Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore, Rabindranath (1861-1941), Indian poet, philosopher, and Nobel
laureate, was born in Calcutta, into a wealthy family.
He began to write poetry as a child; his first book appeared when he
was 17 years old.After a brief stay in England (1878) to
study law, he returned to India, where he rapidly became the most
important and popular author of the colonial era, writing
poetry, short stories, novels, and plays. He composed several hundred
popular songs and in 1929 also began painting.Tagore wrote primarily in Bengali, but translated many of his works
into English himself. He was awarded the 1913 Nobel
Prize in literature, and in 1915 he was knighted by the British king
George V. Tagore renounced his knighthood in 1919
following the Amritsar massacre of 400 Indian demonstrators by
British troops.His famous works were 'Balaka' , 'Sonar
Tari', 'Chitali', and 'Gitanjuli' etc. His selected poems
'Sanchaita',
and selected short stories 'Galpagucha' were published in
India 1966. Two of his songs are national anthem of India and
Bangladesh.