Rabindranath Tagore, the first non-European to win Nobel Prize in Literature

In 1913, Indian poet, writer and thinker Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European to be awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature for Gitanjali, a collection of his poems.

On Thursday, the day the Swedish Academy will announce this year’s awardee, the Twitter handle of Nobel Prize tweeted an excerpt from Tagore’s poem.

“The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.”

“Rabindranath Tagore, awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature for his sensitive, fresh and beautiful poetry,” it tweeted.

Tagore had early success as a writer in his native Bengal. With his translations of some of his poems he became rapidly known in the West, as per the Nobel Prize website.

For the world he became the voice of India’s spiritual heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal, he became a great living institution, the website notes.

Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government in 1915. An active member of the Indian national movement, he gave up his knighthood in protest against British policies.

In 1901, he founded Shantiniketan, a school that adopted a unique curriculum and learning style.

He wrote the national anthem of both India and Bangladesh.