List of people from West Bengal
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This is a list of notable people from
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. This list does not include the significant number of prominent
East Bengali refugees East Bengali Refugees are people who left East Bengal following the Partition of Bengal (1947), Partition of Bengal, which was part of the Indian independence movement, Independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. An overwhelming majority of these ...
from
East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...
who settled in West Bengal after the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947.


Literature


Major figures

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Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay () (12 September 1894 – 1 November 1950) was an Indian writer in the Bengali language. His best known works are the autobiographical novel, ''Pather Panchali'' (''Song of the Little Road''), ''Aparajito (Undefeate ...
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Manik Bandopadhyay Manik Bandyopadhyay lias Banerjee(; 19 May 1908 – 3 December 1956) is an Indian Litterateur regarded as one of the major figures of 20th century Bengali literature. During a lifespan of 48 years and 28 years of literary career, battling with ...
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Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (23 July 1898 – 14 September 1971) was an Indian novelist who wrote in the Bengali language. He wrote 65 novels, 53-story-books, 12 plays, 4 essay-books, 4 autobiographies, 2 travel stories and composed several songs. ...
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Rajshekhar Basu Rajshekhar Basu ( bn, রাজশেখর বসু; better known by the pen name Parashuram; 16 March 1880 – 27 April 1960) was a Bengali chemist, author and lexicographer. He was chiefly known for his comic and satirical short storie ...
* Shibram Chakraborty *
Amiya Chakravarty Amiya Chandra Chakravarty (1901–1986) was an Indian literary critic, academic, and Bengali poet. He was a close associate of Rabindranath Tagore, and edited several books of his poetry. He was also an associate of Gandhi, and an expert on the ...
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Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (also Chattopadhayay) CIE (26 or 27 June 1838 – 8 April 1894) was an Indian novelist, poet, Essayist and journalist.Staff writer"Bankim Chandra: The First Prominent Bengali Novelist" ''The Daily Star'', 30 June 2011 ...
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Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ ...
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Pramatha Chaudhuri Pramathanath Chaudhuri ( bn, প্রমথনাথ চৌধুরী; 7 August 1868 – 2 September 1946), known as Pramatha Chaudhuri, ''alias'' Birbal, was a Bengali writer and an influential figure in Bengali literature. He was the neph ...
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Mahasweta Devi Mahasweta Devi (14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016)
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Michael Madhusudan Dutt Michael Madhusudan Dutt ((Bengali: মাইকেল মধুসূদন দত্ত); (25 January 1824 – 29 June 1873) was a Bengali poet and playwright. He is considered one of the pioneers of Bengali literature. Early life Dutt ...
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Sudhindranath Dutta Sudhindranath Dutta (30 October 1901 – 25 June 1960) was an Indian poet, essayist, journalist and critic. Sudhindranath is one of the most notable poets after the Tagore-era in Bengali literature. Education Sudhindranath Dutt went to the Theo ...
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Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam ( bn, কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম, ; 24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengali poet, Bengali literature, writer, Bangladeshi music, musician, and is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul is regarded as one ...
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Annada Shankar Ray Annada Shankar Ray (15 March 1904 – 28 October 2002) was an Indian poet and essayist in Bengali. He also wrote some Odia poetry. He wrote several Bengali poems criticising the Partition of India. Most notable is "''Teler shishi bhaanglo bole k ...
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Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...
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Narayan Sanyal Narayan Sanyal (26 April 1924 – 7 February 2005) was an Indian writer of modern Bengali literature as well as a civil engineer. Biography Narayan Sanyal was born in Krishnagar to Chittasukh Sanyal and Basantalata Devi. His name was initiall ...
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Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...


Children's story writers

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Sasthipada Chattopadhyay Sasthipada Chattopadhyay (born 9 March 1941) is an Indian novelist and short story writer in Bengali language, Bengali. He is well known in Bengali literature for the series stories of Pandab Goenda. Career Chattopadhyay was born in 1941 in Khur ...
* Shibram Chakraborty *
Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury (12 May 1863 – 20 December 1915) was a Bengali writer and painter. One of his written book is ''Chotoder Shera Biggan Rochona Shongkolon''. He was the son-in-law of reformer Dwarkanath Ganguly. He was also an entre ...
* Narayan Debnath *
Narayan Gangopadhyay Narayan Gangopadhyay (4 February 1918 – 8 November 1970), also known as Narayan Ganguly, was an Indian novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer, and one of the leading writers of modern Bengali literature. He introduced the endearing ...
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Sunil Gangopadhyay Sunil Gangopadhyay or Sunil Ganguly (7 September 1934 – 23 October 2012) was an Indian poet, historian and novelist in the Bengali language based in the city of Kolkata. He is a former Sheriff of Calcutta. Gangopadhyay obtained his ma ...
* Leela Majumdar *
Samaresh Majumdar Samares Mazumdar ( bn, সমরেশ মজুমদার, born 10 March 1944) is an Indian Bengali writer from West Bengal, India. He is best known for his Animesh series of novels, the second of which (''Kalbela'') won the Sahitya Akadem ...
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Premendra Mitra Premendra Mitra (4 September 1904 – 3 May 1988)Samsad Bengali Charitabhidhan Vol.II edited Anjali Bose, Published by Sagitta Samsad, Kolkata, Edition January,2019,Page-240 was an Indian poet, writer and film director in the Bengali language. ...
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Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay ( bn, শীর্ষেন্দু মুখোপাধ্যায়; born 2 November 1935) is a Bengali author from India. He has written stories for both adults and children. He is known for creating the relativel ...
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Moti Nandi Moti Nandi; 10 July 1931 – 3 January 2010) was a Bengali writer and journalist. Career Moti Nandi was from Kolkata. He graduated from the University of Calcutta and became a sports journalist and worked as a sports editor in ''Anandabazar Patr ...
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Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...
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Sukumar Ray Sukumar Ray (; 30 October 1887 – 10 September 1923) was a Bengali writer and poet from the Indian subcontinent. He is remembered mainly for his writings for children. He was the son of children's story writer Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury and ...
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Hemendra Kumar Roy Hemendra Kumar Roy (2 September 1888 – 18 April 1963) was an Indian Bengali writer noted for his contribution to the early development of the genre of children's literature in the language. He was a noted contributor to the early development o ...
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Syed Mustafa Siraj Syed Mustafa Siraj (14 October 1930 – 4 September 2012) was an eminent Indian writer. In 1994, he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel '' Mythical Man'' (''Aleek Manush''), considered his most lauded work. In 2005, his short story ...


Medieval Bengal literary scene

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Chandidas Chandidas (born 1408) was a medieval poet of Bengal, or possibly more than one. Over 1250 poems related to the love of Radha and Krishna in Bengali with the ''bhanita'' of Chandidas are found with three different sobriquets along with his name, ...
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Kashiram Das Kashiram Das or Kāśīrām Dās ( bn, কাশীরাম দাস, ; born 16th century) is an important poet in medieval Bengali literature. His Bengali re-telling of the '' Mahābhārata'', known as ''Kāśīdāsī Môhābhārôt'', is a ...
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Govindadasa Govindadasa (1535–1613, bn, গোবিন্দদাস) was a Bengali Vaishnava poet known for his body of devotional songs addressed to Krishna. Living in an atmosphere of Krishna-bhakti preached by Sri Chaitanya (1486–1533), he composed ...
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Krishnadasa Kaviraja Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī ( bn, কৃষ্ণদাস কবিরাজ, Kṛṣṇôdas Kôviraj; born 1496; date of death unknown) was the author of the Caitanyacaritāmṛta, a biography on the life of the mystic and saint ...
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Krittibas Ojha Mahakavi Krittibas Ojha (; 1381–1461) was a medieval Bengali poet. His major contribution to Bengali literature and culture was Indian epic ''Rāmāyaṇa'' in Bengali. His work, the ''Śrīrām Pā̃cālī'', is popularly known as the '' Krit ...
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Bharatchandra Ray Bharatchandra Ray Gunakor ( bn, ভারতচন্দ্র রায় গুণাকর; 1712–1760) was an 18th-century Bengali and Sanskrit Sakta court poet and song composer. He is mostly known for his poetic work, '' Annadamangal'' or ...
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Vidyapati Vidyapati ( – 1460), also known by the sobriquet ''Maithil Kavi Kokil'' (the poet cuckoo of Maithili), was a Maithili and Sanskrit polymath-poet-saint, playwright, composer, biographer, philosopher, law-theorist, writer, courtier ...


