Who was the first Indian to receive the Nobel Prize?

Question

Who was the first Indian to receive the Nobel Prize?

1. A. Mother Teresa
2. B. C.V. Raman
3. C. Rabindranath Tagore (Correct answer)
4. D. Sarojini Naidu

Correct Answer

Option C — Rabindranath Tagore

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Rabindranath Tagore.

Key Points

• Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for Gitanjali, becoming the first Indian and first Asian Nobel laureate.
• He wrote the national anthems of both India (Jana Gana Mana) and Bangladesh (Amar Sonar Bangla).
• C.V. Raman was the first Indian to win a Nobel in the sciences, taking the Physics prize in 1930 for the Raman Effect.
• Mother Teresa received the Peace Prize in 1979, well after Tagore.

Additional Information

• Tagore is the only person to have written the national anthems of two countries — Jana Gana Mana for India and Amar Shonar Bangla for Bangladesh; Sri Lanka's anthem is also widely held to be inspired by him.
• He renounced his knighthood in 1919 in protest at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
• The first Indian Nobel laureate in the sciences was C.V. Raman, who won the Physics prize in 1930 — a common alternative in this question's options.