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{{Short description|Indian poet and composer}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2026}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name               = Swarnakumari Devi
| embed            =
| image             = Swarnakumari Devi.jpg
| name             = Swarnakumari Devi
| image_size         = 200 px
| image           = Swarnakumari_Devi.jpg
| caption           = Swarnakumari Devi
| image_size       =
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|df=yes|1855|08|28}}
| image_upright    =
| birth_place       = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], British India
| alt              = Portrait of Swarnakumari Devi
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1932|07|03|1855|08|28}}
| caption         = Swarnakumari Devi
| death_place       = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], British India
| pseudonym        =  
| nationality        = [[Provinces of British India|British Indian]]
| birth_name      = Swarnakumari Tagore
| occupation         = Poet, novelist, musician, social worker
| birth_date      = 1855 or 1856
| spouse            = Janakinath Ghosal
| birth_place     = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| children           = Hiranmoyee Devi<br />[[Sarala Devi Chaudhurani]]<br />Sir Josna Ghosal<br />Urmilla Tagore
| death_date       = 1932 (age 76–77)
| death_place     = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| resting_place    =
| occupation       = Writer, editor, social worker
| citizenship      = <!-- use only when necessary per [[BP:INFONAT]] -->
| education        =
| alma_mater      =  
| period           =  
| genre            = <!-- or: | genres = -->
| subject          = <!-- or: | subjects = -->
| movement        =
| notable_works    = ''Bharati'' (journal)<br />''Dipnirban'' (novel)<br />''Basanta Utsav'' (opera)<br />''Kahake'' (novel)<br />Science essays
| spouse          = {{marriage|Janakinath Ghosal|1869}}
| children        = 3
| relatives        = [[Indira Devi Chaudhurani]] (niece), [[Dwijendranath Tagore|Dwijendranath]], [[Satyendranath Tagore|Satyendranath]], [[Hemendranath Tagore|Hemendranath]], [[Jyotirindranath Tagore|Jyotirindranath]], [[Rabindranath Tagore]] (siblings) +9 others
| awards          =
| years_active    =
| family          = [[Tagore family]]
}}
}}
'''Swarnakumari Devi''' ({{lang-bn|স্বর্ণকুমারী দেবী}}; 28 August 1855 – 3 July 1932) was a Bengali poet, novelist, musician and social worker from the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref name="Bose609">Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, {{in lang|bn}}, pp. 609-610, {{ISBN|81-85626-65-0}}</ref><ref name="Indira">Devi Choudhurani, Indira, ''Smritisamput'', {{in lang|bn}}, Rabindrabhaban, Viswabharati, pp.16-26.</ref> She was the first Indian woman novelist<ref name="Dutta 2013">{{cite news |last1=Dutta |first1=Swapna |title=The home and the world |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/the-home-and-the-world/article4985438.ece |access-date=21 June 2021 |work=[[The Hindu]] |date=August 3, 2013}}</ref> and the first among the women writers in [[Bengal]] to gain prominence.<ref name="Banerjee">Banerjee, Hiranmay, ''Thakurbarir Katha'', {{in lang|bn}}, p. 119, Sishu Sahitya Sansad.</ref>


==Family and early life==
'''Swarnakumari Devi''' (1855 or 1856 – 1932), also known as '''Swarnakumari Tagore''', '''Swarnakumari Ghosal''', '''Svarṇakumārī Debī''' and '''Srimati Svarna Kumari Devi''',<ref name="WorldCat">{{cite web |title=Svarṇakumārī Debī |url=https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-no99-010895/ |website=Worldcat |access-date=29 September 2022}}</ref> was an Indian [[Bengalis|Bengali]] writer, editor, essayist, poet, novelist, playwright, composer, and social worker.<ref name="Chaudhuri 2013" />
She was the fourth amongst the daughters of [[Debendranath Tagore]] and was a granddaughter of [[Dwarkanath Tagore]]. Three of her sisters, Soudamini, Sukumari and Saratkumari, were older than her. Barnakumari was the youngest sister. Soudamini was one of the earliest students of [[Bethune College|Bethune School]]. Others in the [[Tagore family]] had followed her, but it seems that Swarnakumari had her education primarily at home.<ref name="Indira"/> She was five years older than [[Rabindranath Tagore]].<ref name="Banerjee"/>


