Ascanio Sobrero

Ascanio Sobrero ( born October 12, 1812 in Casale Monferrato, † May 26, 1888 in Turin ) was an Italian chemist and inventor of nitroglycerine.

He was assistant to the Parisian chemist Théophile -Jules Pelouze, then professor of chemistry in Turin.

The nitroglycerin he discovered in experiments with gun cotton and called it first " Pyroglycerin ". In his experiments with nitroglycerin he suffered severe facial injuries and therefore considered the explosives to be too dangerous for practical use. In fact, he was so frightened of his own invention that he kept them secret for a year. He spoke about in private letters and newspaper articles vehemently against commercial exploitation of how this was caused by his student Alfred Nobel.

After the success of invented by Nobel dynamite Sobrero felt betrayed by the fame and financial success. Nobel quoted him indeed as the inventor of nitroglycerine and gave to him a lifetime payment. This was, however, no relation to the immense resources that engulfed Nobel Sobreros invention. There were - as later with Nobel - scruples regarding the devastating impact of his invention.

• Chemists ( 19th century)
• Inventor
• Italian
• Born in 1812
• Died in 1888
• Man