Rabindranath Tagore, also known as Gurudev, was a poet, writer, philosopher, painter and an educationist. Born on 7th May, 1861, he was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. He began writing poems at a very early age, his poem named Abhilash appeared in the Tatvabodhini patrika when he was just 13 years old. He joined St. Xavier's School in Calcutta (Kolkata) and later went to England in 1878, with his brother Satyendranath. He came back to India in 1880 but without completing his studies. On 9th december1883 he married Mrinalini Devi. In 1884 he was appointed as a secretary of the Adi Brahmo Samaj.
Rabindranath tagore was one of the very good writers of his time. In 1891 he wrote his fist six short stories including Post Master. Later at the request of Rajshahi Association he wrote his first criticism of the system of education, 'Sikhsher Herpher', in which he advocated the use of mother tongue as a medium of instruction. In 1894 he became the editor of Sadhana. In 1901, he established the school at Santinikatan. In the same year he took charge of 'Bangadarshan' and continued editing it for the next five years. He also wrote novels such as Chokher Bali and Naukadubi.
Rabindranath tagore was a supporter of Gandhi and he strongly opposed the partition of Bengal in 1905. On the day of partition he organized a Rakhi Bandhan ceremony to mark the unity in Bengal. In 1912 his famous work, Gitanjali was published by the Indian Society, London. The very next year English version of Gitanjali, the Crescent Moon, the Gardener and Chitra were published by Macmillan. On 13th November 1913, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. After two years, he received another honor in the form of Knighthood by the British government. In 1918 he laid the foundation of world famous Visva-Bharati, to give shapes to his ideas in the field of education.
Rabindranath Tagore was not at all happy with the political situation of India. In 1919 he renounced knighthood as a protest against Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He traveled to different parts of the world to raise funds for Visva-Bharati. He went to England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland and USA. In later years he started painting regularly and many painting exhibitions, of his work, were organized in India and other parts of the world. In 1940 He was conferred the degree of Doctorate by Oxford University. He died on 7th august 1941 at the age of 80.
