Ben Mtsonga
Form 1
Who is your role model and why?
Since time in memorial, man has endeavored to make life better and simple. Joseph Priestley, Aristotle, Albert Einstein, and many others have all dedicated their lives to make life easy and to explain different phenomenon, which were then mysteries.
However, Alfred Nobel- my role model, went an extra mile. His love for humanity was beyond description. Losing his mother shortly after delivery tormented his soul for the better part of his life. He was surely a man of contrast. Though he had never been to school or university but he had studied privately, Alfred was a gifted chemist and an excellent Linguist speaking Swedish, Russian, English, German, and French by age twenty.
His father- Immanuel Nobel- invented the first landmine. Young Albert learned a lot through observation. It was in his father’s laboratory that Alfred began to study explosives. Just like most young people in their early twenties, Alfred was struggling to fin himself. Although he was imaginative and inventive like his father, he had better luck in business. He built up over eighty companies in twenty different countries where he sold his scientific inventions.
He got his big break when he invented dynamite to be used as an explosive in mining industries and road building. Dynamite made mining of minerals a piece of cake. However, he was utterly disappointed when man began using the dynamite as a firearm, which killed and maimed scores of victims.
He was cheerful in the company of others, but often sad in private. Inventing the dynamite was a huge step in the right direction to making life easier but little did he know that he had created a monster instead.
Nevertheless, this did not deter him for long. He continued inventing other useful products and before he knew it he was a millionaire. His wish was to see an end to wars and therefore he spent much time and money working for this cause unti his death in Italy in 1896.
Charity work became his priority in life. He fed the hungry and educated the youth. He is mostly remembered for one of his speeches when he said, “I would rather take care of the stomachs of the living than the glory of the dead in the form of stone memorials.”
When he died, his last will was short and clear. He stated that his fortune be used to provide prizes for outstanding work in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. The Nobel Peace Prize is named after him.
Personally, I idolized Mr. Alfred Nobel for his humbleness, kindness, and his heart of giving without fear or favour. He has also left a foundation for people to be treated equally.
The Nobel Peace Prize has gone a long way to seeing that different fields e.g. literature are developed and used for the better of mankind.