Sir Rabindranath Tagore

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Sir Rabindranath Tagore , 1861–1941, Indian author and guru, b. Calcutta (now Kolkata). Tagore came from a wealthy Bengali family. He went abroad in 1877 to study law in England but soon returned to India. For a time he managed his father's estates and became involved with the Indian nationalist movement, writing propaganda. His characteristic later style combines natural descriptions with religious and philosophical speculation. Tagore drew on the classical literature of India, especially the ancient Sanskrit scriptures and the writings of Kalidasa . His prodigious output includes approximately 50 dramas, 100 books of verse (much of which he set to music), 40 volumes of novels and shorter fiction, and books of essays and philosophy.

In his devotion to peace, Tagore denounced nationalism and violence. He sought to instill in human beings a sense of their unity; he was severely critical of the Indian caste system. His most important philosophical work is Sadhana: The Realization of Life (1913), which echoes the fundamental ideas inherent in sacred Hindu writings. His dramas are filled with lyricism and philosophy, while his poems deal with amorous, mystical, and fabulous themes. In India his appeal was nearly universal. A man of striking appearance, Tagore came to be regarded with the reverence due an ancient teacher. He wrote in Bengali but translated much of his work into English. It attracted attention in the West, and he was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, especially for his collection of poetry, Gitanjali (1912). His Janaganamana ( Thou Art the Ruler of All Minds ) was adopted as the Indian national anthem.

Tagore's best-known novels and poetry include The Gardener (1913), The Crescent Moon (1913), Songs of Kabir (1915), Cycle of Spring (1917), Fireflies (1928), and Sheaves (1932). Among his plays are The Post Office (1914), Chitra (1917), and Red Oleanders (1924). Philosophical works include Personality (1917), Nationalism (1917), The Home and the World (1919), The Religion of Man (1931), and Man (1932). In 1915 Tagore was knighted. His travels and lectures took him around the world. He was impressed with the capacity of the West for accomplishing its practical goals, but he deprecated what he considered its spiritual emptiness and waste. In 1922, Santiniketan (abode of peace), the school he had founded at Bolpur in 1901, was expanded into the internationally attended Visva-Bharati Univ. The curriculum stressed social reform, international unity, and rural reconstruction.

Bibliography: See his collected poems and plays (1951); A. Chakravarty, ed., A Tagore Reader (1961), and F. Alam and R. Chakravarty, ed., The Essential Tagore (2011); his memoirs (1917); biographies by K. Kripalani (1962) and K. Dutta and A. Robinson (1995); studies by S. K. Ghose (1961) and B. C. Chakravarty (1971).

Tagore, Rabindranath (1861–1941). Indian writer, philosopher, composer, critic, painter, and social reformer, born in Calcutta. The most famous member of a renowned patrician family that produced several distinguished intellectuals, he was influential in introducing Indian culture to the West and vice versa (he was devoted to India but also international in spirit, travelling and lecturing widely in Europe and the USA). He was regarded with awe by his followers, but others found him cold and arrogant (for example Epstein, who made a portrait bust of him). Tagore's main reputation was as a writer; in 1913 he became the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for literature, awarded for his poems Gitangali: Song Offerings, written in Bengali and translated by himself into English. He was also a prolific composer of songs and was deeply interested in the visual arts. In this field he helped to introduce modern Western influence to India, notably through bringing an exhibition of German Expressionist art to Calcutta in 1922. He dabbled in painting himself throughout his life, but it was not until 1924, when he was 63, that he took it up in earnest. It then became a passion, and he produced more than 2,000 pictures in the remaining 17 years of his life. They owe something to Expressionism and Surrealism, something to various Eastern influences. Although they were well received when shown in Europe and the USA in 1930, they are now regarded as being of marginal interest; Brian Sewell describes them as ‘abysmal’ and refers to him as ‘Rabindranath the Bore'. An exhibition entitled ‘Rabindranath Tagore: A Celebration of his Life and Works’ was held at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, in 1986. Two of his nephews were painters and writers: Gaganendranath Tagore (1867–1938) and his brother Abanindranath Tagore (1871–1951). His great-niece Devika Rani, one of India's leading film actresses, was married to Svetoslav Roerich.

Tagore, Rabindranath (1861–1941) Indian poet and philosopher. He wrote novels, essays, plays, and poetic works in colloquial Bengali. His best-known work is Gitanjali (1912), a volume of spiritual poetry. In 1913, Tagore became the first Asian writer to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. He was knighted in 1915, but renounced the honour after the Amritsar Massacre (1919).

Tagore, Rabindranath (1861–1941), most eminent modern Bengali poet, was also critic, essayist, composer, and author of short fiction innovative in Bengali literature. He is known outside India principally in English translation. He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913, its first award to an Asian.