I, the undersigned, Alfred Bernhard Nobel, do hereby, after mature
deliberation, declare the following to be my last Will and Testament with
respect to such property as may be left by me at the time of my death:
To my nephews, Hjalmar and Ludvig Nobel, the sons of my brother Robert Nobel,
I bequeath the sum of Two Hundred Thousand Crowns each;
To my nephew Emanuel Nobel, the sum of Three Hundred
Thousand, and to my niece Mina Nobel, One Hundred Thousand Crowns;
To my brother Robert Nobel's daughters, Ingeborg
and Tyra, the sum of One Hundred Thousand Crowns each;
Miss Olga Boettger, at present staying with Mrs
Brand, 10 Rue St Florentin, Paris, will receive One Hundred Thousand Francs;
Mrs Sofie Kapy von Kapivar, whose address is known
to the Anglo-Oesterreichische Bank in Vienna, is hereby entitled to an annuity
of 6000 Florins Ö.W. which is paid to her by the
said Bank, and to this end I have deposited in this Bank the amount of 150,000
Fl. in Hungarian State Bonds;
Mr Alarik Liedbeck, presently living at 26
Sturegatan, Stockholm, will receive One Hundred Thousand Crowns;
Miss Elise Antun, presently living at 32 Rue de Lubeck, Paris, is entitled to an
annuity of Two Thousand Five Hundred Francs. In addition, Forty Eight
Thousand Francs owned by her are at present in my custody, and shall be
refunded;
Tyra, and
shall be repaid to them.
The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the
following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors,
shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the
form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall
have conferred the
greatest benefit on mankind. The said interest shall be divided into five equal
parts, which shall be apportioned as follows:
one part
to the person who shall
have
made
the most important
discovery
or invention
within the
field of physics; one part to
the person who shall have made the most important chemical discovery
or improvement; one part to the person who shall have made the most
important
discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one
part to the person
who shall have produced in the field of literature the
most outstanding work in
an ideal direction; and one part to the person who shall
have done the most or
the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of
standing armies and for the holding and promotion of
peace congresses. The
prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of
Sciences; that for physiological or medical work
by the Caroline Institute in
Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm, and that for
champions of peace by a committee of five persons
to be elected by the Norwegian
Storting. It is my express wish that in awarding the prizes no consideration
whatever shall be given to the nationality of
the candidates, but that the most
worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be a Scandinavian or not.