It has been so hot here. So hot that museums close due to heat. Norway has never used air conditioning because it is usually cool, and it is unnecessary.
Alfred Nobel was an inventor and lover of literature. Literature was his passion, but the family business was inventing and the weapons industry so he followed in their footsteps.
His father was an inventor and architect. He built two buildings that failed the year he was born. His father was recruited by Russia to make land mines. The family lived in St. Petersburg and Stockholm.
Nobel achieved his first patent at the age of 30 and authored 355 patents in his lifetime. He tried to come up with a minimum of 300 ideas each year. However, he felt accomplished if he kept his nails clean. Hmmm.
Nobel took unstable nitroglycerin and added sand which resulted in TNT or dynamite. This invention was intended to speed up industries like constructing railroads and making tunnels. He had dynamite factories all over the world.
However, dynamite was soon used for killing. Nobel made a fortune in his lifetime and wanted to be remembered for peace, not killing.
In 1888, his brother Ludwig Nobel died. A newspaper thought that it was Alfred and said “The merchant of death is dead. Dr. Alfred Nobel who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”
In 1896 at the age of 63 years, Alfred did die. Some hypothesized that nitroglycerine poisoning was a contributing factor to his death.
Nobel wrote a simple will. He had no children. He wanted everything sold and the money given to people who had the greatest impact in the world. He left five million dollars, and the prizes were never allowed to use the principal. Only the interest is awarded. The Nobel Peace Prize currently includes about one million dollars each year.
Gustav Vigeland designed the peace prize medal. On the front of the medal is a portrait of Alfred Nobel. On the back are three men holding arms around each other representing the “brotherhood between nations”, one of the criteria for the peace prize in Alfred Nobel’s will.
On the anniversary of his death on December 10, the Nobel Peace Prize is announced each year. Attending the ceremony at Oslo City Hall are up to 1,000 guests including Norway’s royal family, its government, representatives of the Norwegian Storting (parliament), along with the Peace Prize winner and their entourage.
The chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee gives the first speech of the ceremony, in which the justification for the prize is explained. The Peace Prize laureate receives a medal, diploma, and prize money. The laureate gives their Nobel lecture, which represents an opportunity to present their message to the entire world.
Since the first award given in 1901, there have been 140 awards for peace given. It is interesting to note that very few awards were given during WWI and WWII. Only to the Red Cross Organization.
Norway was surprised that Nobel asked for the Peace Prize to be given out here. They don’t complain, but Sweden does. In 1905 Norway would gain its independence which may have influenced Nobel’s decision. The other awards for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and literature are handed out in Sweden.
The winner must be alive and the peace activity must have taken place within the current year.
Three criteria as written in Nobel’s will:
- “Done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations”
- “For the abolition or reduction of standing armies”
- “And for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
If the selection process is not working, they have the freedom to rewrite it. The people on the selection committee served for life, now it is 12 years. No active politicians are on the selection committee. There are 300 nominations each year.
This was to be an international prize but the awards skewed toward Europe especially early on. Europe was in constant conflict.
Often the selected were state leaders, presidents, or prime ministers, and the decision was used for political gain. It took 50 years to open up to the rest of the world and even more time to realize that opposition leads to conflict.
The discussions of the select committee are classified information FOREVER. Nothing is allowed to be written down.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. won the Peace Prize, he was on the terrorist list in the USA. Whistleblowers are rarely awarded.
We took a test to see what Peace Personality we were. I was to rate the six qualities of brave, idealist, attentive, caring, creative, and motivating and assign them from 1-6 with 6 being your best quality. I thought that 1 was the greatest so I did it a second time. Also, we rated each other to see if it matched with what we thought. Rob was a The Negotiator. I was The Activist.
As a joke, one person nominated Hitler in 1939. It was a joke, but the committee reviews all and takes them seriously. Erik Gottfrid Christian Brandt forever has the shame of nominating him.
Nobel read the false obituary about himself and was appalled at the idea that he would be remembered in this way. This brought about his decision to leave a better legacy after his death by donating his wealth to found the Nobel Prize.
Maybe we should all have an erroneous obituary written about us to bring about a more peaceful world.
Message to Humanity
Usually the museum gets some notice to prepare an exhibit on the top floor for the next recipient, but this year 2025 they have not been alerted. It will be a surprise to everyone. It would not surprise me if there was no award. Peace is not felt in the world today. We will have to wait and see.
In 2024 the recipient was a surprise but made sense in our current world situation. A world leader is now willing to use nuclear weapons. The recipient is known as hibakusha, meaning a person affected by the bomb.
Black and white images from WWII seem historical as something that happened long ago. The photos have been colorized to make one think that it might happen today or tomorrow.
Here is the sequence of events of a nuclear bomb:
- Instant death. 140,000 people were killed instantly in Hiroshima. The force of blast and the heat was immense. People could not be identified.
- Vacuum. Body parts are sucked out of you especially eyeballs.
- Radiation. Immediate death if entered the area before five days. Many health care workers died when going in to assist.
- All medical aid was wiped out. Doctors from the surrounding area died as well. Survivors had to walk out to receive care.
- Survivors’ stories are a constant reminder of loss. Survivors were ostracized. Their DNA was altered so they didn’t marry. They lost jobs. It was like modern day leprosy. In 1954, a law was passed to give first generation survivors and babies in the womb free healthcare and compensation for lost wages.
It is hard to recall the biggest trauma of your life and to sacrifice personal happiness but one can see the determination in their eyes. The world needs reminding to seek peaceful solutions.
Today there are nine counties with nuclear weapons. NATO has nuclear weapons and wants to be the last to have them. There are no nuclear weapons in peace-loving Norway.
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Frogner Park. It was full of unusual statues.
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