Bengali poet and philosopher. First non-European Nobel Laureate. Born into a large, rich, assimilated family which had made its fortune from the East India Company. He read law at University College but spent time studying English literature and so never achieved his degree.
Travelled widely and had a very successful visit to London in 1912 when his verse was praised by Yeats and Ezra Pound and others. Both the Indian and Bangladesh national anthems were based on his poems. Born and died in Calcutta, in the same house. He was a Bengali before Partition and so was also Indian.
