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Alfred Nobel. As the story goes (I'll try to supply a reference later) Alfred's brother died, and an obit writer mistakenly thought it was the inventor of TNT himself who was deceased. Thus he read his own obituary and was shocked to learn that he was remembered only for ushering in the era of modern warfare using explosives. This motivated him to create the prizes bearing his name.
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From Wikipedia: quote: The erroneous publication in 1888 of a premature obituary of Nobel by a French newspaper, condemning his invention of dynamite, is said to have made him decide to leave a better legacy to the world after his death. The obituary stated Le marchand de la mort est mort ("The merchant of death is dead") and went on to say, "Dr. Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday."
Another reference: quote: When Nobel’s brother died, the newspaper made a mistake and ran an obituary for Alfred Nobel. In the obituary they stated that he was known for creating the most destructive force known to mankind, dynamite. When Nobel read the obituary, he decided that he didn’t want his family name remembered for destruction.
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