List of people from West Bengal

This is a list of notable people from West Bengal, India. This list does not include the significant number of prominent East Bengali refugees from East Bengal who settled in West Bengal after the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947.

Literature

Major figures

Children's story writers

Medieval Bengal literary scene

Other authors from early modern period

Prominent foreign-language authors from Bengal

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

Journalists

Comics Writer

Narayan Debnath

Source: ^[1]

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

Haricharan Bandopadhayaya, lexicographer
Rajshekhar Basu, major contributor for scientific terms in Bengali and lexicographer
Girindrasekhar Bose, first non-European correspondent of Freud
Nirmal Kumar Bose, anthropologist, associate of Gandhi
Suniti Kumar Chatterji, linguist
Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, social philosopher
Kirti N. Chaudhuri, historian
Pramatha Chaudhuri, creator of modern Bengali prose (chalit bhasha) along with Tagore
Harinath De, linguist
Romesh Chunder Dutt, historian
Anil Kumar Gain, fellow of the Royal Society
Biraja Sankar Guha, anthropologist
Ranajit Guha, subaltern theorist
R. C. Majumdar, historian
Vina Mazumdar, women's studies academic
Rajendralal Mitra, first Indian to work with Indologists
Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, earliest educationist
Niharranjan Ray, historian
Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri, Indian historian
Tapan Raychaudhuri, professor of history at Oxford University
Raja Ram Mohan Roy, first Bengali prose writer
Jadunath Sarkar, historian
Sumit Sarkar, historian
Susobhan Sarkar, historian
Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize awardee in Economics
Dinesh Chandra Sen, historian of Bengali literature and folklorist
Sukumar Sen, linguist
Hara Prasad Shastri, historian of Bengali language and culture
Maniklal Sinha, novelist, historian and archaeologist of west Rarh
Surajit Chandra Sinha, anthropologist
Dineshchandra Sircar, epigraphist
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, literature theorist.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, creator of Standard Bengali prose (sadhu bhasha)
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, born in Kolkata
Chandril Bhattacharya, born in Kolkata

Scholars and polymaths

Asima Chatterjee, scholar of chemistry^[2]
Suniti Kumar Chatterji, linguist
Amlan Datta, economist, Vice Chancellor of Visva Bharati
Radhakanta Deb, linguist
Anil Kumar Gain, scholar, mathematician
Prithwindra Mukherjee, scholar of Indian history, philosophy, religion and culture
Ramendra Sundar Tribedi, scientist

Education

Pioneers

Post-independence

Sudhi Ranjan Das, Chief Justice of India, Vice-chancellor of Visva Bharati^[3]

Modern times

Others

Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya

Teachers

Babar Ali, world's youngest headmaster, headmaster and founder of Ananda Siksha Niketan
Katyayanidas Bhattacharya, philosophy, Presidency College
Ramkrishna Bhattacharya, English, Ananda Mohan College
Barun De, history, Presidency College
Mahasweta Devi, English, Vijaygarh Jyotish Ray College
Chinmoy Guha, English, Vijaygarh Jyotish Ray College and University of Calcutta
K. C. Nag, mathematics, Mitra institution
Susobhan Sarkar, history, Presidency College

Philosophy

Pre-modern period

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Achintya Bhedabheda Vedanta) born in Nabadwip of Nadia district to parents who hailed from Sylhet in present day Bangladesh
Madhusūdana Sarasvatī (Advaita Vedanta), born in Kotalipara, Gopalganj District in present day Bangladesh & studied at Nabadwip in Nadia district
Raghunatha Siromani (Navya Nyaya) from Nabadwip