Education was valued in the [[Jorasanko Thakur Bari]]. Swarnakumari recalled how, when her father Debendranath learned that the governess was writing something on a slate and having the girls copy it, he stopped the mechanical practice and brought in a better teacher. In his memoirs Rabindranath wrote, "We learnt much more at home than we had to at school."<ref>{{cite book |last=Deb |first=Chitra |author-link=Chitra Deb |chapter=Jorasanko and the Thakur Family |year=1990 |editor-last=Chaudhuri |editor-first=Sukanta |editor-link=Sukanta Chaudhuri |title=Calcutta: The Living City |volume=I |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=66 |isbn=978-0-19-563696-3}}</ref>
[[File:Svarna Kumari Devi.jpg|thumb|Sketch of Devi c. 1909]]


Swarnakumari had a great capability of picking up friendship with other girls from an early age. As per the custom of the day, each pair of friends had a common name, which they used to call each other. Swarnakumari had many friends – Mistihasi, Milan, Bihangini and so on.
==Biography==
Swarnakumari was born as the tenth child{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=236}} to [[Debendranath Tagore]] and Sarada Devi into the [[Tagore family]] of Jorasanko, [[Kolkata]] in 1855<ref name="Mandal 2005">{{cite journal |last1=Mandal |first1=Madhumati |title=Promotion of Science in Late 19th C. Bengal: Swarnakumari Devi's Contribution |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=2005–2006 |volume=66 |pages=1209–1213 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44145933 |access-date=30 September 2022 |publisher=[[Indian History Congress]]|jstor=44145933 }}</ref><ref name="Gupta">{{cite web |last1=Gupta |first1=Uma Das |title=Family and Times |url=https://scotstagore.org/family-and-times/ |website=The Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies |date=5 December 2018 |access-date=30 September 2022}}</ref> or 1856.<ref name="WorldCat"/><ref name="Chaudhuri 2013" /> She was the elder sister of [[Rabindranath Tagore]].<ref name="Mandal 2005"/> Her short story ''Mutiny'' describes her experience being born just prior to the [[Sepoy Rebellion]] of 1857.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=236}}


==Marriage and children==
Swarnakumari and her sisters did not attend school, but were tutored privately in Sanskrit and English and had the educational benefit of being raised in the Calcutta mansion that was home to the Tagore family.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=236}} At age 13, she married Janakinath Ghosal, a deputy magistrate.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=236}} Their children were  Hiranmoyee Devi, Sir Jyotsnanath Ghosal (married to Sukriti Devi, daughter of [[Nripendra Narayan|Maharaja Nripendra Narayan]] and [[Suniti Devi]]) and [[Sarala Devi Chaudhurani]].
She was married in 1868, to Janakinath Ghosal, a well-educated and strong-willed young man belonging to a landlord family of [[Nadia district]]. Janakinath Ghosal was disowned by his family for adopting Brahmoism and marrying under controversial ''anusthanic'' Brahmo rites whose validity was then disputed<ref>Ghoshal was 1 of 9 such grooms who petitioned for ''Brahmo Marriage Bill 1871'' to Sir Henry Maine. per Sibnath Sastri</ref> and consequently deprived of all inheritance. However, with his capabilities and determination he succeeded in business and developed his own zamindari. He was endowed with the title of Raja.<ref name="Bose609"/> He was a [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|theosophist]]<ref name="Indira"/> and was actively associated with the [[Indian National Congress]] from its earliest days. According to his daughter, Hironmoyee Devi, he nurtured the young organisation as a gardener nurtures a sapling.<ref>Devi Choudhurani, Indira, ''Smritisamput'', Notes, p. 190.</ref> Janakinath Ghosal was one of the founders of Indian National Congress.<ref name="Bose609"/>


Their children were Hiranmoyee Devi (1870 – 1925),<ref>Devi Choudhurani, Indira, ''Smritisamput'', Notes, p. 218.</ref> Jyotsnanath Ghosal (1871 – 1962) and [[Sarala Devi Chaudhurani]] (1872 – 1945).<ref>Banerjee, Hiranmay, ''Thakurbarir Katha'', family chart, p. 224.</ref> Jyotsnanath Ghosal qualified for the [[Indian Civil Service|ICS]] and served in Western India.<ref name="Devi%20Choudhurani%20p%2E%20195">Devi Choudhurani, Indira, ''Smritisamput'', Notes, p. 195.</ref>
In 1886, she established the first women's organization in Bengal, ''Sakhi-Samiti'', to help impoverished women.<ref name="Mandal 2005" />{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=238}} She also founded the Ladies' Theosophical Society in Calcutta.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=238}}