Other authors from early modern period

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Akshay Kumar Baral Akshay Kumar Baral (1860–1919) ( bn, অক্ষয় কুমার বড়াল) was a Bengali poet and writer. He was born in Kolkata. The family originally hailed from Chandannagar, Hooghly District. Early life Baral was born in 18 ...
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Ghulam Mustafa Burdwani Ghulām Muṣṭafā al-Burdwānī ( ar, غلام مصطفى البردواني), or alternatively Golam Mostafa Bardhamani ( bn, গোলাম মোস্তফা বর্ধমানী), was an 18th-century Islamic scholar and poet from Bu ...
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Romesh Chunder Dutt Romesh Chunder Dutt ( bn, রমেশচন্দ্র দত্ত; 13 August 1848 – 30 November 1909) was an Indian civil servant, economic historian, writer and translator of ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata''. Dutt is considered a natio ...
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Anil Kumar Gain Anil Kumar Gain FRSS FCPS (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian mathematician and statistician best known for his works on the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in the field of applied ...
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Ishwar Chandra Gupta Ishwar Chandra Gupta ( bn, ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র গুপ্ত; 6 March 1812 – 23 January 1859) was a famous Indian Bengali poet and writer. Gupta was born in Kanchrapara, in Bengal. Early life Ishwar Chandra Gupta was born in ...
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Peary Chand Mitra Peary Chand Mitra (22 July 1814 – 23 November 1883) was an Indian writer, journalist, cultural activist and entrepreneur. His pseudonym was Tek Chand Thakur. He was a member of Henry Derozio's Young Bengal group, who played a leading role ...
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Parijat (writer) Bishnu Kumari Waiba, popularly known as Parijat ( ne, पारिजात) was a Nepalese writer and poet. She is best known for her novel '' Shiris Ko Phool'' for which she won the Madan Puraskar, becoming the first woman to receive the aw ...
* Indra Bahadur Rai *
Dwijendralal Ray Dwijendralal Ray (19 July 1863 – 17 May 1913), also known as D. L. Ray, was an Indian poet, playwright, and musician. He was known for his Hindu mythological and nationalist historical plays and songs known as ''Dwijendrageeti'' or the ''So ...
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Kaliprasanna Singha Kaliprasanna Sinha ( bn, কালীপ্রসন্ন সিংহ; 23 February 1841 – 24 July 1870), well known by his pen name Hootum Pyancha, was a Bengali author, playwright, and philanthropist. His most famous work was the translatio ...
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Jyotirindranath Tagore Jyotirindranath Tagore ( bn, জ্যোতিরিন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 4 May 1849 – 4 March 1925) was a playwright, a musician, an editor and a painter. He played a major role in the flowering of the talents of his you ...
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Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...


Prominent foreign-language authors from Bengal

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Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...
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Anirban Bhattacharyya Anirban Bhattacharyya is an Indian television producer, author, standup comedian, and actor. Early life He was born on 26 October in Kolkata. He studied in a boarding school in Kalimpong called Dr. Graham's Homes. He then did his Bachelor ...
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Upamanyu Chatterjee Upamanyu Chatterjee (born 1959) is an author and a retired Indian civil servant. His works include the novel '' English, August: An Indian story'', '' The Last Burden'', '' The Mammaries of the Welfare State'' and ''Weight Loss''. In 2008, he was ...
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Amit Chaudhuri Amit Chaudhuri (born 15 May 1962) is a novelist, poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, singer, and music composer from India. He was Professor of Contemporary Literature at the University of East Anglia from 2006 to 2021, Since 2020, he has ...
* Souhardya De *
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (born Chitralekha Banerjee, 1956) is an Indian-born American author, poet, and the Betty and Gene McDavid Professor of Writing at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Her short story collection, ''Arrang ...
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Toru Dutt Toru Dutt ( bn, তরু দত্ত; 4 March 1856 – 30 August 1877) was an Indian Bengali translator and poet from British India, who wrote in English and French. She is among the founding figures of Indo-Anglian literature, alongside Henry ...
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Kaberi Gayen Kaberi Gayen is a Bangladeshi academic, author, and social activist known for her outspoken views on the oppression of minorities and gender inequality in Bangladesh. She is a professor of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at ...
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Amitav Ghosh Amitav Ghosh (born 11 July 1956)Ghosh, Amitav
, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
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Jhumpa Lahiri Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" LahiriMinzesheimer, Bob ''USA Today'', August 19, 2003. Retrieved on 2008-04-13. (born July 11, 1967) is an American author known for her short stories, novels and essays in English, and, more recently, in Italia ...
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Pritish Nandy Pritish Nandy (born 15 January 1951) is an Indian poet, painter, journalist, parliamentarian, media and television personality, animal activist and maker of films, TV and streaming content. He was a parliamentarian in the Rajya Sabha from Mahara ...


Other authors from early/mid-twentieth century and some contemporary authors

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Ekram Ali Ekram Ali ( bn, একরাম আলি; born 1 July 1950) is an Indian Bengali poet and critic. Life Ali was born in Teghoria (Dist. Birbhum, West Bengal) of a Bengali Muslim parentage. Before he came to Kolkata and took up journalism in a Beng ...
* Jatindramohan Bagchi *
Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (23 July 1898 – 14 September 1971) was an Indian novelist who wrote in the Bengali language. He wrote 65 novels, 53-story-books, 12 plays, 4 essay-books, 4 autobiographies, 2 travel stories and composed several songs. ...
* Subimal Basak *
Abul Bashar Abul Bashar ( bn, আবুল বাশার) is a popular Bengali writer from the state of West Bengal in India. He was born in 1951 in Teka in Lalbagh, Murshidabad district. Bashar is pro Trinamool so called intellectual. Select biblio ...
* Sukanta Bhattacharya *
Nachiketa Chakraborty Nachiketa Chakraborty, simply known as Nachiketa, is an Indian singer, songwriter, musician, composer and playback singer who is known for his modern Bengali lyrics. He achieved fame in the early 1990s, with the release of his debut album ''Ei Be ...
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Nirendranath Chakravarty Nirendranath Chakravarty (19 October 1924 – 25 December 2018) was a contemporary Bengali poet, Translator, Novelist. He lived in Bangur Avenue, Kolkata. Biography He was born in Faridpur district of undivided Bengal in 1924. After graduati ...
* Shibram Chakraborty *
Sandipan Chattopadhyay Sandipan Chattopadhyay (25 October 1933 – 12 December 2005) was an Indian Bengali writer. His 1961 book ''"Kritadas Kritadasi"'' changed the landscape of Bengali fiction and made his name. A staunch anti-establishment figure and a supporter o ...
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Sanjib Chattopadhyay Sanjib Chattopadhyay ( bn, সঞ্জীব চট্ট্যোপাধ্যায়; born 24 october 1936 in Kolkata, India) is an Indian Bengali novelist and writer of short stories. His style is characterized by use of short satirica ...
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Shakti Chattopadhyay Shakti Chattopadhyay (25 November 1933 – 23 March 1995) was an Indian poet and writer who wrote in Bengali. He is known for his realistic depictions of rural life. He was a green poet, many of his poems raised the issue of nature in crisis. T ...
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Malay Roy Choudhury Malay Roy Choudhury (born 29 October 1939) is an Indian Bengali poet, playwright, short story writer, essayist and novelist who founded the Hungryalist movement in the 1960s. Early life and education Malay Roy Choudhury was born in Patna, ...
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Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This incl ...
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Alokeranjan Dasgupta Alokeranjan Dasgupta (6 October 1933 – 17 November 2020) was a Bengali poet who was the author of over 20 books of poetry. He translated Bengali and Santal poetry and plays into English and German, and also translated literature from German an ...
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Buddhadeb Dasgupta Buddhadeb Dasgupta (11 February 1944 – 10 June 2021) was an Indian filmmaker and poet best known for his Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali-language films like ''Bagh Bahadur'', ''Tahader Katha'', ''Charachar'' and ''Uttara (film), Uttara''. Five ...
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Mahasweta Devi Mahasweta Devi (14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016)
''
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Anil Kumar Gain Anil Kumar Gain FRSS FCPS (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian mathematician and statistician best known for his works on the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in the field of applied ...
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Kaberi Gayen Kaberi Gayen is a Bangladeshi academic, author, and social activist known for her outspoken views on the oppression of minorities and gender inequality in Bangladesh. She is a professor of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at ...
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Narayan Gangopadhyay Narayan Gangopadhyay (4 February 1918 – 8 November 1970), also known as Narayan Ganguly, was an Indian novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer, and one of the leading writers of modern Bengali literature. He introduced the endearing ...
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Joy Goswami Joy Goswami ( bn, জয় গোস্বামী; born 1954) is an Indian poet. Goswami writes in Bengali language, Bengali and is widely considered one of the most important Bengali poets of his generation. Biography Joy was born on 10 Nov ...
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Prabir Ghosh Prabir Ghosh (born 1 March 1945) is the founder and president of Bharatiya Bigyan O Yuktibadi Samiti, a science and rationalists' association based in Kolkata, India. He is the author of a number of books in Bengali disputing supernatural cl ...
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Santosh Kumar Ghosh Santosh Kumar Ghosh (9 September 1920 – 26 February 1985) was an Indian Bengali litterateur and a journalist of repute. Early life Born in Faridpur district of what is now in Bangladesh, Santosh Kumar had his ancestral house in Barisal distri ...
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Shankha Ghosh Sankha Ghosh (born Chittapriya Ghosh; 5 February 1932 – 21 April 2021) was an Indian poet and literary critic. He was born in Chandpur District of the then Bengal Presidency, present day Bangladesh. His ancestral home was at Banaripara Upazila ...
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Subodh Ghosh Subodh Ghosh (14 September 1909 – 10 March 1980) was a noted Indian author of Bengali literature and a journalist with the Kolkata-based daily newspaper '' Ananda Bazar Patrika''. Born at Hazaribagh on 14 September 1909, now in Jharkhand, he s ...
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Buddhadeb Guha Buddhadeb Guha (29 June 1936 – 29 August 2021) was an Indian writer of fiction in Bengali language. Apart from writing, he was a trained singer and a painter too. Career Born in Calcutta, Guha studied at St. Xavier's College of the Universi ...
* Baby Halder * Syed Kawsar Jamal *
Bimal Kar Bimal Kar (19 September 1921 — 26 August 2003) was an Indian writer and novelist who wrote in Bengali. He received the 1975 Sahitya Akademi Award presented by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, for his novel ''Asamay''. ...
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Binoy Majumdar Binoy Majumdar ( bn, বিনয় মজুমদার) (17 September 1934 – 11 December 2006) was a Bengali poet. Binoy received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2005. Biography Binoy Majumdar was born in Myanmar (erstwhile Burma) on 17 Sept ...
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Samaresh Majumdar Samares Mazumdar ( bn, সমরেশ মজুমদার, born 10 March 1944) is an Indian Bengali writer from West Bengal, India. He is best known for his Animesh series of novels, the second of which (''Kalbela'') won the Sahitya Akadem ...
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Arun Mitra Arun Mitra (2 November 1909 – 22 August 2000) was an Indian poet of Bengali, who also translated French literature. Selected bibliography English translations of titles are literal in most instances. Transcription of Bengali titles try t ...
* Bimal Mitra * Narendranath Mitra * Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay * Subhash Mukhopadhyay *
Kumud Ranjan Mullick thumb.html"_;"title=" thumb"> thumb Kumud_Ranjan_Mullick_(1883–1970)_was_a_ thumb .html"_;"title="thumb.html"_;"title=" thumb"> thumb ">thumb.html"_;"title=" thumb"> thumb Kumud_Ranjan_Mullick_(1883–1970)_was_a_Bengali_people">Bengali_w ...
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Moti Nandi Moti Nandi; 10 July 1931 – 3 January 2010) was a Bengali writer and journalist. Career Moti Nandi was from Kolkata. He graduated from the University of Calcutta and became a sports journalist and worked as a sports editor in ''Anandabazar Patr ...
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Purnendu Pattrea Purnendu Patri (sometimes Anglicised as Purnendu Pattrea) (2February 193119 March 1997) was an Indian poet, writer, editor, artist, illustrator, and film director. He was best known for his poems and stories, particularly for his poetry collec ...
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Dilipkumar Roy Dilip Kumar Roy (22 January 1897 – 6 January 1980), also spelt Dilipkumar Roy, was an Indian musician, singer, musicologist, novelist, poet, essayist and yogi. He was the son of Dwijendralal Ray (or Roy). In 1965, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, In ...
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Samir Roychoudhury Samir Roychowdhury (Bengali: সমীর রায়চৌধুরী) (1 November 1933 – 22 June 2016), one of the founding fathers of the Hungry Generation (also known as Hungryalism or Hungrealism (1961–1965)), was born at Panihati, ...
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Narayan Sanyal Narayan Sanyal (26 April 1924 – 7 February 2005) was an Indian writer of modern Bengali literature as well as a civil engineer. Biography Narayan Sanyal was born in Krishnagar to Chittasukh Sanyal and Basantalata Devi. His name was initiall ...
* Subodh Sarkar * Jatindranath Sengupta *
Mallika Sengupta Mallika Sengupta ( bn, মল্লিকা সেনগুপ্ত; 1960–2011) was a Bengali poet, feminist, and reader of Sociology from Kolkata, known for her "unapologetically political poetry". Biography Mallika Sengupta was the hea ...
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Shankar Shankar may refer to: People * Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name * Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer * L. Shankar, Indian violinist *S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar * San ...


