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Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm in 1833, but moved to
Russia with his parents at the age of nine. His father held a high
position in engineering industry. He made a lot of money for his
invention of landmine, but later went bankrupt. Alfred had never
been to school or University; he studied privately in his father’s
laboratory. When he was twenty, he became a skillful chemist and
linguist, speaking Swedish, Russian, German, French and English.
Alfred Nobel was a good businessman, and build up over
eighty companies in twenty different countries.
Seldom happy, he was always trying to find a meaning to life.
That’s why he was greatly interested in literature and philosophy.
Perhaps, because he couldn’t find an ordinary human love – he
never married – this famous scientist worried deeply about the
whole of mankind. He helped the poor. But his greatest wish was
to see peace between nations. And Alfred Nobel spent all his time
and money to realize his dream. He died in Italy in 1896. But this
man is still remembered, especially because of his will. The money
left by him is spent for prizes for brilliant works in physics,
chemistry, psychology, medicine and literature. It’s a memorial to
his interests and ideals.

Text 3
History of the Nobel Prize

After inventing dynamite, Swedish-born Alfred Nobel became
a very rich man. However, he foresaw its universally destructive
powers too late.
Nobel preferred not to be remembered as the inventor of
dynamite, so in 1895, just two weeks before his death, he created a
fund to be used for awarding prizes to people who had made
worthwhile contributions to mankind. Originally there were five
awards: literature, physics, chemistry, medicine, and peace.
Economics was added in 1968, just sixty-seven years after the first
awards ceremony.
Nobel’s original legacy of nine million dollars was invested,
and the interest on this sum is used for the awards which vary from
$30,000 to $125,000.
Every year on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death,
the awards (gold medal, illuminated diploma, and money) are

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