Alfred Nobel Signs Legacy: The Nobel Prize Is Born
Alfred Nobel signed his final will on November 27, 1895, at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris, directing that his fortune of 31 million Swedish kronor, roughly $265 million today, fund annual prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Nobel, who had made his fortune from dynamite and held 355 patents, was reportedly motivated by a premature French obituary that called him 'the merchant of death.' His family contested the will, and it took five years of legal battles before the first prizes were awarded in 1901. The economics prize was added in 1968, funded by Sweden's central bank. Nobel laureates receive a gold medal, a diploma, and a cash award currently worth about $1 million. The prizes remain the world's most prestigious recognition of achievement in science, literature, and peace.
November 27, 1895
131 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on November 27
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