Petrus Olai Nobelius' Seal
The Nobel family
Members
Companies
Prizes
Institutions

The Nobel family (/noʊˈbɛl/ noh-BEL), is a prominent Swedish family closely related to the history both of Sweden and of Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its legacy includes its outstanding contributions to philanthropy and to the development of the armament industry and the oil industry. Some of its foremost members are Immanuel Nobel the Younger, the engineer, developer of underwater naval mines and inventor of the rotary lathe used to produce plywood, Ludvig Nobel, the founder of Branobel and one of the richest and the most important men in Russia at his time, and Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite who left the major part of his estate to the creation of the Nobel Prizes.

Origins

The Nobel family originated from the village of Östra Nöbbelöv in Scania, hence the name. The first member was Petrus Olai Nobelius (1655–1707) who married Wendela Rudbeck (1668–1710), sister of Olof Rudbeck the Younger, daughter of the famous Swedish scientist Olaus Rudbeck the Elder and granddaughter of Johannes Rudbeck, Bishop of Västerås.[1]

Achievements

Members of the Nobel family are known not only for their interest in art but also for their inventive ability, which is sometimes referred to as a Rudbeckian trait, inherited from their ancestor Olaus Rudbeck, the elder.[2] Immanuel Nobel pioneered the development of underwater mines, designed some of the first steam engines to power Russian ships, installed the first central heating systems in Russian homes and was the first to develop modern plywood (cut with a rotary lathe). One of his sons, Ludvig Nobel, was the founder of The Machine-Building Factory Ludvig Nobel, a great armaments concern and the inventor of the Nobel wheel. Ludvig was also the founder of Branobel, the foremost Russian oil industry of its time, and launched the world's first diesel-driven tugs and tankers, besides building the first European pipeline.[3] Alfred Nobel, who died childless, was the inventor of dynamite and the founder of the Nobel Prizes, to the creation of which he left the bulk of his estate.

The Nobel family has created several societies, including the Nobel Family Society, a private society of which only the descendants of Immanuel Nobel, the younger, are eligible as members, the Nobel Foundation, a private society administering the prizes of Alfred Nobel, and the Nobel Charitable Trust. Notably, the Director of the Nobel Foundation, Michael Sohlman, and the elected head of the Nobel family disapprove of the institution of the Nobel Charitable Trust (NCT)[4]

The Nobel family is also represented in the Nobel Prizes Award Ceremony, held in Stockholm every year. In 2007, the Nobel family archives kept in the Archives of Lund were inscribed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.[5]

Members

Descendants of Immanuel, the younger, and Andriette Nobel

Descendants of Robert and Pauline Nobel

Descendants of Ludvig and Mina Nobel

Descendants of Ludvig and Edla Nobel

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nobel family.

References

  1. ^ Tolf, Robert (1976): The Russian Rockefellers : the saga of the Nobel family and the Russian oil industry Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, p. 1. ISBN 0-8179-6581-5
  2. ^ Schück, Henrik, Ragnar Sohlman, Anders Österling, Carl Gustaf Bernhard, the Nobel Foundation, and Wilhelm Odelberg, eds. Nobel: The Man and His Prizes. 1950. 3rd ed. Coordinating Ed., Wilhelm Odelberg. New York: American Elsevier Publishing Company, Inc., 1972, p. 14. ISBN 0-444-00117-4 (10). ISBN 978-0-444-00117-7 (13). (Originally published in Swedish as Nobelprisen 50 år: forskare, diktare, fredskämpar.)
  3. ^ Yergin, Daniel (2003): The Prize: the Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power, Free Press, p. 58. ISBN 0-671-79932-0
  4. ^ Feder, Barnaby J. (18 October 2007). "The Nobel Prize That Wasn't". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  5. ^ "Mémoire du monde | Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture". portal.unesco.org. Archived from the original on 20 April 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  6. ^ Nilzén, Göran (2004). "Immanuel Nobel - mångsysslaren med ett växlingsrikt liv". Personhistorisk Tidskrift (in Swedish). 100 (2): 157–162. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  7. ^ Fant, Kenne (1993). Alfred Nobel: A Bibliography. Translated by Ruuth, Marianne. New York: Arcade Publishing, Inc. p. 14.
  8. ^ Åsbrink, Brita (2001): Ludvig Nobel: "Petroleum har en lysande framtid!" Wahlström & Widstrand, p. 19. ISBN 978-91-46-18181-1
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