33 Notable alumni of Visva-Bharati University
Updated: June 05, 2026 EliteDegrees
Visva-Bharati University is ranked #2,259 in the world and #56 in India by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 33 notable alumni from Visva-Bharati University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Visva-Bharati University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Amit Bose
1930-2019 (aged 89)
film editor
film director
Amit Bose was an Indian filmmaker, film director and editor, who directed all-time classics like Abhilasha (1968) and, as an Editor, worked on movies like Madhumati (1958), Sujata (1959), Parakh (1960), Usne Kaha Tha (1960), Kabuliwala (1961), Prem Patra (1962), Bandini (1963) and Shakespeare Wallah (1965). He worked as Chief Film Editor for Bimal Roy and with several other directors...
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2. Martin Kämpchen
1948-. (aged 78)
religious studies scholar
writer
journalist
social worker
translator
Martin Kämpchen is an author, translator, journalist and social worker.
3. Suresh K. Nair
1971-. (aged 55)
muralist
Suresh K. Nair is an artist based in Banaras. Nair obtained his national diploma in mural painting from the Institute of Mural Painting Guruvayur, Kerala under the guidance of Mammiyur Krishnan Kuty Nair. He was inspired by the works of Rabindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Benode Behari Mukherjee and Ramkinker Baij and continued his studies at the Department of Painting, Visva...
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4. Birendra Nath Datta
1935-2023 (aged 88)
poet
Birendranath Datta was an Indian academic, linguist, author, researcher of folklore, singer, and lyricist. During his career, he worked mainly as a professor in a variety of Assam colleges. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for Literature and Education, and in 2010 he received the Jagaddhatri-Harmohan Das Literary award. Datta was elected as...
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5. Santidev Ghosh
1910-1999 (aged 89)
singer
writer
university teacher
musicologist
musician
Santidev Ghose was an Indian author, singer, actor, dancer and maestro of Rabindra Sangeet.
6. Sudhir Khastgir
1907-1974 (aged 67)
painter
Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir was an Indian painter of Bengal school of art and an art educator. A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose, Sudhir was known for "Indian style" of painting. He graduated from Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan in 1929. He was influenced by the Tagore family and his classic works include paintings of scenes from Indian mythologies, women,...
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7. Kailash Chandra Meher
1954-. (aged 72)
painter
Kailash Chandra Meher is an Indian artist, inventor, and social activist. He is a painter of contemporary modern art paintings and traditional Tussar Pattachitra paintings of Odisha. He was a recipient of the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013.
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8. Nilima Sen
1928-1996 (aged 68)
singer
Nilima Sen was a famous Rabindrasangeet singer.
9. Shampa Reza
actor
television actor
model
Shampa Reza is a Bangladeshi singer, model, actress and television host.
10. Aditi Mohsin
singer
Adity Mohsin is a Bangladeshi Rabindra Sangeet singer.
11. R. Siva Kumar
1956-. (aged 70)
writer
art historian
Raman Siva Kumar, known as R. Siva Kumar, is an Indian contemporary art historian, art critic, and curator. His major research has been in the area of early Indian modernism with special focus on the Santiniketan School. He has written several important books, lectured widely on modern Indian art and contributed articles to prestigious international projects such as the Art...
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12. Dhirendra Nath Ganguly
1893-1978 (aged 85)
film director
film producer
actor
film actor
Dhirendra Nath Ganguly, better known as Dhiren Ganguly or D.G, was a Dadasaheb Phalke Award-winning and Padma Bhushan recipient film entrepreneur/actor/director of Bengali Cinema. He had set up a number of film production companies: Indo British Film company, British Dominion Films, Lotus Film Company. Later, he directed films for New Theatres. He produced many movies in the comedy genre. He...
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13. Moriz Winternitz
1863-1937 (aged 74)
Indologist
university teacher
ethnologist
historian
Moriz Winternitz was a scholar from Austria who began his Indology contributions working with Max Müller at the Oxford University. An eminent Sanskrit scholar, he worked as a professor in Prague in the German part of Charles-Ferdinand University after 1902, for nearly thirty years. His Geschichte der indischen Literatur, published 1908–1922, offered a comprehensive literary history of Sanskrit texts. The...
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14. Kartika Affandi
1934-. (aged 92)
painter
Kartika Affandi-Koberl, is an Indonesian artist born into a family of artists.
15. Sudhi Ranjan Das
1894-1977 (aged 83)
writer
judge
Sudhi Ranjan Das was the 5th Chief Justice of India, serving from 1 February 1956 to 30 September 1959. Das also served as chairman of The Statesman.
16. Ida Bagus Mantra
1928-1995 (aged 67)
politician
Ida Bagus Mantra was the fourth governor of Bali from 1978 to 1988. He later served as Indonesia's ambassador to India. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives in 1968. He is the father of Ida Bagus Rai Mantra, former mayor of Denpasar from 2010 to 2015.
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17. Amritlal Vegad
1928-2018 (aged 90)
writer
painter
Amritlal Vegad was a noted Gujarati and Hindi language writer and painter living in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India.
