Suchitra Mitra (19 September 1924 – 3 January 2011) was an Indian singer, composer, artist exponent of

Rabindra Sangeet ''Rabindra Sangeet'' ( bn, রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীত; ), also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in ...

or the songs of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

's poet laureate

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 ...

, professor, and the first woman

Sheriff of Kolkata The Sheriff of Kolkata is an apolitical titular position of authority bestowed for one year on a prominent citizen of Kolkata (Calcutta). The Sheriff has an office and staff in Calcutta High Court but does not have executive powers. Mumbai (Bo ...

. As an academic, she remained a professor and the Head of ''Rabindra Sangeet Department'' at the

Rabindra Bharati University Rabindra Bharati University is a public research university in Kolkata, India. It was founded on May 8, 1962, under the Rabindra Bharati Act of the Government of West Bengal in 1961, to mark the birth centenary of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. ...

for many years. Mitra was a playback singer in Bengali films (and acted in some as well) and was associated for many years with the

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

. Mitra studied at the

Scottish Church College Scottish Church College is a college affiliated by Calcutta University, India. It offers selective co-educational undergraduate and postgraduate studies and is the oldest continuously running Christian liberal arts and sciences college in A ...

, the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, ...

and at

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the ...

in West Bengal, India. She was also the

(2001). After prolonged illness Mitra died of a cardiac ailment on 3 January 2011, 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 ...

Early life

Mitra's father, the celebrated littérateur, Saurindra Mohan Mukherjee, was a close associate of the

Tagore family The Tagore family (also spelled as ''Thakur''), with over three hundred years of history,Deb, Chitra, pp 64–65. has been one of the leading families of Calcutta, India, and is regarded as one of the key influencers during the Bengali Renaissa ...

Jorasanko Jorasanko is a neighbourhood of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. It is so called because of the two (''jora'') wooden or bamboo bridges (''sanko'') that spanned a small stream at this point. History Apart from the disti ...

. Suchitra Mitra's natural aptitude in music was recognised by

Pankaj Mullick Pankaj Kumar Mullick (10 May 1905 – 19 February 1978) was an Indian music composer, playback singer and actor, who was a pioneer of film music in Bengali cinema and Hindi cinema at the advent of playback singing, as well as an early expone ...

, who gave her a first lesson in Rabindra Sangeet. From her childhood, as the youngest member of her family, Suchitra cultivated her love for the songs and poetry of Tagore. She had an unerring ear for music and a natural gift of voice and expression. She was born in a running train near station Gujhandi, so her nickname was Goju.

Musical career

In 1941, Suchitra Mitra received a scholarship to Sangit Bhavana in

Santiniketan 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 ...

, where she learnt

from some of the greatest teachers - Indira Devi Chaudhurani,

Santidev Ghosh Santidev Ghose (also Santidev Ghosh, Shantidev Ghosh and Santideb Ghosh) (Santiniketan, 7 May 1910 – 1 December 1999) was an Indian author, singer, actor, dancer and maestro of Rabindra Sangeet. Sagarmoy Ghosh, the renowned editor of Bengal ...

, and Sailajaranjan Majumdar. Having obtained her diploma from Santiniketan, Suchitra Mitra returned to Calcutta in 1945. In 1946, she earned her degree from

of the

. In the same year, she co-founded ''Rabitirtha'' along with Dwijen Chowdhury (the name Rabitirtha was coined by renowned historian and Tagore scholar Professor Kalidas Nag). Under Suchitra's leadership, Rabitirtha emerged as one of the leading schools of Rabindra Sangeet (in Kolkata). Founder and Principal, Suchitra Mitra was an active figure and inspiration behind this establishment. Her dedication, sincerity and comprehension of the subtle nuances underlying Tagore's songs is indeed praiseworthy. Suchitra was an exponent and an interpreter of Tagore's musical compositions. Her other interests included performing arts, including theatrical performances, film-acting, painting, etc. Mitra produced

Rabindra Nritya Natya Rabindra Nritya Natya is the group of four dance-dramas composed by Bengal's Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore: ''Chitrangada'', ''Chandalika'', ''Shyama and Shrabangatha''.History of Bengali Literature, Dr. Dulal Chakraborty, July 2007, Bani Bit ...

