Alfred Nobel signed the will that created the Nobel Prizes
On this day · 27 November 1895
On November 27, 1895, the dynamite magnate signed a brief will leaving most of his fortune to reward those who benefit humankind.
On November 27, 1895, at the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signed the third and final version of his will. The chemist who had grown rich inventing dynamite had decided what to do with his fortune, and the document was startlingly short.
Nobel directed that the bulk of his estate—about 94% of it, roughly 31 million Swedish kronor—be invested as a fund, with the annual interest divided into prizes for those who “shall have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.”
He specified five fields: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Notably, he insisted no consideration be given to nationality.
The will stunned his relatives and the named institutions, and disputes delayed the first awards until 1901.
A single signed page, written without a lawyer, became the basis for the world’s most famous prizes.
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