A plaque was unveiled by the City Mayor today at 7 Ship Street to commemorate Rabindranath's connection with the city. Brighton & Hove was the first place he lived in outside of India. Rabindranath was born into a wealthy Bengali Brahmin family and built on and transcended these roots, embracing universalism and humanism. He became a poet, philospher, novelist, visual artist, composer and activist. In 1913 he became the first non-westerner to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and in 1915 he was knighted by King George V for his services to literature.
Addresses were given by:-
Roger Amerena, Chairman of the Brighton & Hove Commemorative Plaque Panel.
Her Excellency the High Commissioner for Bangladesh.
Dr Kalyan Kundu, Tagore Centre UK.
Professor Shahaduz Zaman University of Sussex.
Dr Jeanne Openshaw, University of Edinburgh.
The Salvation Army Band provided welcoming music and the National Anthems.
Very good that Rabindranath Tagore has been honoured in Brighton. In 1915 He was the first Indian, and indeed the first non-European to receive a knighthood, conferred on him by George V, Emperor of India, for his sevices to literature. What is not mentioned in the information provided iabove is that Tagore renounced his knighthood in 1919 after the Amritzar massacre.
ReplyDeleteGood to see that Rabindranath Tagore has been honoured with a blue plaque in Brighton. High time too. I notice that mention is made in the information provided above, of his Nobel Prize for Literature and also his award in 1915 of a knighthood conferred by King George V, Emperor of India. However, what is not mentioned is that in 1919, following the Amritzar massacre, Tagore renounced his Knighthood in protest against it. He was the first Indian, and indeed the first non-European, ever to have received a knighthood.
ReplyDeleteMike Faulkner.