by Prof. Dott. Pietro Croce

In 1926 the Dane, J.A.G. Fibiger announced the discovery of the cause of stomach cancer. The cause, he wrote, is a bug; it's name, "Spiroptera carcinomatis". However, too bad for him, not only is the cause of stomach cancer (just as the cause of all other cancers) not a bug, but the same "Spiroptera carcinomatis" never existed at all. On the other side (this time, good for him) that unbelievable blunder enriched his bank account by some million dollars: that is the amount of money the recipients of the "prize" receive "for the good they have given" (but in this case have failed to give) to medical science and to humanity. Given today's current philosophy, it is unimportant whether money is received rightly or wrongly.

A piece of gratuitous advice to whomsoever places his/her hopes upon the "Prize": be sure that your ideas:

do not contradict the establishment!

This rule is tantamount to disregarding the fundamental aim of science, which is essentially the search for new facts, the formulation of new hypotheses and construction of new theories. Briefly it is an invitation to forget the incessant striving of humanity towards progress and to enter the path of conformity.

An Up-to-Date Example of Arrogance

In 1997 the Nobel Prize for medicine has been awarded to the Swiss Prof. Rolf M. Zinkernagel of the University of Zurich. The awarding Commission seems not to give a damn about the steadily growing flood of people disapproving of animal experimentation (vivisection) and expressing concern about the possible outcomes of genetic manipulation, two items of which the new "Nobel Prize" is declaredly proud to be in favour. Looking at his photo on the "Gazetta svizzera" (No. 12, Dec 1996) and his face depicted with satisfaction at the moment he receives by telephone the notice of the award (and of the huge amount of money linked to it) I can't help imagining the exultant face of the aforementioned swindler of seventy-one years ago.

Too Much Money

Somebody said that gold has the power to corrupt even a Cherub. Is that true for the Nobel Prize awarding Commission too? We are reluctant to accept such pessimism, but we also cannot neglect some facts which cast a shadow of suspicion that we strongly want to consider unsuspectable.

We also realise that it is extremely hard to judge the "services yielded to humanity" (text from A. Nobel's' testament) particularly in a nebulous field as medicine and medical research. But when we encounter examples like that of J.A.G. Fibiger (1926) and the much more recent (1997) "Nobel Prize" Dr Zinkernagel, we feel justified in believing that this wasn't the use for which Alfred Nobel signed his legacy.

Too Much Prestige, Too Much Power

The new recipient of the "Prize", no matter in which field, finds himself abruptly cast into a world he/she never had suspected to exist. People who looked at him/her absent-mindedly, now don't hide their longing to be introduced to him/her; the club which only a week ago had rejected their application form, now pops up with a letter signed "The President" inviting him/her to become a member. If he/she is a literary figure, his/her books will be instantly required by the same publisher who just one month before wrote on the parcel "return to sender". Press and television engagements, high society talks: additional hail of money... after all, why decline, why refuse?

Chronological Betrayal

In his testament Alfred Nobel stated that the "Prize" was instituted for those who in the course of the year had "rendered the best services to humanity". How is that item compatible with prizes awarded for "services rendered to humanity" ten, twenty, forty years before, as in the case of several "awarded"?

Having rejected the traditional Gods, in a desperate need for idols humanity creates bogus ones of flesh and blood. Therefore, don't condemn the new "Nobel Prize": the new God is innocent.

"The whole of my remaining realisable state shall be dealt with in the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on humanity. The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field of physics; one part to the person who shall have made the most important chemical discovery or improvement; one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine; one part to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency; and one part to the person who shall have done the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding or promotion of peace congresses. The prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiological and medical works by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm; and that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that in awarding prizes no consideration whatever shall be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy receive the prize, whether he be a Scandinaviann or not."
Paris, 27 November 1895.