Nobel Laureates of India
This is an extensive list of all the Nobel Laureates who were born in India, were of Indian origin and who had any reasonable connection with this great country.
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore was born in 1861, Calcutta of British India. A poet, writer, painter, and composer, he is the only person in the world to have composed National Anthems for two countries, Jana Gana Mana – India, Amar Shonar Bangla – Bangladesh. The National Anthem of Sri Lanka was also inspired by his work. He was given the title of ‘Gurudev’ by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who in turn received the title of ‘Mahatma’ from Rabindranath.
In 1913 he became the first non-European and first from India to be awarded Nobel Prize for Literature for his work ‘Gitanjali’ (offerings in songs). Following this, King George V conferred Knighthood upon him which he renounced in 1919 as a protest to the horrific Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Rabindranath Tagore continues to inspire many Indian and foreign writers to date.
C.V.Raman
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was born in 1888, Madras Presidency of the British Raj. Being a Physicist, his work included extensive research in the Scattering of Light. His most famous contribution to physics is his discovery of a phenomenon of light scattering called the Raman Effect. His works earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics in the year 1930, becoming the first non-white to receive the prize in any branch of Science. Raman’s studies and research have helped the successful application of them in various other fields of science.
He was one of the first batch Bharat Ratna awardees in 1954 for his exceptional service to the field of science. He later destroyed the medallion in protest to the government’s policies on science research.
Mother Teresa
Born in Skopje as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Mother Teresa is of Albanian descent. She left her parental home at the age of 18 and joined an Irish community of Nuns, Sisters of Loreto, which had missions in India. She came to Calcutta, India as a missionary nun in 1929 where she lived for almost all of the rest of her life. Here she was moved by the abandoned and destitute people and dedicated her life in their service and spreading the love of Christ. In 1951 she was granted Indian citizenship.
In 1950 she established ‘Missionaries of Charity’ which has a presence in more than 130 countries as of today. This organization takes care of people suffering from various diseases and destitute. She was honored with the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1980. In 1979 she was awarded Nobel Peace Prize for her exceptional service to mankind. A former United Nations Secretary-General rightly said ‘She is United Nations. She is peace in the world’. She was bestowed sainthood in 2016 by the then Pope, Pope Francis.
Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen was born in 1933, Bengal Presidency of British India. Being born in Shantiniketan, Amartya Sen received his name from Rabindranath Tagore himself. He had his school education in Dhaka and Shantiniketan. Being an Economist he contributed greatly to Welfare Economics, Social Choice Theory, Social and Economic Justice, and various other Economic Theories.
His theories on famines, public health, and development economics are widely regarded the world over. Sen published numerous books and taught in many top universities of the world. Sen was awarded Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Sciences in 1998 and received Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India in 1999 among many others.
Kailash Satyarthi
Kailash Satyarthi was born in 1954, Vidishi of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. He studied electrical engineering in his graduation and has a Post-graduation degree in a related discipline. He then taught in a college for a few years before leaving it for dedicating the rest of his life for what he is known for now. Kailash founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan (save childhood movement) organization which freed thousands of children from slave-like conditions.
He has done enormous work against child labor, slavery, trafficking, etc and helped draft many international conventions to contain such practices. In 2014 he was co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Malala Yousafzai “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and the right of all children to education”
Following Nobel Laureates were born in India and citizens of another country when awarded Nobel prize (Nobel-recipients of Indian origin)
Har Gobind Khorana
Har Gobind Khorana was born in 1922, Punjab Province of British India. As Physiologist his greatest contribution to the field of medicine was to demonstrate the role of nucleotides in protein synthesis. For this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in the year 1968 along with two other co-recipients. He became a naturalized US citizen in the year 1966.
Subramanian Chandrasekhar
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was born in 1910, Punjab Province of British India. He got his education in Chennai and spent most of his professional life in the US. Being an astrophysicist, he worked in wide-ranging areas of Astronomy. He happened to be the Nephew of C V Raman who was also a Nobel Laureate in Physics. His most noted contribution to the Astrophysics is related to the mass of dwarf stars called ‘Chandrasekhar Limit’. In 1983, he was awarded Nobel Prize in Physics. He became a naturalized citizen of the US in 1953.
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was born in 1952, the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Hailing from a family full of Scientists, he got his graduation in Baroda and then moved to the US for higher professional studies. In the US he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Physics and then went on to studying Biology making a transition from Theoretical Physics to Biology. In 2009, he was awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with two other co-recipients for their studies of the structure and function of the ribosome. He holds UK and US citizenship.
Abhijit Banerjee
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee was born in 1961, Bombay of the Indian state of Maharashtra. He had his early education in Kolkata followed by post-graduation in Delhi and then Ph.D. at Harvard. He authored many publications and taught at some of the top universities in the world.
His work primarily focused on Development Economics. In 2019, he received Nobel memorial prize in economic sciences along with two other co-recipients for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. Currently, Abhijit holds US citizenship.
The following Nobel laureates are special cases of Indian connection owing to the colonial legacy of the British in India
Ronald Ross
Ronald Ross’s father was a General in the British Indian Army. So, Ronald Ross was born in 1857, Almora of North-Western Provinces of British India. Although a medical doctor by profession, he was a Jack of all trades. He wrote Poetry, composed songs, published novels to name a few. He had his education in Britain and came back to India to serve in Indian Medical Service.
During his service in Indian Medical Service, he was posted in various parts of India where he analyzed the ways to contain mosquitoes. In 1902, he received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on transmission of malaria, becoming the first British National to receive a Nobel Prize.
Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling was born in 1865, Bombay presidency of British India, and got his education in Britain. A prolific writer and a poet, his association with India greatly inspired his literary work. His most famous works of fiction include The Jungle Book (1894) – the children’s classic world over, The Second Jungle Book (1895), Kim (1901) just to name a few.
Rudyard received various honorary degrees, awards including The Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Literature. In 1907, he became the first English language writer to receive Nobel Prize for Literature. To date, he is the youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul
Vidiadhar surajprasad Naipaul was born in 1932, Chaguanas town of British Trinidad and Tobago. His grandparents were shipped from India to the Caribbean as indentured servants to work in the sugar plantations. His most famous works included ‘A House for Mr. Biswas’, ‘In a Free State’- for which he received Booker Prize in 1971.
In 1981, he was awarded the ‘Trinity Cross’ which is the highest civilian award of Trinidad and Tobago. In the year 2001, he was honored with the Nobel Prize in Literature for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.
Case of India’s commitment to world peace and justice
His Holy Highness, the 14th Dalai Lama
Born in 1935, Tibet as Lhamo Thondup, Tenzin Gyatso (religious name) is the 14th Dalai Lama of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lamas (meaning ‘ocean of wisdom’) are believed to be manifestations of Bodhisattvas who chose to reincarnate to serve the people. He was educated in Tibet. At a very early age of 16, he was called upon to assume full political power as head of the state and head of the government of Tibet.
In 1959, he was forced to exile in India after the Chinese had forcefully occupied Tibet and since then he lives in India as a refugee. His residence (The Dalai Lama Temple) is in Dharmashala which also hosts the Tibetan Government in exile. He is often considered one of the children of Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhi’s Spiritual heir to non-violence. In the year 1989, he was awarded Nobel Peace prize for the struggle of the liberation of Tibet and the efforts for a peaceful resolution. He was also awarded the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1959 for community leadership.