s (or Tagore's dance dramas); she had acted and danced in many of them. She also acted in stage-plays/dance-drama like ''Valmiki Pratibha'' and in films like ''Dahan'' directed by Rituparno Ghosh. Her other intellectual pursuits included: reciting poetry, writing short stories, poems and children's rhymes, publishing essays and books on more thought-provoking subjects, such as the grammar and techniques involved in rendering Rabindra Sangeet or on the aesthetics of the music of Tagore. Her greatest achievements may have been her ability to immortalise Tagore's songs both at home and abroad to people of all ages. Invited to the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, Mitra spread the message of Tagore to the western audience. With the ''Rabitirtha'' troupe, she performed Tagore's dance dramas in the US and Canada. She was the author of many books in Bengali on Rabindra Sangeet, and had recently directed her efforts towards compiling an encyclopaedia of Tagore's songs for students and researchers. Suchitra Mitra's repertoire and expertise, coupled with her ability to inculcate in others the love of Rabindra Sangeet, establishes her as one of the notable names in the world of performing arts in India. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan recognises her as his guide into the world of Rabindrasangeet. Suchitra was considered to be one of the most versatile exponents of Rabindra Sangeet, and in recognition thereof she was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in 1974. Together with Kanika Bandopadhyay, Debabrata Biswas and Hemanta Mukhopadhyay, she formed the Golden Quartet of Rabindrasangeet who popularised the compositions of Rabindranath Tagore and left an indelible impression in the fields of arts and culture.

Recognition

Her reputation as a successful artiste resulted in her appointment as lecturer in

, where she held the prestigious office of Head of the Department of Music. She also succeeded Pankaj Mullick in Sangeet Sikshar Asar - a very popular programme of Akashvani - a tutorial on Rabindrasangeet that was broadcast live. In recognition of her creative talents, Suchitra Mitra received numerous accolades. Some of Mitra's notable awards included. *Tagore Hymn Prize in 1945 from London Tagore Hymn Society. *

in 1974 from the

Sangeet Natak Academy Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. History It was set up by the Indian education ministry on 31 May 1952 and be ...

Award in 1986 from the Government of India *

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

Golden Disc Award, *Shiromoni Puraskar from

Asian Paints Asian Paints Ltd is an Indian multinational paint company, headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The company is engaged in the business of manufacturing, selling and distribution of paints, coatings, products related to home décor, b ...

, *Desikottama from

Visva-Bharati Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...

, *Allauddin Puraskar from the Government of West Bengal, among numerous others. She was conferred 3 honorary D.Litt. degrees by the

, the

University of Burdwan The University of Burdwan (also known as Burdwan University or B. U.) is a public university in Purba Bardhaman, West Bengal, India. It was established by the West Bengal Government as a teaching and affiliating university on 15 June 1960 with ...

and

Jadavpur University Jadavpur University is a public state university located in Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established in 1905 as ''Bengal Technical Institute'' and was converted into Jadavpur University in 1955. In 2022, it was ranked fourth am ...

. As aforementioned, Mitra was also the recipient of the Desikottama (or honorary D.Litt) of the

, which is regarded as the pinnacle of recognition in the genre of Rabindra Sangeet. She retired in 1984 from Rabindra Bharati University as a professor and the Head of Rabindra Sangeet Department. Her presence has been an inspiration to younger generations of artists who wish to master the art of Tagore.

In popular culture

She has been the subject of multiple biographic documentary films. One of them, titled ''Suchitra Mitra'' (1993) by

Raja Sen Raja Sen (born 10 November 1955) is an Indian film and television director and the winner of three National Film Awards from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He is the father of actress Rimi Sen. Career Raja Sen first received recognition with ''S ...

, went on to win the

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

for Best Cultural Film.Raja Sen biography
She was awarded Rabindra-Tattwacharya by Tagore Research Institute, Kolkata. She became the first female Sheriff of Kolkata in 2001.

Bibliography

*''Tagore songs'' (encyclopedia). 1984. *''Gurer Putul''. Ananda Publishers. 2000. . *''Ratanpurer Rahasya''. Ananda Publishers. .

References

External links

at "Rabitirtha" website

at Stanford University
Suchitra Mitra biography
at Stanford University {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Suchitra 1924 births 2011 deaths Scottish Church College alumni Actresses in Bengali cinema Bengali singers Indian women academics Indian women playback singers Indian music educators Indian People's Theatre Association people Singers from Kolkata Academic staff of Rabindra Bharati University Rabindra Sangeet exponents Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sheriffs of Kolkata University of Calcutta alumni Visva-Bharati University alumni Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian singers Indian women classical singers Women classical composers 20th-century Indian composers Women educators from Bihar Educators from Bihar 20th-century Indian educational theorists Musicians from Bihar 20th-century Indian women artists Women musicians from Bihar Scholars from Bihar Women musicians from West Bengal Scholars from Kolkata 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian composers 20th-century women composers 21st-century women composers 19th-century women composers 20th-century women educators