Rabindranath Tagore's death anniversary: Five things you need to know about Nobel laureate

New Delhi, Aug 07: Today marks the 78th death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, Asia's first Nobel laureate.

Tagore began writing poetry when he was only eight years old and he was only 16 when he released his first collection of poems under the pseudonym 'Bhanusimha'.

The Nobel laureate will be remembered for his role in modernising Bengali art. And he was a nationalist who gave up his knighthood to protest British policies in colonial India after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

Only person to have composed three national anthems

Tagore, who holds the unique distinction of having composed the national anthems of two countries - India and Bangladesh - 'Jana Gana Mana' and 'Amar Sonar Bangla' respectively. Many believe the lyrics for Sri Lanka's national anthem are also his.

Tagore and Gandhi

Rabindranath Tagore had a very unique relationship with Mahathma Gandhi. They were known as good frineds and intellectual rivals.
Their arguments were fully combined with learning, understanding, knowledge, feelings and emotions.

First non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature

Rabindranath Tagore, was the first Indian to recieve the Nobel Prize in Literature to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. He was awarded the prize after the publication of his acclaimed collection of poems Geetanjali.

Tagore's Nobel Prize was stolen

The Nobel medal and the citation, won by Tagore in 1913, were stolen from Visva Bharati University's museum. Swedish Academy, as a replacement, offered two replicas of Tagore's Nobel Prize to the university.

Visva-Bharati

In 1921, Tagore founded the Viswa Bharati University at Santiniketan. This organization challenged the conventional methods of classroom instruction and took education several steps beyond the traditional standards. Stating his motive behind this great finding, Tagore stated, "Humanity must be studied somewhere beyond the limits of nation and geography."