Journalists

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Ekram Ali Ekram Ali ( bn, একরাম আলি; born 1 July 1950) is an Indian Bengali poet and critic. Life Ali was born in Teghoria (Dist. Birbhum, West Bengal) of a Bengali Muslim parentage. Before he came to Kolkata and took up journalism in a Beng ...
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Tamal Bandyopadhyay Tamal Bandyopadhyay is an Indian business journalist, known for his weekly column on banking and finance Banker's Trust published in ''Business Standard'', a leading Indian business daily. He had started this column in ''Mint'', an Indian busines ...
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Mrinal Chatterjee ' Mrinal Chatterjee (born 10 February 1961) is an Indian academic and author. He heads the Indian Institute of Dhenkanal. He has authored five academic books on media studies in Odia, including ''History of Journalism in Odisha'' and ''Gloss ...
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Ramananda Chatterjee Ramananda Chatterjee ( bn, রামানন্দ চট্টোপাধ্যায়) (29 May 1865 – 30 September 1943) was founder, editor, and owner of the Calcutta based magazine, the '' Modern Review''. He has been described as th ...
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Sunanda K. Datta-Ray Sunanda K. Datta-Ray is an Indian journalist. He has been editor of ''The Statesman'' (Calcutta and New Delhi) and has also written for the '' International Herald Tribune'' and ''Time''. He was editor-in-Residence at the East-West Center in Hon ...
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Kaberi Gayen Kaberi Gayen is a Bangladeshi academic, author, and social activist known for her outspoken views on the oppression of minorities and gender inequality in Bangladesh. She is a professor of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at ...
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Tushar Kanti Ghosh Tushar Kanti Ghosh (September 21, 1898 – August 29, 1994) was an Indian journalist and writer. For sixty years, until shortly before his death, Ghosh was the editor of the English-language newspaper '' Amrita Bazar Patrika'' in Kolkata. He als ...
*
Chandan Mitra Chandan Mitra ( bn, চন্দন মিত্র; 12 December 1954 – 1 September 2021) was an Indian journalist and politician who was the editor and managing director of '' The Pioneer'' newspaper in Delhi. He was also a two-term member o ...
*
Moti Nandi Moti Nandi; 10 July 1931 – 3 January 2010) was a Bengali writer and journalist. Career Moti Nandi was from Kolkata. He graduated from the University of Calcutta and became a sports journalist and worked as a sports editor in ''Anandabazar Patr ...
*
Pritish Nandy Pritish Nandy (born 15 January 1951) is an Indian poet, painter, journalist, parliamentarian, media and television personality, animal activist and maker of films, TV and streaming content. He was a parliamentarian in the Rajya Sabha from Mahara ...
*
Sukumar Ray Sukumar Ray (; 30 October 1887 – 10 September 1923) was a Bengali writer and poet from the Indian subcontinent. He is remembered mainly for his writings for children. He was the son of children's story writer Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury and ...
*
Barun Sengupta Barun Sengupta ( bn, বরুণ সেনগুপ্ত) (23 January 1934 – 19 June 2008), the founder-editor of ''Bartaman'' newspaper, was a Bengali journalist and popular political critic. He is remembered for his bold and simple dicti ...


Language/linguistics, anthropology, history, and other social sciences

*
Raja Ram Mohan Roy Raja Ram Mohan Roy ( bn, রামমোহন রায়; 22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833) was an Indian reformer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a social-religious reform m ...
, first Bengali prose writer *
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. ...
, creator of Standard Bengali prose (sadhu bhasha) *
Bhudev Mukhopadhyay Bhudev Mukhopadhyay (1827–1894) was a writer and intellectual in 19th century Bengal. His works were considered ardent displays of nationalism and philosophy in the period of the Bengal renaissance. His novel ''Anguriya Binimoy'' (1857) was t ...
, earliest educationist *
Anil Kumar Gain Anil Kumar Gain FRSS FCPS (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian mathematician and statistician best known for his works on the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in the field of applied ...
, fellow of the Royal Society *
Rajendralal Mitra Raja Rajendralal Mitra (16 February 1822 – 26 July 1891) was among the first Indian cultural researchers and historians writing in English. A polymath and the first Indian president of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, he was a pioneering figur ...
, first Indian to work with Indologists *
Haraprasad Shastri Hara Prasad Shastri ( bn, হরপ্রসাদ শাস্ত্রী) (6 December 1853 – 17 November 1931), also known as Hara Prasad Bhattacharya, was an Indian academic, Sanskrit scholar, archivist and historian of Bengali literature. ...
, historian of Bengali language and culture *
Dinesh Chandra Sen Rai Bahadur Dinesh Chandra Sen ( bn, দীনেশ চন্দ্র সেন) (3 November 1866 – 20 November 1939)Sengupta, Subodh Chandra (ed.) (1988) ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (in Bengali), Kolkata: Sahitya Sansad, p.208 was a ...
, historian of Bengali literature and folklorist *
Pramatha Chaudhuri Pramathanath Chaudhuri ( bn, প্রমথনাথ চৌধুরী; 7 August 1868 – 2 September 1946), known as Pramatha Chaudhuri, ''alias'' Birbal, was a Bengali writer and an influential figure in Bengali literature. He was the neph ...
, creator of modern Bengali prose (chalit bhasha) along with Tagore *
Sir Jadunath Sarkar Sir Jadunath Sarkar (10 December 1870 – 19 May 1958) was a prominent Indian historian and a specialist on the Mughal dynasty. Academic career Sarkar was born in Karachmaria village in Natore, Bengal to Rajkumar Sarkar, the local Zamindar ...
, historian * Rajsekhar Bose, major contributor for scientific terms in Bengali and lexicographer *
Ramesh Chandra Majumdar Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (known as R. C. Majumdar; 4 December 1888 – 11 February 1980) was a historian and professor of Indian history. Majumdar is a noted historian of modern India. He was a former Sheriff of Kolkata. Early life and educatio ...
, historian * Ramesh Chandra Dutta, historian *
Girindrasekhar Bose Girindrasekhar Bose (31 January 1887 – 3 June 1953) was an early 20th-century Indian psychoanalyst, the first president (1922–1953) of the Indian Psychoanalytic Society.Sudhir Kakar, 'Girindrasekhar Bose (1886-1953), ''International Diction ...
, first non-European correspondent of Freud * Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, linguist *
Harinath De Harinath De (12 August 1877— 30 August 1911) was an Indian historian, scholar and a polyglot, who later became the first Indian librarian of the National Library of India (then Imperial Library) from 1907 to 1911. In a life span of thirty four ...
, linguist * Biraja Sankar Guha, anthropologist *
Sukumar Sen Sukumar Sen may refer to: *Sukumar Sen (civil servant) Sukumar Sen (2 January 1898 – 13 May 1963) was an Indian civil servant who was the first Chief Election Commissioner of India, serving from 21 March 1950 to 19 December 1958. Under his le ...
, linguist *
Susobhan Sarkar Susobhan Chandra Sarkar (1900–1982) was an Indian historian. Background and education Sarkar, son of Suresh Chandra Sarkar, was born into a Brahmo family of Dhaka. He attended Dhaka Collegiate School, studied history at Presidency College, ...
, historian *
Nirmal Kumar Bose Nirmal Kumar Bose (22 January 1901 – 15 October 1972) was a leading Indian anthropologist, who played a formative role in "building an Indian Tradition in Anthropology". A humanist scholar with a broad range of interests, he was also a leadi ...
, anthropologist, associate of Gandhi *
Niharranjan Ray Niharranjan Ray (1903–1981) was an Indian Bengali historian, well known for his works on the history of art and Indian history. Early life and education He was born on 14 January 1903 at Kayetgram village of Mymensingh District in Bengal provi ...
, historian *
Dineshchandra Sircar Dineshchandra Sircar (1907–1985), also known as D. C. Sircar or D. C. Sarkar, was an epigraphist, historian, numismatist and folklorist, known particularly in India and Bangladesh for his work deciphering inscriptions. He was the Chief E ...
, epigraphist *
Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya (19 November 1918 – 8 May 1993) was an Indian Marxist philosopher. He made contributions to the exploration of the materialist current in ancient Indian philosophy. He is known for '' Lokayata: A Study in Ancient ...
, social philosopher *
Surajit Chandra Sinha Surajit Chandra Sinha (1 August 1926 – 27 February 2002) was an Indian anthropologist. Background Born in Durgapur Upazila in the Bengal Presidency (now in Bangladesh), he was the eldest son of Maharaja Bhupendra Chandra Sinha of Susang, w ...
, anthropologist * Haricharan Bandopadhayaya, lexicographer *
Tapan Raychaudhuri Tapan Raychaudhuri (8 May 1926 – 26 November 2014) was a British-Indian historian specialising in British Indian history, Indian economic history and the History of Bengal. Early life and education He was the son of Prativa and Amiya Kuma ...
, professor of history at Oxford University *
Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, econom ...
, Nobel Prize awardee in Economics *
Ranajit Guha Ranajit Guha (born 23 May 1923, in Siddhakati, Backergunje) is a historian of the Indian Subcontinent who has been vastly influential in the Subaltern Studies group, and was the editor of several of the group's early anthologies. He migrated fro ...
, subaltern theorist *
Sumit Sarkar Sumit Sarkar (born 1939) is an Indian historian of modern India. He is the author of ''Swadeshi Movement''. Early life, education and career He was born to Susobhan Sarkar. His maternal uncle was Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis. He completed h ...
, historian * Kirti Narayan Chaudhuri, historian *
Maniklal Sinha Maniklal Sinha, also ''Maniklal Singha''; (13 January 1916 -21 March 1994) was an Indian archaeologist, writer, poet, folk-culture scholar (Lokasangskritibid), novelist and assistant teacher at Bishnupur High School. He was the main entrepr ...
, novelist, historian and archaeologist of west Rarh *
Gayatri Spivak Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (born 24 February 1942) is an Indian scholar, literary theorist, and feminist critic. She is a University Professor at Columbia University and a founding member of the establishment's Institute for Comparative Lite ...
, feminist * Vina Mazumdar, women's studies academic *
Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri ( bn, হেম চন্দ্র রায়চৌধুরী) (8 April 1892 – 4 May 1957Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1972). ''Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of ...
, Indian historian


