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How the “Merchant of Death” Commemorated Peace

A lesser-known fascinating story about the Nobel Prize

Darshak Rana
6 min readApr 2, 2021
The merchant of death who commemorated peace.
Source: Wikipedia (Portrait of Nobel by Gösta Florman)

“The merchant of death is dead!

The merchant of death is dead!”

TThis headline was all over the news. All the leading French newspapers and magazines in 1888 published an obituary with this title. Everyone was rejoicing the death of the person who sold death on the wholesale market.

But, who was the merchant of death?

Alfred Nobel.

Yes, you read it right!

If you're still wondering who Alfred Nobel was, let me tell you that he’s the Nobel Prize founder. But why was he dishonored with this blasphemous title?

Why was Alfred Nobel titled “The Merchant of Death”?
What wrong did he do?

Let’s dig into a lesser-known historical fact.

Fast Rewind 55 Years

Alfred Bernard Nobel was born on October 21st, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden. He was a problem solver by nature, and his curiosity knew no bounds. His love for new inventions and business acumen made him one of the richest men in history books.

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Darshak Rana
Darshak Rana

Written by Darshak Rana

Engineer turned writer with 30M+ views online✦ Published in Business Insider and Reader's Digest✦ Grab your FREE Mental Reset Kit : https://shorturl.at/muJV7

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