Modern age

Sri Aurobindo
Abu Sayeed Ayyub, Born in Kolkata
Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya born in Serampore in Howrah district
Anukulchandra Chakravarty born in Pabna district in present day Bangladesh, worked & preached in Kolkata. After the Partition of India in 1947, he relocated to Deoghar
Surendranath Dasgupta, born in Kusthia of present day Bangladesh which was then a part of Nadia before Partition of India, studied in Kolkata
Balaram Hari, born in Nadia
Bimal Krishna Matilal, born in Jaynagar Majilpur in South 24 Parganas district
Keshub Chandra Sen born in Kolkata
Rabindranath Tagore born in Kolkata
Swami Vivekananda, born in Kolkata
Amartya Sen, born in Shantiniketan in Birbhum District

Early / Mid twenty century

Shuddhaanandaa Brahmachari, born in Kolkata
Sibnarayan Ray, born in kolkata
Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, philosophy, University of Calcutta

Science

Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay, computer scientist
Amar Nath Bhaduri, Indian molecular enzymologist and chemical biologist
Somnath Bharadwaj, cosmology
Avik Bhattacharya, remote sensing
Santanu Bhattacharya, chemistry
Bhabatarak Bhattacharyya, Indian structural biologist, biochemist
Mani Lal Bhaumik
Birendra Bijoy Biswas, Indian molecular biologist and geneticist
Satyendra Nath Bose, Indian theoretical physicist and mathematician
Upendranath Brahmachari
Bidyut Baran Chaudhuri, computer scientist
Asis Datta, Indian biochemist, molecular biologist and genetic engineer
Moumita Dutta, Indian physicist
Anil Kumar Gain, mathematics
Partha Ghose
Sankar Ghosh, Indian-American immunologist, microbiologist, and biochemist
Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis
Chanchal Kumar Majumdar, Indian condensed matter physicist
Dwijesh Dutta Majumdar, computer scientist
Ujjwal Maulik, computer scientist
Ashesh Prosad Mitra
Sisir Kumar Mitra, Indian physicist
Mahan Mj, Mathematician
Subhash Mukhopadhyay, physician
Indira Nath, Indian immunologist
Sankar Kumar Pal, computer scientist
Shehla Pervin, molecular biologist
Prafulla Chandra Ray, Indian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist
Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri
Somak Raychaudhury, Indian astrophysicist
Anjali Roy, mycologist
Subrata Roy, plasma physics
Ram Brahma Sanyal, zoology
Debi Prasad Sarkar, Indian biochemist, immunologist and virologist
Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate, economist, Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences
Ashoke Sen, physics
Radhanath Sikdar
Snehasikta Swarnakar, Indian chemical biologist

Religious scholars

Muslim

Jalaluddin Tabrizi (13th-century)
Gazi Pir (13th-century)
Pir Gorachand (13th-century)
Usman Serajuddin (1258–1357)
Alaul Haq (1301–1384)
Nur Qutb Alam (d. 1416)
Shah Mehr Ali (1808–1868)
Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy (1832–1885)
Azangachhi Shaheb (1828–1932)
Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique (1865–1943)
Abdullah al-Baqi (1886–1952)
Abbas Siddiqui (born 1987)

Pre-modern period

The Brahmo Samaj

Hindu revival movement

Mid-twentieth-century religious figures

Social reformation and social work

Major figures

Derozians

Women's rights

Military

Air Vice Marshal Madhavendra Banerji, recipient of Maha Vir Chakra
Flight Lieutenant Suhas Biswas, recipient of Ashoka Chakra
Subhas Chandra Bose, founder, Indian National Army
General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, Indian Army Chief during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji, Indian Navy Chief between 1966 and 1970
Air Commodore Sudhindra Kumar Majumdar (1927–2011), India's first military helicopter pilot
Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, former Head of Indian Air Force
Chief of the Air Staff Arup Raha, 24th chief of Indian Air Force
Captain Man Bahadur Rai, recipient of Ashoka Chakra
Indra Lal Roy, first Indian (pre Independence) flying ace
General Shankar Roychowdhury, former Indian Army Chief

