Bankimchnadra Chattopadhyay

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, also known as Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, was a prominent Indian writer, poet, and journalist who lived from June 26 or 27, 1838, to April 8, 1894. He is best known for composing "Vande Mataram," a national song of India that was originally a Bengali and Sanskrit hymn portraying India as a mother goddess. The song inspired activists during the Indian Independence Movement. Chattopadhyay wrote 13 or 14 novels, including "Anandamath," which is considered one of the landmarks of modern Bengali and Indian literature. He also authored several serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific, and critical articles in Bengali. His works were widely translated into other regional languages of India. Educated at Hooghly Mohsin College and the University of Calcutta, Chattopadhyay served as a deputy magistrate and deputy collector from 1858 until his retirement in 1891. He was born into an orthodox Brahmin family and is known as Sahitya Samrat (Emperor of Literature) in Bengali. Chattopadhyay is widely regarded as a key figure in the literary renaissance of Bengal and the broader Indian subcontinent.