Here’s a simple knowledge test: you’ve heard of baseball’s World Series, the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards. You might even be able to name the quarterbacks who played in the most recent game or the nominees for this year’s best actor.
But have you ever heard of Martti Ahtisaari?
Yes, Martti is spelled right. And he’s a former Finnish diplomat but he’s also the most recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, which he received last December in Oslo, Norway.
Some critics might grouse that the Nobel Peace Prizes (http://nobelpeaceprize.org) should receive more acclaim and adulation than simple though well-hyped sporting events in America. But whatever the reality, Scandinavians view the winter events with some of the hoopla of the Academy Awards…almost. Don’t go too far here, warn the pr folks for those cold countries.
“When it comes to people’s reaction, it definitely is more subdued than the Super Bowl or the World Series,” points out Harald Hansen, information/public information manager for Innovation Tourism, (http://www.VisitNorway.com/us), which is that country’s main tourist arm. Hansen lives not only in Norway but also in New York City so he has credibility assessing the different events.
“The only manifestation that the regular Oslo citizen can attend is the torch parade up to the Grand Hotel where the winner will be standing by on the balcony and greet the crowd,” he adds. But perhaps that is something of a Danish understatement that is similar to the citizens here who regularly bump into each other on the sidewalks and never excuse themselves apparently because they are shy.
Oslo is also the site for a yearly concert which last year was hosted by Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine, featuring various singers and entertainers including Diana Ross (http://nobelpeaceprize.org/concert). Here are 10 facts about the Nobel Prizes:
1. Oslo is the only site for the Nobel Peace Prize itself while all the other prize ceremonies that include literature, chemistry and others take place in Stockholm (http://www.visitsweden.com), where events include a variety of ceremonies, press conferences and private parties. That, of course, raises the question of why share the events between the two countries (more on that later)?
2. Whatever information you have about the much-publicized Super Bowl, most people don’t know the familiar story here of how the prizes almost never happened. Alfred Nobel -- without question the most famous Swede of all times -- started the awards at the turn of the 20th century.
By all accounts, a brilliant but quiet and lonely man, he spent years wandering through Europe to write his will to fund the prizes but his distrust of lawyers led to its being challenged in court by relatives and others. “Lawyers have to make a living,” he said, ”and can only do so by inducing people to believe that a straight line is crooked.”
Why would such a nobel sentiment be fought? Not only because of relatives also wanting to cash in but also due to the large amount he left, which was the bulk of his estate or 31 million in Swedish Krona or (SEK) money (today worth 1,600 million SEK). It was not a popular decision in part because it came at a time when many Swedes were impoverished.
His will was easily contested because Nobel’s estate was scattered in eight different countries. He never had a legal residence. His youngest assistant and testament executor, Ragnar Sohlman, literally grabbed a gun to ward off robbers and traveled around the world to collect and deposit all of Nobel’s funds in Stockholm. Still, it took several years of litigation before the first prizes were awarded in 1901.
3. Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was born in Stockholm, where his family was descended from Olof Rudbeck, the best-known technical genius in Sweden in the 17th century. Nobel was not only fluent in several languages at a young age but also wrote poetry and plays. As an adult, he was most known as an inventor, acquiring an amazing 355 patents.
He had homes all over the world. “Home is where I work and I work everywhere,” he said. He became known as the “richest vagabond in Europe.”
4. How did Nobel become rich and famous? He accidentally discovered that when nitroglycerin dripped on kiselguhr, a silicon-containing earth, it formed a paste that was safer to use than nitroglycerin alone. Nobel called it dynamite and began building factories in Europe.
Nobel was ill much of his life. He had migraine headaches, bouts of depression and angina pains.
5. Why Nobel prizes? There are various interpretations of why he invented the prizes but the best known one is that he read a French newspaper that prematurely reported his death. “The merchant of death is dead,” was the headline. The story went on to say: “Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.” The irony was that the explosive he is most associated with was never used in war during his lifetime. Dynamite was frequently used in more useful pursuits such as mining, digging canals and building roads.
6. Anyone can be nominated though they have to be alive. Adolph Hitler was alive when nominated, though it is no surprise he did not win.
7. Six Nobel Laureates (called Laureates to point out the prize is not a competition or lottery) did decline the honor. Philosopher and writer Jean Paul Sartre was among them. Writer Boris Pasternak initially accepted the literature prize in 1958 but later declined due to the Russian government’s order.
8. Nobel Prize winners receive about 10 million in SEK money or approximately $1 million American. Each category gets that amount so if there are a maximum of three winners, they all share the money.
9. Why did Nobel in his will stipulate that the Peace Prize be given in Norway and the others in Sweden? The best answer seems to be that at the time the two countries had a loose union. Nobel never explained it in his hand-written will. Perhaps he felt that was unnecessary and the sites really didn’t matter.
10) Nobel’s personal life. Nobel is often described as unhappy in love. He was never married. He described himself as a loner. His assistant Sohlman said when he was asked for a biographical note, he wrote:
“Alfred Nobel -- a pitiful half-life which ought to have been extinguished by some compassionate doctor as the infant yelled its way into the world.”
Another self-description was equally critical ”I’ve got a mass of screws loose and am a super-idealist who can digest philosophy better than food.”
A few famous Nobel Prize Winners are Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Martin Luther King Jr., Ernest Hemingway and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Perhaps Alfred Nobel’s deepest quote is, “Contentment is the only real wealth.”
By David Wilkening
Photos by Nancy Bundt Innovation Norway
