ascanio sobrero (12 october 1812 - 26 december 1888) was an italian chemist, who discovered nitroglycerin in 1847. he was born in casale, monferrato and worked in paris. he was made a professor of chemistry at turino. his face was badly hurt during an experiment with nitroglycerin. he thought it was too dangerous to be of any practical use. he said that he was ashamed to have discovered something that killed people. he died in turin, italy.