Rabindranath Tagore

Bengali poet, philosopher and polymath (1861–1941)

  • Fame91.4
  • Momentum21.5
  • Global rank#44
Source-basedFalling
  • Fame91.4
  • Momentum21.5
  • Global rank#44
  • India rank#1
  • Writers rank#6
  • Wikipedia105.4K
Lived 1861–1941, aged 80India
India flagIndiaWritersWriter / Author
  • Wikipedia
    167 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Global rank
    #44
    Fame.am leaderboard
  • Era
    1861–1941
    Aged 80
  • Known for
    Charulata
    1964
Summary
Updated 2026-09-02

In 1913, he became the first Asian and first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature — then went on to write the national anthems of two countries. A polymath who reshaped Bengali art, music, and literature while denouncing nationalism itself.

Biography

About

Born into a Bengali Brahmin family in Calcutta on 7 May 1861, Tagore wrote poetry at eight and by sixteen had released poems under the pseudonym Bhānusiṃha that literary authorities mistook for long-lost classics. By 1877 he was publishing short stories and dramas under his own name. His 1913 Nobel Prize recognised the "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful" poetry of Gitanjali, making him the first lyricist to win the award. He modernised Bengali art by rejecting rigid classical forms, producing a vast canon: paintings, sketches, hundreds of texts, some two thousand songs, novels like Gor…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore
said
The truth comes as conqueror only because we have lost the art of receiving it as guest.
The Fourfold Way of India (1924); this has become paraphrased as "Truth comes as conqueror only to those who have lost the art of receiving
Rabindranath Tagore
said
The idea of the Nation is one of the most powerful anaesthetics that Man has invented.
"Nationalism in the West", 1917. Reprinted in Rabindranath Tagore and Mohit K. Ray, Essays (2007, p. 465). Also cited in Parmanand
Rabindranath Tagore
said
In the heart of Europe runs the purest stream of human love, of justice, of spirit of self-sacrifice for higher ideals.
"Nationalism in the West", 1917. Reprinted in Rabindranath Tagore and Mohit K. Ray, Essays (2007, p. 475). Also cited in John Jesudason
Rabindranath Tagore
said
Patriotism cannot be our final spiritual shelter; my refuge is humanity.
1908 letter to Aurobindo Mohan Bose, quoted in Selected Letters of Rabindranath Tagore, Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson (1997, p.72)
Rabindranath Tagore
saidundated
When such imagination and sympathy are essential to write India’s history, We cannot depend on others.
(free translation from original Bengali in Tagore’s Collected Works, vol. 9, 4971: 512). Quoted from Chakrabarti, D. K., 1997. Colonial
Where to find them

Platforms

By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Falling
91.4
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum21.5
Historical27.8
Now attention25.3
Source confidence65.0
Completeness75.0
Receipts

Sources

  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence