March 2004
A friendship developed between two giants of the 19th century. Read about Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel and his relation to Victor Hugo.
In 1842, at the age of nine, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel and the rest of the family joined the father in St. Petersburg, where Immanuel Nobel was running a successful mechanical workshop. The father wanted his sons to have a first-class education so they where tutored in their home by the best teachers available. By the time he was 17, Alfred was fluent in Swedish, Russian, French, English and German. Besides languages, chemistry and physics, Alfred also had a passion for literature and poetry - a fact disliked by his father. Alfred was sent abroad for further training in chemical engineering.
Alfred visited Sweden, Germany, France and the United States. In Paris, he had the opportunity to work in the private laboratory of Professor Pelouze. There he met the young chemist Ascanio Sobrero. The renowned Italian had invented a highly explosive liquid; nitroglycerine, which was considered too dangerous to be of any practical use. The challenge to curb this unstable liquid tempted Alfred and after his return to St. Petersburg, he started to conduct experiments to develop a commercial and technically useful explosive.
His father's business was in large part feeding off the war and when it ended, Immanuel Nobel went bankrupt. In 1863, he brought Alfred and one of his other sons, Emil, back with him to Sweden. Alfred's two other brothers, Robert and Ludvig, stayed behind and managed to save their father's business and start an oil industry of their own. They eventually became among the wealthiest people of their time.
Alfred continued his experiments in Sweden. The same year he had come back, he obtained patents on nitroglycerin as an industrial explosive and on an ignition cap for triggering explosions. He had also begun experimenting with a mixture of nitroglycerin and silica, resulting in a paste that was easier to handle than nitroglycerin itself. Formed into rods, the paste was handy and practical. In 1867, Alfred obtained the patent for dynamite. The Swede revolutionized the construction and building industry all over the world.
Having started production plants in several countries, Alfred decided to move to Paris in 1873. Three years earlier, he had founded the Sociéty gene ral pour la fabrication de la dynamite. He had fallen in love with the city on his first visit and considered it to be the commercial and intellectual centre of the world. He settled on Avenue Malakoff (now 59, Avenue Raymond Poincaré). In the courtyard, he furnished a small but well equipped laboratory, where he in 1875 created blasting gelatin.
Alfred Nobel's passion for literature and poetry had not faded. And the man he admired most was Victor Hugo - as a writer, liberal, idealist, pacifist and enemy of every oppressive regime. Both their names were known all over the world, they were both devoted opponents of capital punishment and nationalism, but they also had another thing in common; Juliette Adam-Lamber, a wealthy widow, struggling patriot, republican and mutual friend. It is very likely that they first met at her salon - one of Paris' most renowned at the time, which they both frequented. Alfred most surely became a visitor of the Hugo home at Rue Clichy. What is certain is that they developed a friendship, brought together by a mixture of passion for the written word, a true interest in mankind and perhaps fellowship on the highest level of world fame. Hugo once called Nobel "the richest vagabond in Europe" referring to Alfred's travels.
There is a letter from Juliette Drouet to Alfred in the Nobel Collection of the Swedish National Archives. She reminds him that he is a much longed for guest and he is once again invited for dinner at Hugos'. Having no date of that letter, it is fairly safe to say that from November 1878, when Hugo moved to 130 Avenue d'Eylau (now 120 Avenue Victor-Hugo), Alfred was a regular guest when his other commitments so permitted. Hugo's move made them neighbours, separated by just a few blocks.
In 1885, Paris celebrated Hugo's 83rd birthday. Alfred sent him a telegram. The telegram reads: "Great Master, long may you live to charm the world and propagate your ideas about universal charity". Three months later, Hugo past away. Was Alfred Nobel among the 2 million people that followed the funeral procession from l'Arc de Triomphe to Pantheon? Most certainly, if he was in Paris at the time.
A friend had passed, but the spirit remained. In Alfred's private library, that spirit materialized in 17 beautiful volumes of Hugo's work. Today, they are cared for by the Alfred Nobel Museum, at Björkborn Manor, near Karlskoga, Sweden.
In 1891, Alfred left Paris. He had turned over an Italian patent to the Italian government and the French reaction was massive but unjust. He was subject to an ugly press campaign and accused of espionage, "high treason against France" and it was in bitterness he left the city he loved so much. He moved to San Remo where he died 10 December 1896. In his will, he founded what we today know as the Nobel Prize.
Sources:
NOBEL UPPSKATTAD GÄST HOS DEN STORE MÄSTAREN, Åke Erlandsson, Svenska Dagbladet, Sweden, 1 March 2002.
www.nobel.se, The Official Web Site of The Nobel Foundation.