==Creative efforts==
She participated in sessions of the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1889 and 1890.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=238}} Swarnakumari and [[Kadambini Ganguly]] were the first women delegates to the Indian National Congress.<ref name="Mandal 2005" />
The efforts of the male members of the Tagore family in the field of music, theatre and writing must have penetrated into the inner precincts of the Jorasanko Thakur Bari and touched a chord in Swarnakumari. When [[Jyotirindranath Tagore]] was involved with his experiments in music, plays and writing, he was assisted by Akshay Chandra Chaudhuri and Rabindranath. In his ''Jyotirindrasmriti'' (Reminiscence) he wrote, "With Janaki going to England and arrival of my younger sister Swarnakumari in our house, we got another partner in our literary ventures."<ref name="Banerjee"/> While Gyanadanandini Devi took the lead for breaking down age-old restrictions on women in the house, Swarnakumari flourished in creativity.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://museum.rabindrabharatiuniversity.net/tagore_family/tagore_society.htm
| title =  The Tagores and society
| access-date =  2007-05-04
| last =
| first =
| publisher = Rabindra Bharati University
}}</ref>


===First novel===
===Literary career===
Her first novel ''Deep Nirban'' was published in 1876.<ref name="Banerjee"/><ref name="Dutta 2013"/> There is an opinion that [[Hana Catherine Mullens]] was the first novelist in the [[Bengali language]] with her ''Phoolmani O Karunar Bibaran'' published in 1852;<ref>Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, p. 423</ref> Swarnakumari was the first woman novelist amongst the [[Bengali people]].<ref name="Novel">{{cite book
Swarnakumari was a writer and editor for the literary monthly ''Bharati'' for more than 30 years, after the journal was established by her older brother [[Dwijendranath Tagore|Dijendranath Tagore]] in 1877 or 1878.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=237}}<ref name="Mandal 2005" /><ref name="Kundu 2022">{{cite news |last1=Kundu |first1=Ankita |title=Swarnakumari Devi: The Forgotten Author And Activist Of The Tagore Family |url=https://feminisminindia.com/2022/05/16/swarnakumari-devi-the-forgotten-author-and-activist-of-the-tagore-family/ |access-date=29 September 2022 |work=Feminism in India |date=May 16, 2022}}</ref> Her work in ''Bharati'' is considered to be among her major achievements.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=237}}
|last=Aziz |first=Mahibul |year=2012
{{Quote box
|chapter=Novel |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Novel
|quote  = "Some of the terms she coined include 'upachchhaya' (penambra), 'parnitaru' (fern), 'mohishnu' (sensitive), 'balakhilya' (pigmy), 'tristar' (triambic), 'biswakash' (universe), 'suryabimba' (solarspot), 'abaraha' (hypnotism)"
|editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref><ref>Bandopadhyay, Brajendranath, ''Sahitye Banga Mahila'' {{in lang|bn}}, in ''Bethune College and School Centenary Volume'', edited by Dr. Kalidas Nag, 1949,  p. 199</ref>
|source=- Madhumati Mandal, ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress'' (2005-2006)<ref name="Mandal 2005" />
|width  = 30%
|align  = right
}}
Swarnakumari is the author of 25 books<ref name="Kundu 2022"/> and a wide range of essays.<ref name="Mondal 2017">{{cite book |last1=Mondal |first1=Madhumita |editor1-last=Raha |editor1-first=Bipasha |editor2-last=Chattopadhyay |editor2-first=Subhayu |title=Mapping the Path to Maturity |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351034142 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781351034142-8/swarnakumari-devi-madhumita-mondal |access-date=29 September 2022 |chapter=Swarnakumari Devi: A Trend Setter in Colonial Bengal|doi=10.4324/9781351034142-8 }}</ref> 17 of her 24 essays on science were published in the journal ''Bharati'' between 1880 and 1889,<ref name="Chaudhuri 2013" /> and she expanded the Bengali language by creating new scientific terminology, as well as by incorporating terms created by [[Rajendralal Mitra]], [[Madhusudan Gupta]], [[Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar]] and [[Bankim Chandra Chatterjee|Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]].<ref name="Mandal 2005" />{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=237}} Her science essays were written for lay readers, to help facilitate understanding of the concepts and to help promote science education.<ref name="Chaudhuri 2013" /><ref name="Mandal 2005" /> In 1882, a collection of her science essays, titled ''Prithivi'', was published.<ref name="Chaudhuri 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Chaudhuri |first1=Sutapa |title=Sutapa Chaudhuri: Scientific Essays of Swarnakumari Devi |journal=[[Muse India]] |date=September 2013 |issue=51|via=EBSCOhost}}</ref>


