Why did Alfred Nobel create the Nobel Prizes?

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Alfred Nobel never discussed the prizes that bear his name, so there is only speculation about his reasons for establishing them. The most plausible assumption is that an incident in 1888 may have triggered the train of reflection that culminated in his bequest for the Nobel Prizes. That year Alfred’s brother Ludvig had died while staying in Cannes, France. The French newspapers reported Ludvig’s death but confused him with Alfred, and one paper sported the headline “Le marchand de la mort est mort” (“The merchant of death is dead.”). It then stated that Nobel, who invented dynamite and other explosives, had “became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before.” The premature obituary was possibly what motivated Nobel to create the namesake prizes in order to enhance his legacy.