18. Dhammānandā
1944-. (aged 82)
university teacher
writer
nun
Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, born Chatsumarn Kabilsingh (Thai: ฉัตรสุมาลย์ กบิลสิงห์) or Chatsumarn Kabilsingh Shatsena (Thai: ฉัตรสุมาลย์ กบิลสิงห์ ษัฏเสน; 1944), is a Thai bhikkhuni ("Buddhist nun"). On 28 February 2003, Kabilsingh received full monastic ordination as a bhikkhuni of the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka. She is Abbess of Songdhammakalyani Monastery, the only temple in Thailand where there are bhikkhunis.
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19. A. Ramachandran
1935-2024 (aged 89)
painter
Achutan Ramachandran Nair was an Indian painter. He was born in Attingal, Kerala. In 2002 he was elected a Fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi, the national academy of fine arts. In 2005 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour, for outstanding service to the nation. In 2013 he was conferred with an honorary doctorate by...
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20. Mukul Dey
1895-1989 (aged 94)
printmaker
Mukul Chandra Dey was one of five children of Purnashashi Devi and Kula Chandra Dey. He was a student of Rabindranath Tagore's Santiniketan and is considered as a pioneer of drypoint-etching in India. The entire family of Mukul Dey had artistic talents, the brother Manishi Dey was a well-known painter, and his two sisters, Annapura and Rani Chanda, were accomplished...
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21. Mahasweta Devi
1926-2016 (aged 90)
human rights defender
poet
writer
novelist
educator
Mahasweta Devi was an Indian Bengali language writer and activist. Her notable literary works include Hajar Churashir Maa, Rudali, and Aranyer Adhikar. She was a leftist who worked for the rights and empowerment of the tribal people (Lodha and Shabar) of West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states of India. She was honoured with various literary awards such as...
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22. Josh Malihabadi
1898-1982 (aged 84)
poet
songwriter
writer
Josh Malihabadi popularly known as Shayar-e-Inqalab (poet of revolution) was an Indian-born Pakistani Urdu poet.
23. K. G. Subramanyan
1924-2016 (aged 92)
painter
academic
sculptor
printmaker
Kalpathi Ganpathi "K.G." Subramanyan was an Indian artist. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2012.
24. Rezwana Choudhury Bannya
singer
Rezwana Choudhury Bannya is a singer from Bangladesh. She is an exponent of Rabindra Sangeet, the songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore. She has won many awards including Bangladesh's highest civilian award, the Independence Day Award (2016) and India's fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri (2024).
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25. Arundhati Ghose
1939-2016 (aged 77)
diplomat
Arundhati Ghose was an Indian diplomat. She was Permanent Representative of India to the UN Offices in Geneva and was head of the Indian delegation that participated in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in 1996. She also served as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea and the Arab Republic of Egypt.
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26. Mousumi Parial
1976-. (aged 50)
singer
Parvati Baul is a Baul folk singer, musician and storyteller from Bengal and one of the leading Baul musicians in India. Trained under Baul gurus, Sanatan Das Baul, Shashanko Goshai Baul in Bengal, she has been performing both in India and other countries since 1995.
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27. Nabakrushna Choudhuri
1901-1984 (aged 83)
civil servant
Nabakrushna Choudhury was an Indian politician and activist. He served as Chief Minister of the Indian state of Odisha. He was a freedom fighter who participated in the Non-cooperation Movement, the Civil Disobedience movement, and the Peasant movement.
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28. Gayatri Devi
1919-2009 (aged 90)
badminton executive and administrator
writer
politician
Gayatri Devi was the third Maharani consort of Jaipur from 1940 to 1949 through her marriage to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. Following her husband's signature for the Jaipur State to become part of the Union of India and her step-son's assumption of the title in 1970, she was known as Maharani Gayatri Devi, Rajmata of Jaipur.
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29. Chittaranjan Das
1923-2011 (aged 88)
writer
author
Chittaranjan Das, popularly called Deshbandhu (friend of the country), was a Bengali freedom fighter, political activist and lawyer during the Indian Independence Movement and mentor of Subhas Chandra Bose. He was the founder-leader of the Swaraj Party in undivided Bengal during the period of British Colonial rule in India. His name is abbreviated as C. R. Das. He was closely...
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30. Satyajit Ray
1921-1992 (aged 71)
film producer
lyricist
film critic
painter
film editor
Satyajit Ray was an Indian film director, screenwriter, author, lyricist, magazine editor, illustrator, calligrapher, and composer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential film directors in the history of cinema. He is celebrated for works including The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959), The Music Room (1958), The Big City (1963), Charulata (1964), and the Goopy–Bagha trilogy...
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31. Indira Gandhi
1917-1984 (aged 67)
writer
politician
Indira Gandhi was an Indian stateswoman who served as the prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. She was India's first and only female prime minister, and a central figure in Indian politics as the leader of the Indian National Congress (INC). She was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the...
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32. Amartya Sen
1933-. (aged 93)
economist
writer
sociologist
university teacher
Nobel Prize winner
Amartya Kumar Sen is an Indian economist and philosopher. Sen has taught and worked in England and the United States since 1972. In 1998, he received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics. He has also made major contributions to social choice theory, economic and social justice, economic theories of famines, decision theory, development economics,...
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33. Syed Mujtaba Ali
1904-1974 (aged 70)
journalist
writer
Syed Mujtaba Ali was a Bengali writer, journalist, travel enthusiast, academic, scholar and linguist. He lived in Bangladesh, India, Germany, Afghanistan and Egypt.
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