''Deep Nirban'' assisted in rousing the national spirit. Thereafter she wrote extensively – novels, plays, poems and scientific essays. She was keen on developing scientific terminology in Bengali. She composed numerous songs.<ref name="Bose609"/> According to [[Comparative literature|comparatist]] Swapan Majumdar, the rise of woman writers such as Swarnakumari and [[Kamini Roy]] was exceptionally important. They "represented a flourishing generation of educated women writers, discharging with total zeal the responsibilities of their pursuit".<ref>{{cite book |last=Majumdar |first=Swapan |chapter=Literature and Literary Life in Old Calcutta |year=1990 |editor-last=Chaudhuri |editor-first=Sukanta |editor-link=Sukanta Chaudhuri |title=Calcutta: The Living City |volume=I |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=115 |isbn=978-0-19-563696-3}}</ref>
According to [[Anurupa Debi|Anurupa Devi]], "Many women had written poems and stories before her, but these were looked upon patronizingly. She was the first writer to show up the strengths of women's writing and raise women's creations to a position of respect."{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=235}} Swarnakumari achieved contemporary popularity as a novelist, but many of her works have not been reprinted.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=235-236}}


In 1879, Swarnakumari composed what was possibly the first opera written in Bengali, ''Basanta Utsav''.<ref name="Banglapedia">{{cite book |last=Amin |first=Sonia |year=2012 |chapter=Devi, Swarna Kumari |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Devi,_Swarna_Kumari |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref>
Her novel ''Dipnirban'' (The Snuffing Out of the Light) was first published anonymously in 1870, but it was eventually understood that the author was a "young Hindu lady", according to a notice in the ''[[Hindoo Patriot|Hindu Patriot]]''.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=236}} The ''[[Calcutta Review]]'' wrote, "We have no hesitation in pronouncing this book to be by far the best that has yet been written by a Bengali lady, and we should no more hesitate to call it one of the ablest in the whole literature of Bengal."{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=236}} In 1879, she published what is believed to be the first Opera written in Bengali, ''Basanta Utsav'' (Spring Festival).{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=237}} In her poem ''Likhitechi'' (Writing, Day and Night), she expresses frustration at the challenges related to establishing her own career as a writer.{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=238}}


===''Bharati''===
Swarnakumari also wrote more than three hundred songs.<ref>শিল্পকলায় ঠাকুরবাড়ির গান, ২৩ নভেম্বর ২০১৬, নিজস্ব প্রতিবেদক, প্রথম আলো।</ref>
''Bharati'' was a family magazine started by Jyotirindranath Tagore in 1877 and edited first by [[Dwijendranath Tagore]].<ref name="Bharati">Banerjee, Hiranmay, p. 139-140.</ref>
Dwijendranath edited the magazine for seven years. Thereafter for eleven years, Swarnakumari took charge as editor and worked hard to enhance the uniqueness of the journal. Her daughters edited it for twelve years and Rabindranath edited it for a year. It was then back to her for another eight years. Again after a nine-year gap, it was back to her. She edited it for nearly two years and finally closed it after being in print for half a century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chaudhuri |first=Indrajit |year=2012 |chapter=Bharati |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bharati  |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> [[Rabindranath Tagore|Rabindranath]] was only sixteen years old when ''Bharati'' was first published. He started contributing to the magazine from the first issue. Indeed, the demands of the magazine enforced certain regularity in Rabindranath's writing and over the years he contributed enormously to it.<ref name="Bharati"/>


==Political activity==
==Selected works==
As her husband was secretary of the [[Indian National Congress]], she was actively involved in politics. In 1889 and 1890 she served Indian National Congress. That was the first time women participated publicly in the sessions of the Indian National Congress.<ref name="Banglapedia"/><ref>Bagal, Jogesh Chandra, ''Rashtriya Andolane Banga Mahila'', {{in lang|bn}}, in ''Bethune College and School Centenary Volume'', edited by Dr. Kalidas Nag, 1949,  p. 228</ref>


