to St. Petersburg, then the capital of Russia, at the age of nine. There his energetic and inventive father soon acquired a strong and respected position as an inventor and industrialist. Nobel subsequently lived in several countries and ultimately came to regard himself as a citizen of the world. Even so, he never gave up his Swedish citizenship. By virtue of the …

…to the net income of the fund capital, is transferred after December 10 according to the laureate's wishes. In 1995, the value of the Nobel Prizes was some SEK 7.2 million per prize. The awards are widely recognized as the world's highest civic honors. Besides spurring recipients and possible candidates to new efforts, they have served to make scientific and literary achievements, as well as humanitarian contributions, much more widely known than would otherwise have been the case.