Scholars and polymaths

*
Radhakanta Deb Raja Sir Radhakanta Deb Bahadur ( bn, রাজা রাধাকান্ত দেব; 10 March 1784 – 19 April 1867) was a scholar and a leader of the Calcutta conservative Hindu society, son of Gopimohan Deb of Shovabazar Raj who was the ...
, linguist * Asima Chatterjee, scholar of chemistry *
Anil Kumar Gain Anil Kumar Gain FRSS FCPS (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian mathematician and statistician best known for his works on the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in the field of applied ...
, scholar, mathematician *
Ramendra Sundar Tribedi Ramendra Sundar Tribedi (22 August 1864 – 6 June 1919) was a renowned Bengali author. He is known for his works in Bengali poems, and stories. He is one of the most popular poets of India. Life Ramendra Sundar Tribedi was born at Kandi, Mursh ...
, scientist *
Amlan Datta Amlan Datta ( bn, অম্লান দত্ত) (17 June 1924 – 18 February 2010) was an Indian economist and educationist. He was pro-vice chancellor of Calcutta University and vice chancellor of North Bengal and Visva Bharti universities. ...
, economist, Vice Chancellor of Visva Bharati * Prithwindra Mukherjee, scholar of Indian history, philosophy, religion and culture *
Suniti Kumar Chatterji Bhashacharya Acharya Suniti Kumar Chatterjee (26 November 1890 – 29 May 1977) was an Indian linguist, educationist and litterateur. He was a recipient of the second-highest Indian civilian honour of Padma Vibhushan. Life Childhood Chatterji ...
, linguist


Education


Pioneers

*
Girish Chandra Bose Girish Chandra Bose (October 29, 1853 – January 1, 1939) was an Indian educator and botanist. Early life and education Bose was born on October 29, 1853 in the village of Berugram in the Burdwan district of India. He attended Hooghly Collegiate ...
*
Anil Kumar Gain Anil Kumar Gain FRSS FCPS (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian mathematician and statistician best known for his works on the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in the field of applied ...
*
Ashutosh Mukherjee Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee (anglicised, originally Asutosh Mukhopadhyay, also anglicised to Asutosh Mookerjee) (29 June 1864 – 25 May 1924) was a prolific Bengali educator, jurist, barrister and mathematician. He was the first student to be awar ...
*
Satish Chandra Mukherjee Satish Chandra Mukherjee (5 June 1865 – 18 April 1948) was a pioneer in establishing a system of national education in India, along with Sri Aurobindo. The positivist background Satish Chandra was born at Banipur in Hooghly district of prese ...
* Begum Rokeya *
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. ...


Post-independence

*
Sudhi Ranjan Das Sudhi Ranjan Das (1 October 1894 – 18 September 1977) was the 5th Chief Justice of India, serving from 1 February 1956 to 30 September 1959. Das also served as chairman of ''The Statesman''. Background and education S.R. Das was born in ...
, Chief Justice of India, Vice-chancellor of Visva Bharati


Others

*
Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya Mahamahopadhyay Pandit Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya (22 February 1836 – 12 April 1906) was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit, and the principal of the Sanskrit College between 1876 and 1895. A friend and colleague of Ishwar Chandra Vid ...


Teachers

* Katyayanidas Bhattacharya, philosophy, Presidency College *
Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya (19 November 1918 – 8 May 1993) was an Indian Marxist philosopher. He made contributions to the exploration of the materialist current in ancient Indian philosophy. He is known for '' Lokayata: A Study in Ancient ...
, philosophy, University of Calcutta *
Barun De Barun De (30 October 1932 – 16 July 2013) was an Indian historian. He served as the first professor of social and economic history of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, founder-director of the Centre for Studies in Social Sci ...
, history, Presidency College * K. C. Nag, mathematics, Mitra institution *
Susobhan Sarkar Susobhan Chandra Sarkar (1900–1982) was an Indian historian. Background and education Sarkar, son of Suresh Chandra Sarkar, was born into a Brahmo family of Dhaka. He attended Dhaka Collegiate School, studied history at Presidency College, ...
, history, Presidency College *
Babar Ali Babar Ali ( ur, ; born 30 June 1972) is a Pakistani film and television actor. He started his career at age sixteen. Babar Ali is known for playing ‘Bali’ in the drama serial Landa Bazaar directed by Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar. Career Babar ...
, the world's youngest headmaster, Headmaster & Founder of Ananda Siksha Niketan


Philosophy


Pre-modern period

*
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; born Vishvambhar Mishra) was a 15th-century Indian saint who is considered to be the combined avatar of Radha and Krishna by his disciples and various scriptures. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna ...
(Achintya Bhedabheda Vedanta) born in
Nabadwip Nabadwip (), also spelt Navadwip, anciently Nadia or Nudiya, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Famous for Rass fest ...
of
Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influentia ...
to parents who hailed from
Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
in present day
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
*
Madhusudana Saraswati Madhusudana ( sa, मधुसूदन, Madhusūdana, translit-std=IAST) is an epithet of Vishnu and is the 73rd name in the Vishnu Sahasranama. According to Adi Sankara's commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranama, Madhusudana means the "destroyer ...
(Advaita Vedanta), born in Kotalipara, Gopalganj District in present day
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
& studied at
Nabadwip Nabadwip (), also spelt Navadwip, anciently Nadia or Nudiya, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Famous for Rass fest ...
in
Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influentia ...
*
Raghunatha Siromani Raghunatha Shiromani ( bn, রঘুনাথ শিরোমণি, IAST: Raghunātha Śiromaṇi) () was an Indian philosopher and logician. He was the head ( The Chancellor ) of the Ancient Mithila University also known as Mithila Vidyapeet ...
(Navya Nyaya) from
Nabadwip Nabadwip (), also spelt Navadwip, anciently Nadia or Nudiya, is a heritage city in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is regarded as a holy place by Hindus, and is the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Famous for Rass fest ...