==Sakhi Samiti==
'''Novels'''
Sakhi Samiti (Society of Friends) was started by Swarnakumari in 1896. With her were associated other members of the Tagore family. The objective of the society was to assist helpless orphans and widows. The following report was published in ''Bharati'' and ''Balak'' in 1898:
* Dipnirban (The Snuffing Out of the Light), 1870{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=236}}<ref name="Kundu 2022"/>
* Mibar Raj, 1877
* Chinna Mukul (A Picked Flower), 1879{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=236}}<ref name="Kundu 2022"/>
* Mālati, 1881
* Hughlir Imam Badi 1887
* Vidroha (Revolt), 1890{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=236}}
* Snehalata ba Palita (tr. as: The Uprooted Vine), (two volumes) 1892 and 1893,{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=237}}<ref name="Kundu 2022"/> Oxford University Press, 2004 {{ISBN|9780195665024}}
* Phulermala (tr. as: The fatal Garland), 1894<ref name="Hubel 2011">{{cite journal |last1=Hubel |first1=Teresa |title=A Mutiny of Silence: Swarnakumari Devi's Sati |journal=Ariel: A Review of International English Literature |date=2011 |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=167–190 |url=https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1137&context=englishpub |access-date=29 September 2022 |issn=0004-1327}}</ref>
* Kahake (To Whom?; tr. as: The Unfinished Song), 1898,{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=237}}<ref name="Kundu 2022"/> Oxford University Press, 2008 {{ISBN|9780195696356}}
* Bichitra, 1920
* Swapnabani, 1921
* Milanrati, 1925
* Phuler Mala


: "The first aim of the Samiti is to help helpless orphans and widows. This will be done in two ways. In those cases where such widows and orphans have no near relations or if those relations have not the means of maintaining them the Sakhi Samiti will take their full responsibility. In other cases the Samiti will give them help as far as possible. In the case of those women whose full responsibility the Samiti will take they will educate them and through them spread women’s education. After they have finished their education they will take up the work of ''zenana'' (female) education. The Samiti will give them remuneration for their work. In this way two objectives will be accomplished. Hindu widows will be able to earn through service to others according to sanction of Hindu religion."<ref name="Lotika">Ghose, Lotika, ''Social and Educational Movements for Women and By Women 1820-1950'', in ''Bethune College and School Centenary Volume'', edited by Dr. Kalidas Nag, 1949, p. 148</ref>
'''Short stories'''
* ''Short stories'', 1919<ref name="Hubel 2011"/>


As the subscriptions from members were not sufficient to run the organisation, an annual exhibition was held in Bethune College to raise funds. Apart from [[sari]]s from [[Dhaka]] and [[Santipur]] and handicrafts from [[Krishnanagar, Nadia|Krishnanagar]] and [[Birbhum]], there used to be a large collection of handicrafts from outside Bengal – [[Kashmir]], [[Moradabad]], [[Varanasi]], [[Agra]], [[Jaipur]] and [[Mumbai]].<ref name="Lotika"/> Her objective was to display indigenous products and sell them. The fair created a sensation in her days.<ref name="Bose609"/>
'''Plays'''
* Koney Badal (Evening Dust Clouds / Time for Seeing the Bride), 1906{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=237}}
* Pak Chakra (Wheel of Fortune), 1911{{sfn|Lalita|Tharu|1991|p=237}}
* Rajkanya
* Divyakamal


The activities of Sakhi Samaiti continued till around 1906 and thereafter taken over by Hiranmoyee Bidhaba Ashram. The widows’ home started by Sashipada Banerjee at Baranagore, considered the first such venture, inspired Hiranmoyee Devi, the daughter of Swarnakuamri, to start the Mahila Bidhaba Ashram (that was named after her subsequent to her death). Among the members of the executive committee of the Mahila Vidhaba Ashram in its inaugural year were: Swarnakumari, Maharani Sucharu Devi of Mayurbhanj, Maharani Suniti Devi of Cooch Behar (the two daughters of [[Keshub Chunder Sen]]), Lady Hamilton, Priyamvada Devi, Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. S.P. Sinha, and Hiranmoyee Devi, who served as secretary. ‘It is still running quite efficiently’ (in 1949) with Kalyani Mallick, the daughter of Hiranmoyee Devi guiding the affairs of the institution.<ref name="Lotika"/>
== Honors and awards ==
She received the Jagattarini gold medal in 1927 from the [[University of Calcutta]] and was the first woman to win this award.<ref name="Mandal 2005"/> She was the president of the Vangiya Sahitya Sammelan (Vangiya literary conference) in 1929.<ref name="Kundu 2022" />


