List of Bengali Nobel laureates

Updated: 11/6/2025, 1:26:49 AM Wikipedia source

Since the inauguration of Nobel Prize in 1901, until 2024, three Bengali persons and one Bengali origin person—four in all, have won this award. The first Bengali as well as the first Asian to be awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913, was Rabindranath Tagore (born in British India, now India), in literature. Later in 1998, Amartya Sen (born in British India, now India) in Economics, in 2006 Muhammad Yunus (born in British India, now Bangladesh) in Peace, and in 2019 Abhijit Banerjee (born in India), won this award in Economics.

Tables

· List

Rabindranath Tagore

Name

Rabindranath Tagore

Born & Died

Born: 7 May 1861Kolkata, Bengal, British IndiaDied: 7 August 1941Kolkata, Bengal, British India

Country

British India

Field

Literature

Year

1913

Rational

For his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West

Amartya Sen

Name

Amartya Sen

Born & Died

Born: 3 November 1933 Shantiniketan, Bengal, British India

Country

India

Field

Economics

Year

1998

Rational

For his contributions to welfare economics Human development theory, Capability approach

Muhammad Yunus

Name

Muhammad Yunus

Born & Died

Born: 28 June 1940Hathazari, Chittagong, Bengal, British India

Country

Bangladesh

Field

Peace

Year

2006

Rational

For his contribution of the concept of the microcredit concept. and creating economic and social development from below.Shared the Prize with Grameen Bank.

Abhijit Banerjee

Name

Abhijit Banerjee

Born & Died

Born: 21 February 1961Krishnanagar, West Bengal, India

Country

USA

Field

Economics

Year

2019

Rational

For their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty Use of RCTs in development economics

Portrait	Name	Born & Died	Country	Field	Year	Rational
	Rabindranath Tagore	Born: 7 May 1861Kolkata, Bengal, British IndiaDied: 7 August 1941Kolkata, Bengal, British India	British India	Literature	1913	For his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West
	Amartya Sen	Born: 3 November 1933 Shantiniketan, Bengal, British India	India	Economics	1998	For his contributions to welfare economics Human development theory, Capability approach
	Muhammad Yunus	Born: 28 June 1940Hathazari, Chittagong, Bengal, British India	Bangladesh	Peace	2006	For his contribution of the concept of the microcredit concept. and creating economic and social development from below.Shared the Prize with Grameen Bank.
	Abhijit Banerjee	Born: 21 February 1961Krishnanagar, West Bengal, India	USA	Economics	2019	For their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty Use of RCTs in development economics

