Alfred Nobel and His Family

"What would you say about me - a person deprived of youth, joy, hope. An empty soul whose 'inventory' is a white or gray page."
Alfred Nobel, letter to Bertha von Suttner (1885)

	Despite scant formal education, Immanuel Nobel became an important inventor.
	Andriette Nobel was considered a woman of integrity and courage, worshipped by her sons. During their difficult years in Stockholm after Immanuel was forced to leave Sweden, she kept the family together.
		The house in Stockholm where Alfred Nobel was born.

Alfred Nobel was born on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden. His father, Immanuel, had gained a reputation as an entrepreneur in Stockholm, then a rapidly expanding city. But the same year that Alfred was born, Immanuel faced considerable financial difficulties and went bankrupt. Forced by his debts to flee Sweden, he departed in 1837 for Finland and then for Russia, leaving behind his wife Andriette and his sons Ludvig, Robert and Alfred, aged 10, 6 and 4 respectively.