The society was christened "Sakhi Samiti" by Rabindranath. At the request of [[Sarala Roy]], Rabindranath wrote a dance drama ''Mayar Khela'' to be staged by Sakhi Samiti for fund raising.<ref name="Devi%20Choudhurani%20p%2E%20195"/>
==Death and legacy==
She died in 1932 in Kolkata. She has been recognized by the [[Indian History Congress]] as one of the first women from [[Bengal]] to achieve success as a writer and for her efforts to encourage scientific education, including among women.<ref name="Mandal 2005"/>


==Works==
==Family tree==
{{main|Tagore_family#Family_tree}}


=== Novels ===
== See also ==
* ''Dipnirban'' (The Snuffing Out of the Light), 1876<ref name="Dutta 2013"/>
* [[Tagore family]]
* ''Mibar Raj'', 1877
* [[List of Bengali-language authors (alphabetical)]]
* ''Chinna Mukul'' (A Picked Flower), 1879<ref name="Dutta 2013"/>
* ''Malati'', 1881
* ''Hughlir Imam Badi'' 1887
* ''Bidroha'' (Revolt), 1890
* ''Snehalata ba Palita'' (tr. as: The Uprooted Vine), 1892
* ''Phulermala'' (tr. as: The fatal Garland), 1894
* ''Kahake'' (To Whom?; tr. as: The Unfinished Song), 1898
* ''Bichitra'', 1920
* ''Swapnabani'', 1921
* ''Milanrati'', 1925
* ''Phuler Mala''<ref name="Bose609"/>


=== Plays ===
== References ==
* ''The Wedding Tangle'' , 1904
''Citations''
* ''Koney Badal'' (Evening Dust Clouds / Time for Seeing the Bride), 1906
{{Reflist}}
* ''Pak Chakra'' (Wheel of Fortune), 1911
* ''Rajkanya''
* ''Divyakamal''<ref name="Bose609"/>
 
=== Opera ===
* ''Basanta Utsav'' (Spring Festival), 1879
 
=== Poetry ===
* ''Gatha''
* ''Basanta Utsab''
* ''Gitiguchha''<ref name="Bose609"/>


=== Essays ===
''Sources''
* ''Prithibi''<ref name="Bose609"/>
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u297RJP9gvwC&pg=PA235 |title=Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the early twentieth century |year=1991 |last1=Lalita |first1=Ke |last2= Tharu |first2=Susie J |publisher=Feminist Press at the City University of New York |isbn=9781558610279}}
 
==Award and honours==
[[University of Calcutta]] honoured her with the Jagattarini gold medal in 1927.<ref name="Banglapedia"/>


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Sudakshina Ghosh: ''Swarnakumari Devi''. Translated into English by Tapati Chwodhurie. Kolkata (Sahitya Akademi) 2008
* Caṭṭopādhyāẏa, Mīnā. ''Svarṇakumārī Debī'', Anubhāba, Kalakātā, 2000. {{OCLC|44128118}}
* Amitrasudan Bhattacharya (ed.): ''Swarnakumari Devi: Swatantra Ek Nari''. Kolkata (Purba) 2000
* Majumadāra, Samareśa. ''Svarṇakumārī Debīra galpa'', Ratnabalī: Prāptisthāna, Pustaka Bipaṇi, Kalakātā, 2004. {{OCLC|56599568}}
* Mina Chattopadhyay: ''Swarnakumari Devi''. Kolkata 2000
* Ghose, Sudakshina. ''Swarnakumari Devi''. Translated into English by Tapati Chowdhurie, [[Sahitya Akademi]], Kolkata, 2008.
* Sutapa Chaudhuri: ''Scientific Essays of Swarnakumari Devi'', in: [http://www.museindia.com/featurecontent.asp?issid=51&id=4456 Muse India 53 (Jan-Feb 2014)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045517/http://www.museindia.com/featurecontent.asp?issid=51&id=4456 |date=4 March 2016 }}
* Teresa Hubel: ''A Mutiny of Silence: Swarnakumari Devi's Sati'', in: Ariel. A Review of international English Literature 41,3-4 (2011) 167-190
* Chaganti Vijayasree: ''Introduction'', in: Swarnakumari Debi: An Unfinished Song. Oxford 2008, xi-xxxvi
* Rajul Sogani / Indira Gupta: ''Introduction'', in: Swarnakumari Debi: The Uprooted Vine. Oxford 2004, vii-xiv


