Rabindranath Tagore
(1861–1941)

Although he was best known as a poet, Rabindranath Tagore was also a playwright, novelist, musician, and painter. A native of Calcutta, India, in 1913 he became the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

In addition to wealth and privilege, Tagore's family also possessed a great deal of talent and creativity; Tagore's relatives included musicians, painters, poets, and prominent religious leaders. Of his 11 older brothers and sisters, one was a famous writer and philosopher, another a well-known musician, and yet another Bengal's first published woman novelist. Tagore's own talent emerged when he was only a child. He began writing poems at the age of eight and gave his first public recitation of his poetry at 14. Before he was 18, Tagore had published more than 7,000 lines of poetry in addition to a great quantity of prose. In 1890, he published Manasi, a collection that contains some of his best-known poems and demonstrates his genius.

In 1891, Tagore was sent to East Bengal to manage his family's estates. While there, he came in close contact with people from the local villages and developed a sympathy for their poverty. This became a major theme in his writing of that time. During his years in East Bengal, Tagore published several collections of poetry, including the notable Sonar Tari ("The Golden Boat") in 1894.

Tagore's greatest work, Gitanjali ("Song Offerings"; 1912) was written following the tragic deaths of his wife and two children. With the publication of this book, Tagore's reputation grew throughout the world. He began spending long periods of time outside of India, lecturing and reading from his work. He also became a spokesperson for the cause of Indian independence from England. Unfortunately, Tagore died just four years before India became an independent nation.

A  |  B  |  C  |  D  |  E  |  F  |  G  |  H  |  I  |  J  |  K  |  L  |  M
N  |  O  |  P  |  Q  |  R  |  S  |  T  |  U  |  V  |  W  |  X  |  Y  |  Z