We have heard a lot about the Nobel Prize but today we will know when it started and by whom. There was a man named Alfred Barnard who was born on 21 October 1833 in the city of Scotholm, Sweden. He was a scientist by profession who had invented a lot in his life. He also invented explosive materials like dynamite. Along with this, he was also the owner of a large stock of petrol. Due to all this, he had got a lot of wealth.
He thought that such a huge income should be used for some good cause. Thinking this, he made his will. In this testament, he got him to write that after his death a fund should be made of the income from all his property and five awards should be given every year out of the annual interest received from him. He also desired that the nationality of the person deserving of the award should not be taken into account while deciding the award, meaning that the awardee can be a citizen of any country.
According to the Nobel’s testament, five prizes were given annually in the following subjects from 1901.
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Medicine or Biology
- World Peace
- Literature
What does anyone get in the Nobel Prize?
In this Nobel Prize, a gold medal and a citation are also given to the laureate. The amount of each award is lakhs of rupees. If the number of awardees in any subject is more than one, then that amount is divided equally among all. If no person is deemed to be worthy of any award in any year, that award may also be postponed for that year. The money thus left is either added to the original fund or a special fund is opened from it for the advancement of the department concerned. Noble died on 10 December 1896. Therefore, the day of 10 December is considered to be the foundation day of the Nobel Prize. On this day the formal action regarding prize distribution takes place in Scotland. In 1969, in addition to five subjects, economics was also added.