The private creative world of Rabindranath Tagore, the man Yeats called ‘greater than any of us’

A previously unseen family archive offers a glimpse into the Indian Nobel prize winner’s artistic process and personal relationships in his final years

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It’s easy to run out of words to describe Rabindranath Tagore. The first non-European to win the Nobel prize in literature, Tagore was a Bengali poet, musician, novelist, philosopher, songwriter, painter, humanist and educator.

Born in 1861, Tagore left an indelible mark on the subcontinent’s literature, music, education and art. Among his enduring legacies are the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.