· Nominees

Portrait	Nominee	Born	Died	Year(s)	Field	Country	Note
	Rabindranath Tagore	7 May 1861 Kolkata, Bengal, British India	7 August 1941 Kolkata, Bengal, British India	1913	Literature	British India	For his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic thought, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West.Nominated by: Thomas Sturge Moore (1870–1944) Won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature.
	Rabindranath Datta	1 October 1883 Kolkata, Bengal, British India	6 July 1917 Kolkata, Bengal, British India	1916	Literature	British India	Nominated by: Mano M Gangedy Raya Yatindra N Chondhury
	Upendranath Brahmachari	19 December 1873 Sardanga, Purbasthali, Bengal, British India	6 February 1946 Kolkata, Bengal, British India	1929, 1942	Physiology or Medicine	British India	Discovered Urea Stibamine (antimonial compound for treatment of kala-azar) and a new disease, Post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis.Nominated by: Sudhamoy Ghosh (1890–1970) U P Basu M N Bose Subodh Chandra Mahalanobis (1867–1953) C C Bose
	Meghnad Saha	6 October 1893 Seoratali, Dhaka, Bengal, British India(now in Gazipur, Bangladesh)	16 February 1956 New Delhi	1930, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1951, 1955	Physics	British India India	For developing the Saha ionization equation, used to describe chemical and physical conditions in stars.Nominated by: Debendra Mohan Bose (1885–1975) Sisir Kumar Mitra (1890–1963) Arthur Compton (1892–1962)
	Harimohan Banerjee	—	3 September 1960 Kolkata, West Bengal, India	1934, 1936, 1938	PeaceLiterature	British India	For his book "Secrets of Religion and Way to Peace".Nominated by: Devadatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar (1875–1950) S K Gupta He also wrote a pamphlet called "View of Peace".
	Bijay Chandra Majumdar	27 October 1861 Khanakul, Faridpur, British India (present-day Bangladesh)	30 December 1942 Kolkata, Bengal, British India	1937, 1939	Literature	British India	Nominated by: Sen Satyendranath (1909–?) Mukundadeb Chatterjee
	Sanjib Kumar Chaudhuri	5 September 1902 British India	—	1938, 1939, 1950, 1951, 1955, 1959, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971	PeaceLiterature	British India India	For his work for World Order, World Peace and World Federalism Movement and for his book "A Constitution for World Government" and for his authorship of treaties important to the world order and his services to humanity.Nominated by: Mahmoud Hasan (1897–?) K Danungo R. C. Majumdar (1888–1980) Lord John Boyd Orr (1880 – 1971) Lalita Rajya Laxmi Bateshwar Singh Primatha Chaudhuri D. P. Roy Choudhury He was the Vice-President of the Asian Congress for World Federation held at Hiroshima in 1952, and Chairman of a Commission in the special Session of the People's World Convention held in Paris in 1951.
	Sri Aurobindo Ghose	15 August 1872Kolkata, Bengal, British India	5 December 1950Pondicherry, French India (present-day Pondicherry, Puducherry Union Territory, India)	1943, 1950	PeaceLiterature	British India India	Nominated by Francis Younghusband (1863–1942) Saileswar Sen
	Satyendra Nath Bose	1 January 1894 Kolkata, Bengal, British India	4 February 1974 Kolkata, West Bengal, India	1956, 1959, 1962, 1968, 1969, 1970	Physics	India	For developing the foundation for Bose–Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate in Quantum Mechanics.Nominated by: Kedareswar Banerjee (1900–1975) Daulat Singh Kothari (1906–1993) Shibapratim Bagchi (?) Anindya Dutta (?) M. G. K. Menon (1928–2016)
	Sudhindra Nath Ghose	30 July 1899 Bardhaman, Bengal, British India	30 December 1965 London, England	1965	Literature	United Kingdom	Nominated by: Henri de Ziégler (1885–1970)
	Das Moni Roy	12 February 1895 Memari, Bengal, British India	—	1967	Peace	India	Nominated by: Subimal Kunnar Mukherjee
	Binay Ranjan Sen	1 January 1898 Dibrugarh, Assam, India	12 June 1993 Kolkata, West Bengal, India	1967, 1968	Peace	India	For his exceptional contribution to the peace of the world through his work at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).Nominated by: Rakel Seweriin (1906–1995) Maurice Sauvé (1923–1992)
	Jogesh Chandra Bhattacharya	c. 1895 British India	2 April 1960 India	1969	Peace	India	For his dedication to the propagation of spiritualism through which alone, he believes, peace will dawn on Earth. His book "Prayers for a New Advent" is groundbreaking in the field of propagation of the ideals of peace.Nominated posthumously by: Jugal Kishore Mundal
	Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay	27 July 1898 Labhpur, Birbhum, Bengal, British India	14 September 1971 Kolkata, West Bengal, India	1971, 1972, 1973	Literature	India	Nominated by: Krishna Kripalani (1907–1992) The Swedish Academy’s Nobel Committee
	Suniti Kumar Chatterji	26 November 1890 Shibpur, Howrah, Bengal, British India	29 May 1977 Kolkata, West Bengal, India	1972, 1973	Literature	India	Nominated by: Pratul Chandra Gupta (1910–1990) The Swedish Academy’s Nobel Committee
	Sri Chinmoy	27 August 1931 Boalkhali, Chittagong, Bengal, British India (present-day Bangladesh)	11 October 2007 New York City, United States	1972, 1973, 1974	PeaceLiterature	India	Nominated by: Bernard O´Kelly (1926–2005) Norman Holmes Pearson (1909–1975) Joseph Axelrod (1915–2010) Karl Kroeber (1926–2009) Peter A Pitzele (1941–) Francis C. Cady
	Mujibur Rahman	17 March 1920 Tungipara, Bengal, British India (present-day Bangladesh)	15 August 1975 Dhaka, Bangladesh	1975	Peace	Bangladesh	Nominated by: Abdul Malek Ukil (1924–1987) Assassinated before the only chance to be rewarded.
	Mahasweta Devi	14 January 1926 Dhaka, Bengal, British India (present-day Bangladesh)	28 July 2016 Kolkata, West Bengal, India	2012	Literature	India
	Taslima Nasrin	25 August 1962 Mymensingh, East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh)	(aged 63)	2005	Peace	Bangladesh
	Muhammad Yunus	28 June 1940Hathazari, Chittagong, Bengal, British India	(aged 85)	2006	Peace	Bangladesh	For his contribution of the concept of the microcredit concept. and creating economic and social development from below. Shared the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with Grameen Bank.
	Dr Ruhul Abid	1961 Dhaka, Bangladesh	(aged 63–64)	2020	Peace	United States Bangladesh	For his humanitarian healthcare initiatives through HAEFA, providing critical medical services to underprivileged communities, Rohingya refugees, and garment workers in Bangladesh, alongside pioneering digital health innovations like the Nirog system and COVID-19 response efforts. Jointly Nominated with HAEFA by: University of Massachusetts Boston
	Ryan Saadi	6 December 1964 Ishwardi Upazila, Pabna, Bangladesh	(aged 60)	2023	Peace	United States Bangladesh	For his leadership in advancing accessible medical innovation and biotech solutions impacting global health equity through his role as CEO founder of Tevogen Bio. Nominated by: Dr. Curtis Patton (1940–)