Factbox: Nobel: The prizes and the man

LONDON (Reuters) - Swedish businessman and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel, in his will signed in 1895, set up a number of prizes awarded each year that have become some of the most prestigious in the world.

The following are some facts about the man and the prizes:

* THE PRIZES:

-- Nobel said in his will that the prizes should be given to people "who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."

-- He ordered that most of his estate of 31 million Swedish crowns at the time should be converted into a fund and invested in safe securities.

-- The first prizes were awarded in 1901, five years after Nobel's death in San Remo, Italy.

-- His will gave five categories for prizes: physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, literature and peace. A sixth prize, the Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968.

-- The winners get 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.45 million), either individually or shared, though no more than three people are allowed to share.

* THE MAN:

-- As well as being an inventor and businessman, Nobel dabbled in writing plays and poetry. The following are the opening lines of his "Night Thoughts":

"The solemn silence of the midnight hour

Unchains the fettered spirit, and the power

Of Reasoning takes a visionary flight

Beyond the limits of detective sight,

Which may deceive us, yet attracts the soul

Even with its wild and daring uncontrol."

-- Nobel never married and was continually on the road. French writer Victor Hugo called him "Europe's richest vagabond."

-- He once described himself in this way: "Pathetic half life, should have been suffocated by a humane doctor as he sobbingly made his entry into life ... His only request: not to be buried alive."

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Mark Heinrich)