The Indian Biographical Dictionary (1915)/Tagore, Rabindranath

1608218The Indian Biographical Dictionary (1915) — Tagore, RabindranathC. Hayavadana Rao


Tagore, Rabindranath; D.Lit. (Calcutta University); Poet, Novelist, Dramatist, and Essayist; Noble Prizemen in Literature, (1913); s. of Maharishi Debendranath Tagore of the famous Tagore family of Jorasank, Calcutta; g.s. Dwarakanath Tagore; b. 1861; educ: privately by his father; an accomplished prose writer when only sixteen; the influence of his father’s character is seen in his profoundly spiritual hymns and the meditative calmness that breathes in his essays on religious subjects; also in his tendency to retirement; his poems, stories, songs, and hymns are famous in Bengal; an eminent Singer and Musician; has successively edited the ‘Barathi’; the ‘Belek’ ‘the Sadhana’, and the ‘Bangadarsan’ all Bengali monthly Reviews; travelled much in India and Europe; for many years managed his late father’s vast estates; served for long as Secretary, Adibrahma Samaj; devoted much time and attention to a School established in his father’s garden house, ‘Santi Niketan’, at Bolepur in which students practiced Brahmacharia and lived with their teachers as in the days of old; was a prominent worker in Swadeshi cause in Bengal, his patriotic songs and lectures contributing not a little towards its success in that province; visited England, 1913; his writings were first introduced to British public by Mr. W. B. Yeats, the well-known Irish Poet. Publications: Many in Bengal; in English the following:- Gitanjali (Song Offerings); the Gardener (Lyrics of Love and Life; the Cresent Moon (child poems); Chitra; The Post Office, a Play; Sadhana (The Realisation of Life); The King of the Dark Chamber (all published by Messrs. Macmillan & Co.) Address: Santi Niketan, Bolepur, Bengal.