==References==
{{authority control}}
{{Reflist}}


{{Bengal Renaissance}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swarnakumari, Devi}}
{{Tagore family}}
{{Authority control}}
 
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Latest revision as of 03:34, 1 March 2026


Swarnakumari Devi
Portrait of Swarnakumari Devi
Swarnakumari Devi
Born
Swarnakumari Tagore

1855 or 1856
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died1932 (age 76–77)
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
OccupationWriter, editor, social worker
Notable work
Bharati (journal)
Dipnirban (novel)
Basanta Utsav (opera)
Kahake (novel)
Science essays
Spouse(s)
Janakinath Ghosal
(
m. 1869)
Children3
RelativesIndira Devi Chaudhurani (niece), Dwijendranath, Satyendranath, Hemendranath, Jyotirindranath, Rabindranath Tagore (siblings) +9 others
FamilyTagore family

Swarnakumari Devi (1855 or 1856 – 1932), also known as Swarnakumari Tagore, Swarnakumari Ghosal, Svarṇakumārī Debī and Srimati Svarna Kumari Devi,[1] was an Indian Bengali writer, editor, essayist, poet, novelist, playwright, composer, and social worker.[2]

Sketch of Devi c. 1909

Biography[edit | edit source]

Swarnakumari was born as the tenth child[3] to Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi into the Tagore family of Jorasanko, Kolkata in 1855[4][5] or 1856.[1][2] She was the elder sister of Rabindranath Tagore.[4] Her short story Mutiny describes her experience being born just prior to the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857.[3]

Swarnakumari and her sisters did not attend school, but were tutored privately in Sanskrit and English and had the educational benefit of being raised in the Calcutta mansion that was home to the Tagore family.[3] At age 13, she married Janakinath Ghosal, a deputy magistrate.[3] Their children were Hiranmoyee Devi, Sir Jyotsnanath Ghosal (married to Sukriti Devi, daughter of Maharaja Nripendra Narayan and Suniti Devi) and Sarala Devi Chaudhurani.

In 1886, she established the first women's organization in Bengal, Sakhi-Samiti, to help impoverished women.[4][6] She also founded the Ladies' Theosophical Society in Calcutta.[6]

She participated in sessions of the Indian National Congress in 1889 and 1890.[6] Swarnakumari and Kadambini Ganguly were the first women delegates to the Indian National Congress.[4]

Literary career[edit | edit source]

Swarnakumari was a writer and editor for the literary monthly Bharati for more than 30 years, after the journal was established by her older brother Dijendranath Tagore in 1877 or 1878.[7][4][8] Her work in Bharati is considered to be among her major achievements.[7]

"Some of the terms she coined include 'upachchhaya' (penambra), 'parnitaru' (fern), 'mohishnu' (sensitive), 'balakhilya' (pigmy), 'tristar' (triambic), 'biswakash' (universe), 'suryabimba' (solarspot), 'abaraha' (hypnotism)"

- Madhumati Mandal, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress (2005-2006)[4]

Swarnakumari is the author of 25 books[8] and a wide range of essays.[9] 17 of her 24 essays on science were published in the journal Bharati between 1880 and 1889,[2] and she expanded the Bengali language by creating new scientific terminology, as well as by incorporating terms created by Rajendralal Mitra, Madhusudan Gupta, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.[4][7] Her science essays were written for lay readers, to help facilitate understanding of the concepts and to help promote science education.[2][4] In 1882, a collection of her science essays, titled Prithivi, was published.[2]

According to Anurupa Devi, "Many women had written poems and stories before her, but these were looked upon patronizingly. She was the first writer to show up the strengths of women's writing and raise women's creations to a position of respect."[10] Swarnakumari achieved contemporary popularity as a novelist, but many of her works have not been reprinted.[11]

