Rani Chanda (1912-1997)

Litterateur, dancer and painter, was born in the village of Bikrampur in dhaka district. Her father, Kulachandra Dey, was a close friend of rabindranath tagore (1861-1941).

Rani Chanda lost her father in childhood and, encouraged by Rabindranath Tagore, went to santiniketan where she learned painting, music and dancing under nandalal basu (1883-1966). Later, she also learnt painting from abanindranath tagore. In 1933 she got married to Anil Kumar Chanda, private secretary of Rabindranath Tagore. Rani Chanda earned considerable fame by performing in Tagore's dance dramas at home and abroad. She suffered imprisonment for a short while for her anti-British activities.

She drew upon her acquaintance with Rabindranath, Ababindranath, and Nandalal to write Alapchari Rabindranath (1942), Gurudev (1962) and Shilpaguru Abanindranath (1972). Some of her other famous books are Purnakumbha (1952), Jenana Phatak (1983), Himadri, Amar Mayer Baper Badi (1977), Patheghate (1978), Sab Hate Apan (1984), etc. She was also a well known artist, especially famous for her series entitled 'Radhar Biraha'. She was awarded the Rabindra Puraskar in recognition of her work.

:: Added 18082005 @ 1407 GMT