Modern age

*
Chandril Bhattacharya Chandril Bhattacharya ( bn, চন্দ্রিল ভট্টাচার্য) is a popular Bengali essayist, lyricist, poet, orator and director from Kolkata. Music Bhattacharya is one of the main lyricists of the Bengali band Chandrabin ...
, born in Kolkata * Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya born in
Serampore Serampore (also called ''Serampur'', ''Srirampur'', ''Srirampore'', ''Shreerampur'', ''Shreerampore'', ''Shrirampur'' or ''Shrirampore'') is a city of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Srirampor ...
in
Howrah district Howrah district (, ) is a district of the West Bengal state in eastern India. Howrah district is one of the highly urbanized area of West Bengal. The urbanised sectors gradually increase the slum populations. Howrah is the third smallest distric ...
*
Anukulchandra Chakravarty Anukulchandra Chakravarty (14 September 1888 – 27 January 1969), popularly known as Sree Sree Thakur, was a physician, a philosopher, a spiritual leader and the founder of Satsang (Deoghar), Satsang, in Deoghar. He was born in a Brahmin famil ...
born in
Pabna Pabna ( bn, পাবনা) is a city of Pabna District, Bangladesh and the administrative capital of the eponymous Pabna District. It is on the north bank of the Padma River and has a population of about . Etymology * According to the histo ...
district in present day
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, worked & preached in
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. After the
Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
in 1947, he relocated to
Deoghar Deoghar (pronounced ''Devaghar'') is a major city in Jharkhand, India. It is a holy sacred place of Hinduism. It is one of the 12 ''Jyotirlinga''s sites of Hinduism (Baidyanath Temple). The sacred temples of the city make this a place for pil ...
*
Surendranath Dasgupta Surendranath Dasgupta (18 October 1887 – 18 December 1952) was an Indian scholar of Sanskrit and Indian philosophy. Family and education Surendranath Dasgupta was born to a Vaidya family in Kushtia, Bengal (now in Bangladesh), on Sunday, O ...
, born in Kusthia of present day
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
which was then a part of
Nadia Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: Uk ...
before
Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
, studied in
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
*
Bimal Krishna Matilal Bimal Krishna Matilal (1 June 1935 – 8 June 1991) was an eminent British-Indian philosopher whose writings presented the Indian philosophical tradition as a comprehensive system of logic incorporating most issues addressed by themes in Wester ...
, born in
Jaynagar Jaynagar Majilpur () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the southern suburbs of Kolkata. As an urban setup in the vicinity of Kolkata, the town is within the a ...
in
South 24 Parganas South 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS (S)), or sometimes South Twenty Four Parganas and Dakshin 24 Parganas, is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore. It is the largest district of West Bengal by ...
district *
Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, econom ...
, born in
Shantiniketan Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
in
Birbhum Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impor ...
District *
Keshab Chandra Sen Keshub Chandra Sen ( bn, কেশবচন্দ্র সেন; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was a Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within ...
born in Kolkata *
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
born in Kolkata *
Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...
born in Kolkata *
Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...


Science

* Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, computer scientist *
Somnath Bharadwaj Somnath Bharadwaj (born 28 October 1964) is an Indian theoretical physicist who works on Theoretical Astrophysics and Cosmology. Bharadwaj was born in India, studied at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, and later received his Ph ...
, cosmology *
Santanu Bhattacharya Santanu Bhattacharya (born 1958) is an Indian chemical biologist and former professor at the Indian Institute of Science. At, present he is the Director of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Tirupati (IISER-Tirupati). He i ...
, chemistry * Manilal Bhaumik *
Satyendra Nath Bose Satyendra Nath Bose (; 1 January 1894 – 4 February 1974) was a Bengali mathematician and physicist specializing in theoretical physics. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, in developing the foundation for ...
*
Upendranath Brahmachari Rai Bahadur Sir Upendranath Brahmachari ( bn, উপেন্দ্রনাথ ব্রহ্মচারী) (19 December 1873 – 6 February 1946) was a leading Indian physician and scientist of his time. He synthesised Urea-Stibamine (car ...
* Bidyut Baran Chaudhuri, Computer scientist *
Anil Kumar Gain Anil Kumar Gain FRSS FCPS (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian mathematician and statistician best known for his works on the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in the field of applied ...
, mathematics * Partha Ghose * Sankar Ghosh * P.C. Mahalanobis * Dwijesh Dutta Majumdar, Computer scientist *
Ujjwal Maulik Ujjwal Maulik is an Indian computer scientist and a professor. He is the former chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He also held the position of the principal-in-char ...
, computer scientist * Ashesh Prosad Mitra *
Sisir Kumar Mitra Sisir Kumar Mitra (or ''Shishirkumar Mitra'') MBE, FNI, FASB, FIAS, FRS (24 October 1890 – 13 August 1963) was an Indian physicist. Early life and education Mitra was born in his father's hometown of Konnagar, a suburb of Kolkata (then Ca ...
* Subhash Mukhopadhyay, physician * Sankar Kumar Pal, Computer scientist *
Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri (14 September 1923 – 18 June 2005) was an Indian physicist, known for his research in general relativity and cosmology. His most significant contribution is the eponymous Raychaudhuri equation, which demonstrates that ...
* Anjali Roy, mycologist * Subrata Roy, plasma physics *
Ram Brahma Sanyal Ram Brahma Sanyal (1858 – 13 October 1908) was the first Indian superintendent of the Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata (then Calcutta). He was a pioneer in captive breeding, and was one of the first zookeepers trained as a biologist. He wa ...
, zoology *
Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (; born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist and philosopher, who since 1972 has taught and worked in the United Kingdom and the United States. Sen has made contributions to welfare economics, social choice theory, econom ...
, Nobel Laureate, economist, Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences *
Ashoke Sen Ashoke Sen FRS (; born 1956) is an Indian theoretical physicist and distinguished professor at the Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad. He is also an honorary fellow in National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), Bhu ...
, physics *
Radhanath Sikdar Radhanath Sikdar (Bengali: রাধানাথ শিকদার; 5 October 1813 – 17 May 1870) was an Indian mathematician who is best known for calculating the height of Mount Everest. He was the first person to calculate the height of M ...


Religious scholars


Muslim

*
Jalaluddin Tabrizi Abū al-Qāsim Jalāl ad-Dīn Tabrīzī ( fa, ) was a celebrated Sufi saint of South Asia. He arrived in Bengal shortly after the start of its Muslim rule, where he propagated Islam to the local populace and spent the rest of his life. The Jalili ...
(13th-century) *
Gazi Pir Gazi Pir (also called Ghazi Pir, Gaji Pir, Barkhan Gaji or Gaji Saheb) was a Bengali ( Muslim) Ghazi and '' pir'' (warrior saint) who lived in the 12th or 13th century during the spread of Islam in Bengal. He was known for his power over dan ...
(13th-century) *
Pir Gorachand Pir Gorachand, born Shah Syed Abbas Ali Makki, was an Arab Islamic missionary in Bengal in the 14th Century. Biography Makki was born in 1294 in Mecca. He moved towards Bengal with fellow missionary Shah Jalal to preach Islam. Makki settled in ...
(13th-century) *
Usman Serajuddin ʿUthmān Sirāj ad-Dīn al-Bangālī ( ar, عثمان سراج الدين البنغالي; 1258-1357), known affectionately by followers as Akhi Siraj ( bn, আখি সিরাজ), was a 14th-century Bengali Muslim Islamic scholar, scholar. ...
(1258–1357) *
Alaul Haq ʿAlā ul-Ḥaq wa ad-Dīn ʿUmar ibn As`ad al-Khālidī al-Bangālī ( ar, علاء الحق والدين عمر بن أسعد الخالدي البنغالي), commonly known as Alaul Haq ( bn, আলাউল হক) or reverentially by the sob ...
(1301–1384) *
Nur Qutb Alam Nūr Quṭb ʿĀlam ( ar, , bn, নূর কুতুব আলম) was a 14th-century Bengali Islamic scholar, author and poet. Based in the erstwhile Bengali capital Hazrat Pandua, he was the son and successor of Alaul Haq, a senior scholar ...
(d. 1416) * Fakhr ad-Din al-Burdwani (d. 1785) *
Ghulam Mustafa Burdwani Ghulām Muṣṭafā al-Burdwānī ( ar, غلام مصطفى البردواني), or alternatively Golam Mostafa Bardhamani ( bn, গোলাম মোস্তফা বর্ধমানী), was an 18th-century Islamic scholar and poet from Bu ...
(fl. 1780s) * Shah Mehr Ali (1808–1868) *
Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy ( ar, عبيد الله العبيدي السهروردي, bn, ওবায়দুল্লাহ আল ওবায়দী সোহরাওয়ার্দী; 1832 – 9 February 1885) was a Bengali Is ...
(1832–1885) * Azangachhi Shaheb (1828–1932) *
Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique Moḥammad Abū Bakr Ṣiddīque al-Qurayshī ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আবু বকর সিদ্দিকী আল কুরাইশী, ar, محمد أبو بكر الصديقي القريشي; 15 April 1865 — 17 March 1943) was ...
(1865–1943) * Abdullah al-Baqi (1886–1952) * Abbas Siddiqui (born 1987)


Pre-modern period

*
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (; born Vishvambhar Mishra) was a 15th-century Indian saint who is considered to be the combined avatar of Radha and Krishna by his disciples and various scriptures. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna ...
*
Nityananda Nityānanda (; born circa 1474), also called Nitai, was a primary religious figure within the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Bengal. Nitai was Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's friend and disciple. They are often mentioned together as ''Gaura-Nitai' ...
*
Six Goswamis of Vrindavana The Six Goswamis of Vrindavan were a group of devotional teachers (gurus) from the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism who lived in India during the 15th and 16th centuries. They are closely associated with the land of Vrindavan where they spe ...
*
Krishnananda Agamavagisha Krishnananda Agamavagisha (Devanagari; कृष्णानन्द आगमवागीश, Bengali language: কৃষ্ণানন্দ আগমবাগীশ) (a.k.a. Mahamahopadhyaya Krishnananda Bhattacharya) was a noted Kulin Bengal ...
*
Ramprasad Sen ( bn, রামপ্রসাদ সেন; c. 1718 or c. 1723 – c. 1775) was a Hindu Shakta poet and saint of eighteenth century Bengal. His '' bhakti'' poems, known as Ramprasadi, are still popular in Bengal—they are usually ad ...