Her novel Dipnirban (The Snuffing Out of the Light) was first published anonymously in 1870, but it was eventually understood that the author was a "young Hindu lady", according to a notice in the Hindu Patriot.[3] The Calcutta Review wrote, "We have no hesitation in pronouncing this book to be by far the best that has yet been written by a Bengali lady, and we should no more hesitate to call it one of the ablest in the whole literature of Bengal."[3] In 1879, she published what is believed to be the first Opera written in Bengali, Basanta Utsav (Spring Festival).[7] In her poem Likhitechi (Writing, Day and Night), she expresses frustration at the challenges related to establishing her own career as a writer.[6]

Swarnakumari also wrote more than three hundred songs.[12]

Selected works[edit | edit source]

Novels

  • Dipnirban (The Snuffing Out of the Light), 1870[3][8]
  • Mibar Raj, 1877
  • Chinna Mukul (A Picked Flower), 1879[3][8]
  • Mālati, 1881
  • Hughlir Imam Badi 1887
  • Vidroha (Revolt), 1890[3]
  • Snehalata ba Palita (tr. as: The Uprooted Vine), (two volumes) 1892 and 1893,[7][8] Oxford University Press, 2004 ISBN 9780195665024
  • Phulermala (tr. as: The fatal Garland), 1894[13]
  • Kahake (To Whom?; tr. as: The Unfinished Song), 1898,[7][8] Oxford University Press, 2008 ISBN 9780195696356
  • Bichitra, 1920
  • Swapnabani, 1921
  • Milanrati, 1925
  • Phuler Mala

Short stories

  • Short stories, 1919[13]

Plays

  • Koney Badal (Evening Dust Clouds / Time for Seeing the Bride), 1906[7]
  • Pak Chakra (Wheel of Fortune), 1911[7]
  • Rajkanya
  • Divyakamal

Honors and awards[edit | edit source]

She received the Jagattarini gold medal in 1927 from the University of Calcutta and was the first woman to win this award.[4] She was the president of the Vangiya Sahitya Sammelan (Vangiya literary conference) in 1929.[8]

Death and legacy[edit | edit source]

She died in 1932 in Kolkata. She has been recognized by the Indian History Congress as one of the first women from Bengal to achieve success as a writer and for her efforts to encourage scientific education, including among women.[4]

Family tree[edit | edit source]

Main article: Tagore_family § Family_tree

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Svarṇakumārī Debī". Worldcat. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Chaudhuri, Sutapa (September 2013). "Sutapa Chaudhuri: Scientific Essays of Swarnakumari Devi". Muse India (51) – via EBSCOhost.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Lalita & Tharu 1991, p. 236.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 Mandal, Madhumati (2005–2006). "Promotion of Science in Late 19th C. Bengal: Swarnakumari Devi's Contribution". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 66. Indian History Congress: 1209–1213. JSTOR 44145933. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  5. ↑ Gupta, Uma Das (5 December 2018). "Family and Times". The Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lalita & Tharu 1991, p. 238.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Lalita & Tharu 1991, p. 237.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Kundu, Ankita (16 May 2022). "Swarnakumari Devi: The Forgotten Author And Activist Of The Tagore Family". Feminism in India. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  9. ↑ Mondal, Madhumita (2017). "Swarnakumari Devi: A Trend Setter in Colonial Bengal". In Raha, Bipasha; Chattopadhyay, Subhayu (eds.). Mapping the Path to Maturity. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781351034142-8. ISBN 9781351034142. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  10. ↑ Lalita & Tharu 1991, p. 235.
  11. ↑ Lalita & Tharu 1991, p. 235-236.
  12. ↑ শিল্পকলায় ঠাকুরবাড়ির গান, ২৩ নভেম্বর ২০১৬, নিজস্ব প্রতিবেদক, প্রথম আলো।
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Hubel, Teresa (2011). "A Mutiny of Silence: Swarnakumari Devi's Sati". Ariel: A Review of International English Literature. 41 (3): 167–190. ISSN 0004-1327. Retrieved 29 September 2022.

Sources

Further reading[edit | edit source]

  • Caṭṭopādhyāẏa, Mīnā. Svarṇakumārī Debī, Anubhāba, Kalakātā, 2000. OCLC 44128118
  • Majumadāra, Samareśa. Svarṇakumārī Debīra galpa, Ratnabalī: Prāptisthāna, Pustaka Bipaṇi, Kalakātā, 2004. OCLC 56599568
  • Ghose, Sudakshina. Swarnakumari Devi. Translated into English by Tapati Chowdhurie, Sahitya Akademi, Kolkata, 2008.
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