FAMOUS PEOPLE AND THE PERSON I ADMIRE THE MOST
People can become famous for discovering something, acting, singing,
dancing and many other things. Some of them become well-known during their life,
the others after their death. There are many famous people all over the world and one
of them is Arthur Nobel who I would like to talk about today.
ALFRED BERNHARD NOBEL – a Swedish chemist, one of the most famous
discoverers of the 19th century, was born in 1833 in the capital city of Sweden –
Stockholm. His father, Immanuel Nobel, was a chemical engineer and had a private
building company in Stockholm. Unfortunately, his company went bankrupt when
Alfred was 9 years old and the whole family moved to live in Russia, in Petrograd.
Alfred’s father started producing equipment for the Russian army that helped their
financial situation. Alfred had private teachers and when he was 17 years old he spoke
5 languages fluently – Swedish, Russian, English, French and German. He was
interested in English literature, poems, architecture, physic and chemistry. He also
wrote some poems and theatre plays. His father sent him around the world to get a
better education and more experience. Alfred visited the USA, Sweden, Germany and
France. In Paris he worked in a chemical laboratory with professor Pelouza. There he
met an Italian chemist, Sebrer, who discovered nitro-glycerine. In 1863 Alfred and his
family moved back to Stockholm. His father opened a new factory for producing
nitro-glycerine in a small town nearby, called Helene-Borg. A year later the factory
exploded. It was a big tragedy because many people were killed including Alfred’s
younger brother Emil. His father died a couple of month later. 3 years later Alfred
discovered dynamite. The same year he opened his own company called Alfred Nobel
& Co. He opened companies and laboratories in 20 countries including the Czech and
Slovak Republic. He became very rich, lived in Paris and because he was always very
busy (he made 355 patents) he never got married. He died at the age of 53 (in 1896) in
Italy. A year before his death he wrote a will where he asked that all his possessions
(32 million Swedish crones) should be given to the Swedish Academy of science. He
asked the academy to award a prize once a year to the person who showed the biggest
contribution to humanity. It is now called the Noble Prize and the award ceremony is
in the 10th of December at 4:30pm the same date and time of his death. Today the
prize consists of a gold medal, certificate and prize money. There are 6 different
prizes given:
1 The prize for Physics (awarded by the Swedish academy)
2 The prize for Chemistry (awarded by the Swedish academy)
3 The prize for Physiology or Medicine (awarded by the Caroline Medical institute
Stockholm)
4 The prize for Literature (awarded by the Swedish academy)
5 The prize for Peace (awarded in Oslo, Norway)
6 The prize for Economics (awarded by the Bank of Sweden)
All the prizes are given personally by the King of Sweden however; the Prize for
peace is given by the King of Norway in Oslo.
Another famous person is the Pope – Jan Pavol II. His real name is Karol Vostil and
comes from Poland. He has been the head of the Catholic Church for 30 years. He has
visited lots of countries included Slovakia. He tries to unite religions, to keep peace
and love amongst people. He is still the Pope despite of his age and illness. As well as
Christians, Atheists have sympathy for him too.
The person who I admire the most is my father Vladimir Zembera. He is 55 years old
and is a doctor. He was born and grew up in Topolcany. He became a doctor after
finishing his studies at the Medical University in Bratislava. Now he has his private
surgery in the centre of town. He is an internist, however, the last 25 years he has
been working as a cardiologist. My dad is a tall, good-looking, very intelligent man
who has a good general knowledge. He works very hard and his surgery keeps him
busy. He has been married to my mother for 30 years. Even though he is dedicated to
his career, he had time to bring up 3 children (my 2 older sisters and me). I look up to
my father and regard him as a good example to follow.
In his leisure time he likes gardening, playing cards on the PC and watching TV.