The Brahmo Samaj

*
Debendranath Tagore Debendranath Tagore (15 May 1817 – 19 January 1905) was an Indian Hindu philosopher and religious reformer, active in the Brahmo Samaj (earlier called Bhramho Sabha) ("Society of Brahma", also translated as ''Society of God''). He joined Brahm ...
*
Raja Ram Mohan Roy Raja Ram Mohan Roy ( bn, রামমোহন রায়; 22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833) was an Indian reformer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a social-religious reform m ...
* Ram Chandra Vidyabagish *
Keshub Chunder Sen Keshub Chandra Sen ( bn, কেশবচন্দ্র সেন; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was a Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within ...
*
Anandamohan Bose Ananda Mohan Bose ( bn, আনন্দমোহন বসু) (23 September 1847 – 20 August 1906) was an Indian politician, academician, social reformer, and lawyer during the British Raj. He co-founded the Indian National Association, one ...


Hindu revival movement

*
Ramakrishna Ramakrishna Paramahansa ( bn, রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, Ramôkṛṣṇo Pôromohôṅso; , 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886),——— — also spelled Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya,, was an In ...
* Sarada Devi *
Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...
*
Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...


Mid-twentieth-century religious figures

* A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada *
Paramahansa Yogananda Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893March 7, 1952) was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowsh ...
*
Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri Sri Yukteswar Giri (also written Sriyuktesvara, Sri Yukteshwar) (Devanagari: ) (10 May 1855 – 9 March 1936) is the monastic name of Priya Nath Karar (also spelled as Priya Nath Karada and Preonath Karar), an Indian monk and yogi, and the g ...
*
Lahiri Mahasaya Charan Lahiri (30 September 1828 – 26 September 1895), best known as Lahiri Mahasaya, was an Indian yogi guru who founded the Kriya Yoga school. In 1861, his non-physical master Mahavatar Babaji appeared to him, ordering him to reviv ...


Social reformation and social work


Major figures

*
Ram Mohan Roy Raja Ram Mohan Roy ( bn, রামমোহন রায়; 22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833) was an Indian reformer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a social-religious reform m ...
*
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE ( bn, ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. ...
*
Keshab Chandra Sen Keshub Chandra Sen ( bn, কেশবচন্দ্র সেন; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was a Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within ...
*
Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...
* Protap Chunder Mozoomdar *
Anil Kumar Gain Anil Kumar Gain FRSS FCPS (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian mathematician and statistician best known for his works on the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in the field of applied ...
*
Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee (''Nibaron Chôndro Mukharji'') was a Brahmo reformer in India during the 19th century. In the ''History of the Brahmo Samaj'' Sivanath Sastri wrote, “The advent of Babu Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee, whose name has been m ...
* Sri Sri Harichand Thakur *
Satish Chandra Mukherjee Satish Chandra Mukherjee (5 June 1865 – 18 April 1948) was a pioneer in establishing a system of national education in India, along with Sri Aurobindo. The positivist background Satish Chandra was born at Banipur in Hooghly district of prese ...
* Dwarkanath Ganguly


Derozians

*
Ramtanu Lahiri Ramtanu Lahiri (1813–1898) was a Young Bengal leader, a teacher and a social reformer. Peary Chand Mitra wrote about him, "There are few persons in whom the milk of kindness flows so abundantly. He was never wanting in appreciation of what ...
*
Radhanath Sikdar Radhanath Sikdar (Bengali: রাধানাথ শিকদার; 5 October 1813 – 17 May 1870) was an Indian mathematician who is best known for calculating the height of Mount Everest. He was the first person to calculate the height of M ...
*
Rajnarayan Basu Rajnarayan Basu ({1826–1899) was an Indian writer and intellectual of the Bengal Renaissance. He was born in Boral in 24 Parganas and studied at the Hare School and Hindu College, in Kolkata, Bengal. A monotheist at heart, Rajnarayan Basu c ...
*
Peary Chand Mitra Peary Chand Mitra (22 July 1814 – 23 November 1883) was an Indian writer, journalist, cultural activist and entrepreneur. His pseudonym was Tek Chand Thakur. He was a member of Henry Derozio's Young Bengal group, who played a leading role ...
* Rasik Krishna Mallick *
Krishna Mohan Banerjee Krishna Mohan Banerjee (24 May 1813 – 11 May 1885) was a 19th-century Indian thinker who attempted to rethink Hindu philosophy, religion and ethics in response to the stimulus of Christian ideas. He himself became a Christian, and was t ...
* Madhusudan Dutta * Hara Chandra Ghosh *
Ramgopal Ghosh Ramgopal Ghosh (January 15, 1815 - 25 January 1868) was a leader of the Young Bengal Group, a successful businessman, orator and social reformer. He is called the 'Demosthenes of India'.Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1 ...
* Kishori Chand Mitra


Women's rights

*
Rani Rashmoni Rashmoni Das, popularly known as Rani Rashmoni, also spelled as Rani Rasmani (28 September 1793 – 19 February 1861), was an Indian businesswoman, Zamindar, philanthropist and the founder of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Kolkata and remaine ...
*
Kadambini Ganguly Kadambini Bose Ganguly (18 July 1861 – 3 October 1923) was one of the first Indian female doctors who practised with a degree in modern medicine. She was the first Indian woman to practice medicine in India. Ganguly was the first woman to gai ...
*
Chandramukhi Basu Chandramukhi Bose ( bn, চন্দ্রমুখী বসু; 1860 – 3 February 1944, a Bengali from Dehradun, which was located in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh) was one of the first two female graduates of the British India. In ...
* Kaberi Gain * Sarala Devi * Begum Rokeya *
Charulata Mukherjee Charulata Mukherjee was a noted women's rights activist and social worker from Calcutta, who was associated with Brahmo Samaj and All India Women's Conference. She was noted for her social and women rights activism. She was an active member of AI ...
* Romola Sinha


Military

*
Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...
, founder,
Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...
* General
Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri (Bengali: জয়ন্তনাথ চৌধুরী; 10 June 1908 – 6 April 1983) was a General Officer in the Indian Army. He served as the 6th Chief of Army Staff from 1962 to 1966 and the Military Gove ...
, Indian Army Chief during the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...
* Admiral
Adhar Kumar Chatterji Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji (4 March 1914 – 6 August 2001) was an Admiral in the Indian Navy. He served as the 6th Chief of the Naval Staff, from 4 March 1966, until 28 February 1970. He was the first Indian officer of the navy to hold ...
, Indian Navy Chief between 1966 and 1970. * Air Commodore Sudhindra Kumar Majumdar (1927–2011), India's first military helicopter pilot * Air Marshal
Subroto Mukherjee Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee OBE (Bengali: সুব্রত মুখোপাধ্যায়) (5 March 1911 – 8 November 1960) was an Indian military officer who was the first Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Air Force. He wa ...
, former Head of Indian Air Force * Chief of the Air Staff Designate Arup Raha, 24th chief of Indian Air Force. *
Indra Lal Roy Indra Lal Roy (), (2 December 1898 – 22 July 1918) was the sole Indian World War I flying ace. While serving in the Royal Flying Corps and its successor, the Royal Air Force, he claimed ten aerial victories; five aircraft destroyed (one sha ...
, first Indian (pre Independence) flying ace * General
Shankar Roychowdhury General Shankar Roychowdhury is a former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, and a former member of the Indian Parliament. Early life General Roychowdhury was born in Kolkata, West Bengal, India into the Zamindar family of Taki (India), ...
, former Indian Army Chief * Flight Lieutenant Suhas Biswas, recipient of
Ashoka Chakra Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
* Captain Man Bahadur Rai, recipient of
Ashoka Chakra Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
* Air Vice Marshal Madhavendra Banerji, recipient of
Maha Vir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced the B ...


Art


Early modern period

*
Abanindranath Tagore Abanindranath Tagore ( Bengali: অবনীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 August 1871 – 5 December 1951) was the principal artist and creator of the "Indian Society of Oriental Art". He was also the first major exponent of Sw ...
*
Gaganendranath Tagore Gaganendranath Tagore (17 September 1867 – 14 February 1938) was an Bengali painter and cartoonist of the Bengal school. Along with his brother Abanindranath Tagore, he was counted as one of the earliest modern artists in India. Life and car ...
*
Nandalal Bose Nandalal Bose (3 December 1882 – 16 April 1966) was one of the pioneers of modern Indian art and a key figure of Contextual Modernism. A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, Bose was known for his "Indian style" of painting. He became the principa ...
*
Kalipada Ghoshal Kalipada Ghoshal (Bengali: কালিপদ ঘোষাল; September 1906 – 29 April 1995) (Kali-Pado means he who is under Mother Goddess Kali). He was an artist from Calcutta. He was a well regarded student of the Indian Society of Ori ...
*
Mukul Dey Mukul Chandra Dey ( bn, মুকুলচন্দ্র দে) (23 July 1895 – 1 March 1989) was one of five children of Purnashashi Devi and Kula Chandra Dey.''The International Who's Who 1943–44''. George Allen & Unwin, 8th edition, Lo ...
*
Jamini Roy Jamini Roy ( Bengali: যামিনী রায়) (11 April 1887 – 24 April 1972) was an Indian painter. He was honoured by the Government of India the award of Padma Bhushan in 1954. He remains one of the most famous pupils of Aban ...
*
Ramkinkar Baij Ramkinkar Baij ( bn, রামকিঙ্কর বেইজ) (25 May 1906 – 2 August 1980) was an Indian sculptor and painter, one of the pioneers of modern Indian sculpture and a key figure of Contextual Modernism. Early life and ...
* Binode Bihari Mukherjee *
Sailoz Mookherjea Sailoz Mookherjea (1906–1960) was an Indian painter. He is one of the early modernists who showed a flair for simplification of forms, vigorous lines and dynamic movement. He is on the 1979 list of ''Nine Masters'' of Archaeological Survey of I ...


