Paul François Barbe became Alfred Nobel’s French partner for many years. As early as 1868, Nobel went into partnership with Barbe for the exploitation of dynamite in France. In 1870, under Barbe’s forceful management, the manufacture of dynamite began in Paulille near the Spanish border, an isolated spot chosen for security reasons. Barbe’s skill in…

Kieselguhr, a diatomaceous earth (diatomite) is a form of silica composed of the siliceous shells of unicellular aquatic plants of microscopic size. Kieselguhr is heat resistant and has been used as an insulator, as a component in toothpaste and as an abrasive in metal polishes. In the chemical industry, it is also used as a…

Immanuel and Andrietta Nobel had six children. Four of them survived childhood: Robert (1829-1896), Ludvig (1831-1888), Alfred (1833-1896), and Emil (1843-1864). Two died as infants. Emil, who like his brothers Robert and Ludvig worked for the family business, was killed in a tragic explosion which occurred in Heleneborg, Stockholm on September 3, 1864. Robert Nobel…

(1843-1914) Bertha von Suttner Bertha von Suttner (née Countess Bertha Kinsky) was an Austrian noble woman, author and peace activist. She came to work as a secretary for Alfred Nobel in Paris in 1876. After only a couple of months she left her job and returned to Vienna to get married. Bertha von Suttner maintained…

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by John E. Dolan Unlike most inventors Alfred Nobel combined technical creativity with commercial flair, both to a very high degree. A lack of capital proved no hindrance to Nobel and having borrowed it he had, within ten years, founded an international group of dynamite companies in Sweden, Finland, Germany and Norway before turning his…