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Alfred Nobel was a Swedish industrialist, and inventor. In 1866 he invented dynamite, which made him very wealthy, but he left all of his money to establish a fund for the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize is awarded annually for achievements during the previous year, in the categories of physics, chemistry, medicine, or physiology, literature, and the promotion of peace. Each winner receives a set amount of prize money, a medal, and a certificate. The Nobel Prize was first awarded in 1901, by the bank of Sweden. Its first winners included Jean Henry Dunant, Frederic Passy, Emil Adolf von Behring, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, Jacobus Hendricus Van’t Hoff, and Rene Francois Armand Prudhomme.
Emil Adolf von Behring (1854-1917) was a German bacteriologist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on serum therapy especially in relation to diphtheria, and tetanus. He worked in Robert Koch’s laboratory in Berlin, and founded the science of immunology.
Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845-1923) was a German physicist who discovered the existence of x-rays. He accidentally discovered that radiation passes through substances that are opaque to normal light. He worked as a scientist at the University of Wurzburg, in Germany.
Jacobus Hendricus Van’t Hoff (1852-1911) was a Dutch chemist who developed the laws of chemical dynamics, and osmotic pressure. He taught at the universities of Amsterdam, and Berlin. His studies in molecular structure laid the foundation of stereochemistry.
Rene Francois Armand Prudhomme (1839-1907) was a French poet associated with the Parnassians. His major works are two long philosophical poems, La Justice and Le Bonheur [happiness], which treat abstract, humanitarian themes. His prose, also philosophical, includes Que sais-je? [What do I know?]. In 1901 he was awarded the first Nobel Prize in literature.
Jean Henry Dunant (1828-1910), Swiss philanthropist and founder of the International Red Cross, was also the originator of the Geneva convention, and he shared the first peace prize with Frenchman Frederic Passy.
Frederic Passy (1822-1912) was a French economist who worked towards world peace. In 1867 he founded the International League for Permanent Peace, later known as the French Society of the Friends of Peace, he served as its general secretary until 1889. In association with Sir William R. Cremer, he founded the Inter-Parliamentary Union of Arbitration. He was a member of the chamber of deputies from 1874 to 1889.
All of these individuals worked towards the advancement, and betterment of humanity. Few people on the face of the planet carry greater moral authority than those who have been honored with Nobel Prizes. In 1980 Jakob von Uexkull, a Swedish activist offered the Nobel committee a million dollars to start an award for ecological concerns, but they rejected his gift. He went on to start the well respected Right Livelihood Awards.
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