From mid-twentieth century

*
Anil Karanjai Anil Karanjai (27 June 1940 – 18 March 2001) was an accomplished Indian artist. Born in East Bengal, he was educated in Benaras, where his family settled subsequent to the Partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. As a small child he ...
*
Bikash Bhattacharjee Bikash Bhattacharjee (21 June 1940 – 18 December 2006) was an Indian painter from Kolkata in West Bengal. Through his paintings, he depicted the life of the average middle-class Bengali – their aspirations, superstitions, hypocrisy and co ...
* Chintamani Kar *
Ganesh Pyne Ganesh Pyne (Bengali: গণেশ পাইন) (11 June 1937 – 12 March 2013) was an Indian painter and draughtsman, born in Kolkata, West Bengal. Pyne is one of the most notable contemporary artists of the Bengal School of Art, who had als ...
*
Hemen Majumdar Hemendranath Majumdar (1894–1948) was an Indian painter. In 2002, there was a huge uproar when his painting was stolen and found with an art dealer. Early life Hemen Majumdar was born in Kishoreganj in British India (now in Bangladesh). In 19 ...
* Jahar Dasgupta * Jogen Chowdhury *
Paresh Maity Paresh Maity (born 1965) is an Indian painter. He is a prolific painter in a short career span. In 2014, Government of India conferred upon him its fourth-highest civilian award the Padma Shri. Early life Paresh Maity was born in Tamluk, Purb ...
*
Paritosh Sen Paritosh Sen ( bn, পরিতোষ সেন) (26 September 1918 – 22 October 2008) was a leading Indian artist. He was born in Dhaka (then known as Dacca), the present-day capital of Bangladesh. He was a founder member of the Calcutta ...
* Samir Mondal * Somenath Hore


Film and photography

*
Dulal Dutta Dulal Dutta (c. 1925Sources disagree on Datta's date of birth and age at the time of his death which is claimed to be either 84 (IMDb), 85 (''Indian Express''), 86 (''Telegraph'') or 87 (''Deccan Herald''). The ''Indian Express'' further claims th ...
* Subrata Mitra, cinematographer * Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri, * Satyajit Roy, filmmaker, screenwriter, author, illustrator, and music composer


Music


Composers

* Abbasuddin Ahmed * Atulprasad Sen * Anil Biswas (composer), Anil Biswas *
Dwijendralal Ray Dwijendralal Ray (19 July 1863 – 17 May 1913), also known as D. L. Ray, was an Indian poet, playwright, and musician. He was known for his Hindu mythological and nationalist historical plays and songs known as ''Dwijendrageeti'' or the ''So ...
*
Dilipkumar Roy Dilip Kumar Roy (22 January 1897 – 6 January 1980), also spelt Dilipkumar Roy, was an Indian musician, singer, musicologist, novelist, poet, essayist and yogi. He was the son of Dwijendralal Ray (or Roy). In 1965, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, In ...
* Gouri Prasanna Majumdar * Hemanta Mukherjee *
Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam ( bn, কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম, ; 24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengali poet, Bengali literature, writer, Bangladeshi music, musician, and is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul is regarded as one ...
* Kamal Dasgupta * Kabir Suman * Manabendra Mukhopadhyay * Nachiketa Ghosh * Raichand Boral * Rajanikanta Sen *
Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This incl ...
* Sachin Dev Burman * Sudhin Dasgupta


Performers (instrumental)

* Allauddin Khan, sarod and multi-instrumentalist * Ali Akbar Khan, sarod * Annapurna Devi, surbahar *
Buddhadeb Dasgupta Buddhadeb Dasgupta (11 February 1944 – 10 June 2021) was an Indian filmmaker and poet best known for his Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali-language films like ''Bagh Bahadur'', ''Tahader Katha'', ''Charachar'' and ''Uttara (film), Uttara''. Five ...
, sarod * Manilal Nag, sitar * Nikhil Banerjee, sitar * Ravi Shankar, sitar * Radhika Mohan Maitra, Sarod and Mohanveena * Sankha Chatterjee, tabla * Shankar Ghosh, tabla * Pannalal Ghosh, flute * Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Harmonium and tabla


Performers (vocal)


Classical

* Gopeshwar Banerjee * Naina Devi (singer), Naina Devi * Ajoy Chakrabarty, vocal * Bishnupur Gharana * Tarapada Chakraborty * Kaushiki Chakraborty


Songs of Tagore and his contemporaries

* Dinendranath Tagore *
Dilipkumar Roy Dilip Kumar Roy (22 January 1897 – 6 January 1980), also spelt Dilipkumar Roy, was an Indian musician, singer, musicologist, novelist, poet, essayist and yogi. He was the son of Dwijendralal Ray (or Roy). In 1965, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, In ...
* Sahana Devi * Amiya Tagore * Renuka Dasgupta * Malati Ghoshal * Santidev Ghosh * Debabrata Biswas * Uma Bose * Subinoy Roy * Kanika Bandyopadhyay * Suchitra Mitra * Nilima Sen * Gita Ghatak * Sarmila Bose * Indrani Sen


Modern

* K. C. Dey * Sachin Dev Burman * Pankaj Kumar Mullick * Kanan Devi * Hemanta Mukherjee * Sandhya Mukhopadhyay * Amit Kumar (singer), Amit Kumar * Abhijeet Bhattacharya * Bappi Lahiri * Babul Supriyo * Geeta Dutt * Indrani Sen * R D Burman * Kishore Kumar * Kumar Sanu * Madhushree * Kabir Suman * Manna Dey * Manabendra Mukherjee * Mohammed Aziz * Monali Thakur *
Nachiketa Chakraborty Nachiketa Chakraborty, simply known as Nachiketa, is an Indian singer, songwriter, musician, composer and playback singer who is known for his modern Bengali lyrics. He achieved fame in the early 1990s, with the release of his debut album ''Ei Be ...
* Ruma Guha Thakurta * Shaan (singer), Shaan * Silajit Majumder * Shyamal Mitra * Shreya Ghoshal * Antara Chowdhury * Srikanta Acharya * Anjan Dutt * Arijit Singh * Rupam Islam * Anupam Roy


Nazrul geeti

*Indrani Sen *Purabi Dutta *Manabendra Mukhopadhyay


Movies


Directors

* Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury * Anjan Dutt * Anurag Basu * Aparna Sen * Basu Bhattacharya * Basu Chatterjee * Bimal Roy *
Buddhadeb Dasgupta Buddhadeb Dasgupta (11 February 1944 – 10 June 2021) was an Indian filmmaker and poet best known for his Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali-language films like ''Bagh Bahadur'', ''Tahader Katha'', ''Charachar'' and ''Uttara (film), Uttara''. Five ...
* Chidananda Dasgupta * Debaki Bose * Goutam Ghose * Hrishikesh Mukherjee * Mrinal Sen * Mujibar Rahaman * Pritish Chakraborty * Prem Prakash Modi * Raj Chakraborty * Mohammad Mohsin * Rituparno Ghosh * Ritwik Ghatak *
Satyajit Ray Satyajit Ray (; 2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992) was an Indian director, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, author, essayist, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and music composer. One of the greatest auteurs of fil ...
* Shiboprosad Mukherjee * Shoojit Sircar * Srijit Mukherji * Sujit Mondal * Sujoy Ghosh * Supriyo Sen * Suman Mukhopadhyay * Tapan Sinha * Tarun Majumdar


Actors

* Abhishek Chatterjee * Abir Chatterjee * Anil Chatterjee * Anirban Bhattacharya * Ankush Hazra * Apurva Agnihotri * Arun Mukherjee * Asit Sen (actor), Asit Sen * Bhanu Bandopadhyay * Biswajit Chakraborty * Chhabi Biswas * Chinmoy Roy * Chiranjeet Chakraborty * Dev (Bengali actor), Dev * Dhritiman Chatterjee * Harindranath Chattopadhyay * Hiran Chatterjee * Jeet (actor), Jeet * Jisshu Sengupta * Joy Kumar Mukherjee * Kali Banerjee * Kamal Mitra * Keshto Mukherjee * Lokesh Ghosh, Lokesh * Mir Afsar Ali * Mithun Chakraborty * Pahari Sanyal * Parambrata Chatterjee * Pradeep Kumar * Pritish Chakraborty * Priyanshu Chatterjee, Priyanshu * Prosenjit Chatterjee * Rabi Ghosh * Rahul Roy * Ranjit Mallick * Saswata Chatterjee * Soumitra Chatterjee * Subhendu Chatterjee * Tapas Paul * Tathagata Mukherjee * Tulsi Chakraborty * Utpal Datta * Uttam Kumar * Victor Banerjee


Actresses

* Anita Guha * Aparna Sen * Arundhati Devi * Chhaya Devi * Debashree Roy * Devika Rani * Indrani Haldar * Joya Ahsan * June Malia * Kananbala * Kanan Devi * Koel Mullick * Madhabi Mukherjee * Mala Sinha * Mamata Shankar * Mimi Chakraborty * Nusrat Jahan * Moon Moon Sen * Moushmi Chatterji * Pratyusha Banerjee * Raakhee * Rachna Banerjee * Raima Sen * Reema Sen * Rimi Sen * Rituparna Sengupta * Riya Sen * Ruma Guha Thakurta * Sabitri Chatterjee * Sharmila Tagore * Srabanti Chatterjee * Subhashree Ganguly * Suchitra Sen * Sumita Sanyal * Supriya Devi * Sushmita Sen * Varsha Ashwathi


Cinematographer

*Avik Mukhopadhyay *Baby Islam *Binod Pradhan *Kamal Bose *Nemai Ghosh (director) *Ramananda Sengupta *Subrata Mitra *Sudeep Chatterjee *Supratim Bhol


