Dwijendranath Tagore (1840-1926)

Dwijendranath, the eldest son of Debendranath Tagore was born on 11 March 1840. A man of exalted intellectual power, he was a poet, musician, philosopher and mathematician. His experiments in poetic composition, ingenious and daring, left a deep impress on the poetic development of his brother, Rabindranath

He was a distinguished thinker and writer of philosophic prose. He edited the Bharati patrika for seven years since its inception in 1877. The famous Bengali weekly, the Hitabadi, owed its
name and according to its first editor, Krishnakamal Bhattacharya, its very conception, to Dwijendranath. He also wrote and composed patriotic songs and devotional songs, known as Brahma Sangit. He is credited with having introduced svaralipi, or musical notation in Bengali songs.

He was a pioneer in many spheres of far-reaching importance. He invented the shorthand in 'Bengali and wrote a manual on it in verse! He wrote a book on Geometry in which the 12th Axiom had been replaced by new ones. His writings on Boxometry, or science of paper-folding have fascinated scholars of mathematics.

He spent his last days in Santiniketan. Visitors from far and near, belonging to different walks of life, were drawn to him. He was loved and respected by all. With his spiritual sensibility he had hailed Gandhi as the deliverer of his nation, long before the rest of his countrymen, including Rabindranath, had recognized the Mahatma in him.