Nobel turns 100: A century of honoring top achievers

In 1921, the Royal Swedish Academy awarded Alfred Einstein the Nobel Prize in physics for his experiments with the photoelectric effect.

(CNN) -- A century ago, the first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Jean Henry Dunant, the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Frederic Passy, the founder of a French peace society that laid a foundation for the United Nations.

Today, as the Nobel committee prepares to announce its 100th awards, the organizations seeded by those two men are more viable than ever. So is the work of dozens of other Nobel laureates recognized over the decades in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and economics.

Albert Einstein, Madame Curie, Martin Luther King Jr., Linus Pauling, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Nelson Mandela and Samuel Beckett are some of the well-known recipients of Nobel prizes.

While the prizes are among the most prestigious awards in the world, they are not without controversy.

Nobel laureates were often at the forefront of dramatic change in the 20th century, which saw an accelerated rate of scientific discoveries, along with two world wars and tremendous social upheaval.

Double-edged sword

Nobel held the patent for some 600 inventions, including dynamite.

The double-edged sword of discovery and change is exemplified by the life of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel, who left instructions in his will to recognize people whose work conferred "the greatest benefit on mankind."

Nobel made a fortune by inventing dynamite, which greatly improved the safety of explosives. He initially hoped that his invention would put an end to war, by making it so horrible that no one would want to engage in it. He was wrong -- spectacularly wrong -- but the wealth generated from his invention did create the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nobel was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833, the child of Immanuel Nobel, an engineer and inventor, and Andrietta Ahlsell. Immanuel Nobel had designed steam engines and underwater mines that protected St. Petersburg, Russia, during the Crimean War. He also was a pioneer in arms manufacturing, and had experimented with different techniques of blasting rock.

When Alfred was young, the family moved to Russia so Immanuel could start a new career after going into bankruptcy. There, Alfred and his brothers received a first-class education, and by the age of 17, Alfred was fluent in five languages, with interests ranging from chemistry to English poetry.

Soon after, young Nobel was sent to Paris for more training in chemical engineering. This gave him the foundation for the work that would place him in history books.

Inventing dynamite

Probably no Swede is as well-known throughout the world as Alfred Nobel.

A meeting with Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero, inventor of nitroglycerine, led to Nobel's invention of dynamite. Because nitroglycerine and its production were difficult to control -- an explosion killed Nobel's brother Emil in 1864 -- Nobel tried adding different substances to make it safer.

He eventually mixed it with silica, making a paste that could be shaped into rods and inserted into drilling holes. In 1867, he patented this material, calling it dynamite.

His invention was a boon during the era of rapidly growing industries and cities, because dynamite reduced the cost of blasting rock and drilling tunnels. It was a profitable one, too, and Nobel became a very wealthy man.

He died in Italy on December 10, 1896. In his will, he directed that his estate -- about $4 million, the equivalent to about $173 million today -- be used for prizes in chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature and peacekeeping. Another prize, for economic sciences, was established in 1968 to commemorate the Bank of Sweden's (Riksbanken) 300th anniversary.

The selection process

With the exception of the Peace Prize, all Nobel Prizes are awarded at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden.

Nobel specified that prizes in science and literature were to be awarded by a Swedish committee, while the peace prize was to be given out by a Norwegian panel. So it is, a century after Nobel issued his orders.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is responsible for the prizes in physics, chemistry and economic sciences; the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute awards the prize in medicine; and the Swedish Academy awards the prize for literature. In Oslo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee administers the Peace Prize.

It is not clear why Nobel divided the awards this way. Some speculate that Nobel favored the Norwegian parliament's penchant for finding peaceful solutions to international disputes. Others theorize that Nobel may have been influenced by Norwegian author Bjornstjerne Bjornson and his interest in peaceful causes.

Each year, thousands of international experts and research institutes are invited to nominate candidates, and previous Nobel Prize winners also may submit nominations. Members of governments and the International Court of Justice at The Hague, The Netherlands, can make suggestions for the peace prize.

The nominations are carefully investigated. Then, the committees present a selection of possible candidates to the prize-awarding institutions, and a vote is taken. The year's laureates are announced immediately after the vote, which is held in October.

Prizes not without controversy

Jean-Paul Sartre refused his Nobel Prize for literature in 1964 for fear it would turn him into an institution.

The Nobel Prizes have tremendous prestige and offer significant financial rewards. Each winner this year will receive about $1 million. Frequently, the prizes engender controversy as well.

For example, many were outraged when former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam received the 1973 peace prize for negotiating theVietnam peace accord -- only a year after Americans were condemned for bombing Hanoi and escalating the war. Tho refused to accept the prize.

Other controversies have arisen over the choices. In every country are those who suffer annual disappointments when the Nobel committees overlook their national heroes. Sir Winston Churchill received the literature prize in 1953, while the popular writer Graham Greene was not recognized. Swedes are still waiting for the poet Tomas Transtromer and the children's book writer Astrid Lindgren to win awards. Others cannot understand why the late Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi never won the peace prize.

Besides Le Duc Tho, others who have declined a Nobel Prize include French author Jean- Paul Sartre, who refused the prize for literature in 1964 for fear it would turn him into an institution.

Centennial celebration

Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia

The annual Nobel Prize ceremonies last for a week in December in Stockholm and Oslo, culminating on December 10 -- the anniversary of Nobel's death.

Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia have inaugurated the first major Nobel exhibition in Stockholm's Old Town, celebrating the history of the Nobel Prize and its 700 laureates.

All living laureates have been invited for the centennial celebrations and about 225 are expected to attend, including more than 30 winners of the Peace Prize.

Tina Johansson contributed to this report.