Editor

*
Dulal Dutta Dulal Dutta (c. 1925Sources disagree on Datta's date of birth and age at the time of his death which is claimed to be either 84 (IMDb), 85 (''Indian Express''), 86 (''Telegraph'') or 87 (''Deccan Herald''). The ''Indian Express'' further claims th ...
* Arghyakamal Mitra * Rabiranjan Maitra * Mainak Bhaumik * Srijit Mukherji


Dance

* Uday Shankar * Amala Shankar * Mamata Shankar * Sharmila Biswas


Doctors

* B.C. Roy * S. K. Burman * Subhash Mukhopadhyay * Nilratan Sircar * Radha Gobinda Kar * Rafiuddin Ahmed (dentist) *
Upendranath Brahmachari Rai Bahadur Sir Upendranath Brahmachari ( bn, উপেন্দ্রনাথ ব্রহ্মচারী) (19 December 1873 – 6 February 1946) was a leading Indian physician and scientist of his time. He synthesised Urea-Stibamine (car ...
*Sambhu Nath De *
Kadambini Ganguly Kadambini Bose Ganguly (18 July 1861 – 3 October 1923) was one of the first Indian female doctors who practised with a degree in modern medicine. She was the first Indian woman to practice medicine in India. Ganguly was the first woman to gai ...
*Tabitha Solomon *Madhusudan Gupta


Drama/theatre

* Girish Chandra Ghosh * Dinabandhu Mitra *
Jyotirindranath Tagore Jyotirindranath Tagore ( bn, জ্যোতিরিন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 4 May 1849 – 4 March 1925) was a playwright, a musician, an editor and a painter. He played a major role in the flowering of the talents of his you ...
*
Dwijendralal Ray Dwijendralal Ray (19 July 1863 – 17 May 1913), also known as D. L. Ray, was an Indian poet, playwright, and musician. He was known for his Hindu mythological and nationalist historical plays and songs known as ''Dwijendrageeti'' or the ''So ...
* Sisir Bhaduri * Bijon Bhattacharya * Sombhu Mitra, Shambhu Mitra * Utpal Dutt * Bibhas Chakraborty * Rudraprasad Sengupta * Badal Sarkar * Usha Ganguly * Manoj Mitra * Ajitesh Bandopadhyay * Debshankar Halder


Magicians

* Ganapati Chakraborty * P. C. Sorcar * P. C. Sorcar Jr. * P. C. Sorcar, Young * Maneka Sorcar


Politicians and revolutionaries


Pre-modern

* Shashanka * Gopala * Dharmapala * Devapala (Pala dynasty), Devapala * Mahipala * Ballal Sen * Lakshman Sen


Colonial period

* Titumir * Satyendranath Tagore *
Romesh Chunder Dutt Romesh Chunder Dutt ( bn, রমেশচন্দ্র দত্ত; 13 August 1848 – 30 November 1909) was an Indian civil servant, economic historian, writer and translator of ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata''. Dutt is considered a natio ...
* Lord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha * Nripendra Narayan, philanthropist and ruler of Cooch Behar * Durjan Singh, leader of Chuar rebellion * Rani Shiromani, queen of Karnagarh and leader of Chuar rebellion * Gobardhan Dikpati, leader of Chuar rebellion


Indian freedom fighters


Early figures

* Surendranath Banerjee * Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee


Twentieth century

* Bipin Chandra Pal *
Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...
* Syed Badrudduja * Barindra Kumar Ghosh * Khudiram Bose * Bagha Jatin * Chittaranjan Das * Rash Behari Bose * Sarat Chandra Bose * Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose * Jatindra Nath Das * Bina Das * Matangini Hazra * B. C. Roy * Triguna Sen * Panchanan Chakraborty * Syama Prasad Mookerjee * Basanta Kumar Biswas * Ambika Chakrobarty * Bipin Behari Ganguli * Jogesh Chandra Chattopadhyay * Narendra Mohan Sen * Birendranath Sasmal * Sudhamoy Pramanick * Saroj Mukherjee * Renuka Ray * Shyama Prasad Mukherjee * Hemchandra Kanungo * Kanailal Bhattacharyya * Kanailal Bhattacharjee


Politicians

* Ashok Mitra * Ajit Kumar Panja * A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury * Atulya Ghosh * Amit Mitra * Abha Maiti * Bidhan Chandra Roy * Bimal Gurung * Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee * Bir Singh Mahato * Babul Supriyo * Derek O'Brien (politician), Derek O'Brien * Dev (Bengali actor), Dev * Firhad Hakim * Hashim Abdul Halim * Jyoti Basu * Kamal Guha * Kanailal Bhattacharyya * Kedarnath Bhattacharya * Mamata Banerjee * Mukul Roy * Mriganko Mahato * Mohammed Salim (politician), Mohammed Salim * Narahari Mahato * Partha Chatterjee (politician), Partha Chatterjee * Pratap Chandra Chunder * Prafulla Chandra Sen * Pranab Mukherjee * Siddhartha Shankar Ray * Subrata Mukherjee * Sultan Ahmed (Indian politician) * Saugata Roy * Somnath Chatterjee * Sabina Yeasmin * Sovandeb Chattopadhyay * Tathagata Roy * Tanmoy Bhattacharya


Others

* Abul Barkat


Donation and social welfare


Old Calcutta / Bengal legends

* Nabakrishna Deb, Raja Nabakrishna Deb * Radhakanta Deb, Raja Radhakanta Deb, published two Sanskrit dictionaries used by Westerners * Gobindram Mitter *
Anil Kumar Gain Anil Kumar Gain FRSS FCPS (1 February 1919 – 7 February 1978) (also spelt Anil Kumar Gayen) was an Indian mathematician and statistician best known for his works on the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient in the field of applied ...
* Mutty Lal Seal * Bijoy Chand Mahtab * Uday Chand Mahtab * Mother Teresa * Manindra Chandra Nandy, Maharaja of Cossimbazar


Sports


Chess

* Dibyendu Barua, Grandmaster * Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Grandmaster * Nisha Mohota, first woman Grandmaster of West Bengal


Cricket

* Arun Lal * Benu Dasgupta * Jhulan Goswami * Pankaj Roy * Priyanka Roy * Rumeli Dhar * Ambar Roy * Saba Karim * Sourav Ganguly * Ashok Dinda * Manoj Tiwary (cricketer), Manoj Tiwary * Wriddhiman Saha * Shreevats Goswami


Football

*P. K. Banerjee *Samar Banerjee *Shibdas Bhaduri *Subrata Bhattacharya (footballer), Subrata Bhattacharya *Gostho Pal *Krishanu Dey *Sailen Manna *Chuni Goswami *Gautam Sarkar


Lawn tennis

* Leander Paes, noted lawn tennis player of India * Jaidip Mukerjea


Squash

* Saurav Ghosal, currently highest ranked Indian player * Ritwik Bhattacharya, currently second highest ranked Indian player


Bodybuilding

* Manohar Aich, Mr. Universe, 1952 * Monotosh Roy, Mr. Universe, 1951 * Bishnu Charan Ghosh, Noted bodybuilder and hathayogi


Swimming

* Arati Saha, first Asian woman to swim English Channel in 1959 * Bula Choudhury, first Indian woman to swim the English Channel twice * Mihir Sen, first Indian to swim across the English Channel in 1958 * Prasanta Karmakar, para swimmer, 2010 Commonwealth Games, bronze medal * Masudur Rahman Baidya, world's first Physical disability, physically handicapped swimmer to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar


Table tennis

* Subhajit Saha, Commonwealth games gold medalist * Mouma Das, table tennis player * Poulomi Ghatak, table tennis player * Ankita Das, table tennis player, 2012 Summer Olympics; participant in women's singles event, 2014 Commonwealth Games; participant in women's doubles even * Soumyajit Ghosh, table tennis player; as of January 2013, his rank is 1st in India and 68th in Asia; 2014 Commonwealth Games, Participant in men's doubles event


Others

* Chhanda Gayen, Chhanda Gain, mountaineering, first Bengali woman to climb Mount Everest * Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, athletics, double gold medallist at Bangkok Asiad, 1996 * Mohammad Ali Qamar, boxing, Commonwealth games gold medalist * Arjun Atwal, golfer * Anirban Lahiri, Indian golfer * Balaram Bose, philanthropist * Mohammed Ali Qamar, Indian boxer, 2002 Commonwealth Games, gold medal * Sukhen Dey (weightlifter), Sukhen Dey, Indian weightlifter; 2014 Commonwealth Games, gold medal; 2010 Commonwealth Games, gold medal * Dipa Karmakar, Indian artistic gymnast; 2014 Commonwealth Games, bronze medal; 2010 Commonwealth Games participant * Joydeep Karmakar, Indian shooter, 2012 Summer Olympics; qualified to represent India in men's 50m rifle prone event; 2014 Commonwealth Games participant


Industry/business

* Jagat Seth * Dwarakanath Tagore * Diptendu Pramanick * Rajen Mookerjee * S. K. Burman * Ghanshyam Das Birla * Jugal Kishore Birla * Ram Nath Goenka * Madhav Prasad Birla * Rajat Kumar Gupta * Purnendu Chatterjee * Sadhan Dutt * Subir Raha * Sumantra Ghoshal * Pritish Chakraborty * Alamohan Das * Dilip Shanghvi


Other areas

* Ashis Nandy, author, political psychologist * Subroto Mukerjee *
Shankar Roychowdhury General Shankar Roychowdhury is a former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, and a former member of the Indian Parliament. Early life General Roychowdhury was born in Kolkata, West Bengal, India into the Zamindar family of Taki (India), ...
* William Tolly * P. C. Sorcar, Jr., magician from Kolkata * Arup Raha * Narayan Debnath


See also

* List of people by India state * List of Bengalis


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of People From West Bengal Lists of people by state or union territory in India, West Bengal People from West Bengal, West Bengal-related lists, People