{{short description|Bengali literary figure, author and musician, born to the Tagore family}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Use Indian English|date=January 2026}} {{One source|date=January 2026}} {{infobox person | name = Indira Devi Chaudhurani | image = Indira Devi Chaudhurani-ইন্দিরা দেবী চৌধুরানী.jpg | alt = Rabindranath Tagore and Indira Devi in Valmiki-Pratibha, 1881 | caption = Indira Devi Chaudhurani c.1890 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1873|12|29}} | birth_place = Calcutta, Bengal, British India (now Kolkata, India) | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1960|08|12|1873|12|29}} | death_place = Calcutta, West Bengal, India | other_names = | father = Satyendranath Tagore | mother = Jnanadanandini Devi | family = Rabindranath Tagore (uncle) | spouse = Pramatha Chaudhuri | occupation = {{hlist|Musician|writer|translator}} | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }}
'''Indira Devi Chaudhurani''' (29 December 1873 – 12 August 1960) was an Indian literary figure, author and musician. Born to the Tagore family, Indira was the younger child of Satyendranath Tagore and Jnanadanandini Devi and younger sister of Surendranath Tagore. She is noted for her work in scoring the music for a number of songs by her uncle Rabindranath, with whom she was particularly close. She died in 1960.<ref name=Radhakrishnan>{{harvnb|Radhakrishnan|1992|p=521}}</ref>
== Biography == [[File:Valmiki Pratibha Indira Devi & Rabindranath Tagore.jpg|thumb|left|Indira with her uncle Rabindranath Tagore, in ''Valmiki-Pratibha'', c.1881]] Indira Devi was born on 29 December 1873 to Satyendranath Tagore and Jnanadanandini Devi in 1873, at Bijapur. She spent her childhood in England, in Brighton where her family owned the ''Medina Villas''. At this time she and her brother Surendranath came to be very close to her uncle Rabindranath who joined them a year later, and the brother and sister were said to have been the favourite of among the poet's nephews and nieces, and the author's letters to Indira were later published as ''Chinnapatra''. Her early education was in India, at Auckland House in Simla and the Loreto Convent in Calcutta. In 1892, Indira graduated from Calcutta University with a First Class Honours in French. Indira translated into Bengali the works of John Ruskin, as well as French literature, and translated published translations of Rabindranath's works in English. Indira was a strong proponent of women's issues, and authored a number of works on the position of women in India.
Indira took an early interest in music, achieving proficiency in piano, violin and the sitar and training in both Indian classical music as well as Western classical music, later earning a diploma from Trinity College of Music. She is noted to have scored the music for almost two hundred of Tagore's songs. She was a composer of ''Brahmosangeet'', and also authored a number of essays on music. In later life, Indira Devi was instrumental in the establishment of Sangit Bhavana at Visva-Bharati University, and served as the chancellor of the University for a brief period of time.
Indira was awarded Bhuvanmohini Gold Medal from Calcutta University in 1944, and received ''Desikottam'' (D.Litt.) from Visva Bharati University in 1957. Indira wed Pramatha Chaudhury in 1899.
==Family tree== {{main|Tagore_family#Family_tree}}
==References== {{reflist}} * {{Citation | last = Radhakrishnan | first=S | year = 1992 | title = Rabindranath Tagore: A Centenary, Volumes 1861–1961 | publisher = Sahitya Akademi |ISBN = 8172013329}}
==External links== * [http://www.scots-tagore.org/#!indira-devi-chaudhurani/c20co Indira Devi Chaudhurani, from Scottish Centre for Tagore studies]. {{Bengal Renaissance}} {{Tagore family}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhurani, Indira Devi}} Category:1873 births Category:1960 deaths Category:University of Calcutta alumni Category:Bengali writers Category:Bengali Hindus
Category:Tagore family Category:Women writers from West Bengal Category:Musicians from Kolkata Category:Women musicians from West Bengal Category:19th-century Indian women musicians Category:19th-century Indian musicians Category:20th-century Indian women musicians Category:20th-century Indian musicians Category:20th-century Indian translators Category:20th-century women writers Category:Writers from British India Category:Musicians from British India