Art

Early modern period

From mid-twentieth century

Film and photography

Dulal Dutta
Goutam Ghose, filmmaker, cinematographer, and music composer
Rituparno Ghosh, filmmaker
Suman Ghosh, filmmaker, documentary filmmaker
Atiul Islam, filmmaker, screenwriter
Ajoy Kar, cinematographer, filmmaker, screenwriter
Tarun Majumdar, filmmaker, screenwriter, author, illustrator
Subrata Mitra, cinematographer
Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Indian film director, editor and writer
Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri
Satyajit Ray, filmmaker, screenwriter, author, illustrator and music composer
Mrinal Sen, filmmaker, screenwriter, author

Music

Composers

Performers (instrumental)

Allauddin Khan, sarod and multi-instrumentalist
Ali Akbar Khan, sarod
Annapurna Devi, surbahar
Buddhadeb Dasgupta, 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

Songs of Tagore and his contemporaries

Modern

Nazrul geeti

Bengali Folk Song

Movies

Directors

Actors

Actresses

Cinematographer

Editor

Screenplay Writer

Dance

Doctors

Modern Days

Shyama Prasad Mandal

Drama/theatre

Magicians

Politicians and revolutionaries

Pre-modern

Colonial period

Titumir
Alimuddin Ahmad
Satyendranath Tagore
Romesh Chunder Dutt
Lord Satyendra Prasanna Sinha
Nripendra Narayan, philanthropist and ruler of Cooch Behar
Kalim Sharafi

Indian freedom fighters

Early figures

Durjan Singh, leader of Chuar Rebellion
Rani Shiromani, queen of Karnagarh and leader of Chuar Rebellion
Surendranath Banerjee
Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee

Twentieth century

Politicians

Others

Abul Barkat

Donation and social welfare

Old Calcutta / Bengal legends

Rani Rashmoni
Raja Nabakrishna Deb
Raja Radhakanta Deb, published two Sanskrit dictionaries used by Westerners
Gobindram Mitter
Anil Kumar Gain
Mutty Lal Seal
Bijoy Chand Mahtab
Uday Chand Mahtab
Mother Teresa
Manindra Chandra Nandy, Maharaja of Cossimbazar

Sports

Chess

Dibyendu Barua, Grandmaster^[4]
Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Grandmaster
Nisha Mohota, first woman Grandmaster of West Bengal

Cricket

Football

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 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

Weightlifting

Anil Mondal, Indian weightlifter, competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics, the Arjuna Award in the year (1972)
Sukhen Dey, Indian weightlifter; 2014 Commonwealth Games, gold medal; 2010 Commonwealth Games, gold medal
Achinta Sheuli, 2022 Commonwealth Games, Gold medal

Others

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

Industry/business

Other areas

Ashis Nandy, author, political psychologist
Subroto Mukerjee
Shankar Roychowdhury
William Tolly
P. C. Sorcar, Jr., magician from Kolkata
Arup Raha
Narayan Debnath
Joyita Mondal, social worker

References

^ "Narayan Debnath, the cartoonist who never underestimated children". The Indian Express. 19 January 2022.
^ The Shaping of Indian Science. p. 1036. Indian Science Congress Association, Presidential Addresses By Indian Science Congress Association. Published by Orient Blackswan, 2003. ISBN 978-81-7371-433-7
^ "S.R. Das". Supreme Court Observer. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
^ "The Telegraph - Calcutta : Jharkhand". Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2016.

[1] "Narayan Debnath, the cartoonist who never underestimated children". The Indian Express. 19 January 2022.

[IAS-2] The Shaping of Indian Science. p. 1036. Indian Science Congress Association, Presidential Addresses By Indian Science Congress Association. Published by Orient Blackswan, 2003. ISBN 978-81-7371-433-7

[3] "S.R. Das". Supreme Court Observer. Retrieved 2025-06-02.

[4] "The Telegraph - Calcutta : Jharkhand". Archived from the original on 13 April 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2016.

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