List of Bengalis
This article provides lists of famous and notable Bengali people, from West Bengal, India or Bangladesh, or people with Bengali ancestry.
Academics
- Mir Masoom Ali, statistician
- Kaushik Basu, economist
- Andre Béteille, sociologist
- Sugata Bose, historian
- Satyendranath Bose, physicist
- Dipesh Chakrabarty, historian
- Swapan Kumar Chakravorty, literary scholar and writer
- Partha Chatterjee, political scientist
- Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, linguist, educationist, litterateur
- Sukanta Chaudhuri, literary scholar, writer, translator, writer on urban studies
- Supriya Chaudhuri, literary scholar, writer, translator
- Abdus Suttar Khan, chemist
- Vina Mazumdar, Women's studies
- Ashis Nandy, political psychologist
- Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, internationally-renowned theoretical physicist, widely respected educator
- Sumit Sarkar, historian
- Ashoke Sen, physicist
- Sukumar Sen, Linguist
- Muhammad Shahidullah, educationist, writer, philologist and linguist
- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, literary critic and theorist
- Sumantra Ghoshal Management Guru
Economists
- Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Pranab Bardhan, Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
- Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Professor of Economics, Cornell University
- Debapriya Bhattchariya, Bangladesh's permanent representative in Geneva for UN
- Amitava Bose, Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.
- Romesh Dutt
- Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, founder, Indian Statistical Institute
- Debraj Ray, Silver Professor of Economics, New York University
- Amartya Sen, economist & Philosopher, Lamont Professor at Harvard University, awarded Bharat Ratna, Nobel Laureate
- Rehman Sobhan, economist, Chairman of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD)
- Muhammad Yunus, economist, Nobel Laureate (Nobel Peace Prize for 2006), micro-credit pioneer
- Nurul Islam, economist, former Chairman, Bangladesh Planning Commission
Scientists & Engineers
- Rafiq Azam, Bangladeshi architect
- Jagadish Chandra Bose Physicist, radio and wireless transmission pioneer, invented the radio before Marconi. Also did substantial work on botany.
- Satyendra Nath Bose, Physicist, founded Bose–Einstein statistics, which helped to produce Bose-Einstein condensate (2001 Nobel Prize in Physics was given for this discovery); Boson, a study of Elementary particle, is named to honor him
- Megh Nad Saha, Physicist, produced the famous "Thermo-Ionization Equation" or Saha Equation
- Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya -was a Bengali entomologist and naturalist known for his pioneering work on social insects and the role of bacteria in metamorphosis.
- Prafulla Chandra Roy, Pioneer in the field of pharmaceutical and chemical works (discovered mercurous nitrite)
- Sharmila Bhattacharya, head of the Biomodel Performance and Behavior laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center
- Upendranath Brahmachari, Biologist: synthesized Urea Stibamine (carbostibamide) and used it in the treatment of Kala-azar (leishmaniasis), was a nominee for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
- Mani Lal Bhaumik, Physicist: helped develop the first excimer laser at the University of California
- Kumar Bhattacharyya, Baron Bhattacharyya, As an academic he has played a prominent role in raising the status of engineering and manufacturing in UK. He was appointed CBE in 1997 and knighted in 2003, Padma Bhushan awardee.
- Asima Chatterjee, noted for her work in the fields of organic chemistry and phytomedicine. Her most notable work includes those on vinca alkaloids, and the development of anti-epileptic and anti-malarial drugs.
- Sandip Chakrabarti, leading Indian astrophysicist
- Anirvan Ghosh, A Renowned neuroscientist, His research has contributed to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that regulate development of the mammalian brain
- Qazi Motahar Hossain, mathematician and statistician.
- Abul Hussam, Chemist: Inventor of Sono arsenic filter and the gold winner of the 2007 Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability
- Jamal Nazrul Islam, famous physicist and mathematician
- Abdus Suttar Khan, Chemist, inventor of alloys for use in commercial jets, U.S. fighter planes, gas turbines, train engines, and space shuttles
- Fazlur Khan, designer, Willis Tower
- Muhammad Qudrat-i-Khuda, scientist and educator.
- Dilip Mahalanabis, Biologist: under his leadership International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh medical centre, discovered Oral rehydration therapy, which saved more than 40 millions lives from Diarrhoea
- Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Statistician: Inventor of Mahalanobis Distance and founder of Indian Statistical Institute
- Sisir Kumar Mitra, Physicist: pioneer in the investigations of ionosphere and worked with Marie Curie, was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society and Mitra crater on the Moon is named after him
- Subhash Mukhopadhyay, Physicist: became the first physician in India and second in the world to perform the In vitro fertilization
- Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, Physicist: well known for his contributions to relativistic cosmology produced the famous Raychaudhuri's equation, a key ingredient for other major scientific concepts
- Bikash Sinha, former director of SINP and Padmabhusan
- Srikumar Banerjee, director of BARC and AEC
- Ashoke Sen, Physicist: known for his contributions to string theory and co-discovered S-duality
- Siddhartha Mukherjee, Physicist, Scientist and Writer; Author of the book: The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, which won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction 2011, also won PEN Literary E.O. Wilson Prize 2011, Gabrielle Angel's Leukemia Foundation Award/Grant 2010.
- Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty most notable for his work in directed evolution and his role in developing a genetically engineered organism using plasmid transfer while working at GE.
Artists
- Abanindranath Tagore
- Anil Kumar Dutta
- Devajyoti Ray
- Ganesh Pyne
- Jamini Roy
- Jogen Chowdhury
- Kazi Nazrul Islam, National poet of Bangladesh
- Nandalal Bose
- P.C. Sorcar, world-famous magician
- Paresh Maity
- Paritosh Sen
- Prosenjit Kundu
- Rabin Mondal
- Raja Sen, film and television director
- Ramkinkar Baij
- Ranabi, Bangladeshi Cartoonist
- Rashid Choudhury
- Rituporno Ghosh, filmmaker
- Ritwik Ghatak, filmmaker
- Sachin Bhowmick, filmamaker
- Samir Ganguly, filmmaker
- Satyajit Ray, director, won the Bharat Ratna in 1992, won the Academy Honorary Award in 1992 for lifetime achievement, and Légion d'honneur award of France
- Satyen Bose, filmmaker
- Shahabuddin Ahmed, Bangladesh
- Shakti Samanta, filmmaker, President of the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association for 5 years
- Shashanka Ghosh, filmmaker
- Shashwati Talukdar, filmmaker
- Shomu Mukherjee, filmmaker
- Shuvaprasanna
- SM Sultan, Bangladesh
- Sombhu Mitra, filmmaker
- Somnath Hore
- Subodh Mukherjee, filmmaker
- Sujoy Ghosh, filmmaker
- Tanvir Mokammel, filmmaker
- Tapan Sinha, filmmaker
- Zahir Raihan, filmmaker
- Zainul Abedin, Bangladesh
- Tareq Masud, filmmaker, Bangladesh
Actors
- Abdur Razzak, Bengali actor
- Abhishek Bachchan, Bollywood actor
- Amala, Bollywood actress
- Aparna Sen, Bengali film actress
- Ashok Kumar, Bollywood actor
- Bhairavi Goswami, model and actress
- Bipasha Basu, A Bengali Bollywood actress
- Biswajit Chatterjee, Bengali and Bollywood actor
- Subrata Routh, Bengali-American actor
- Bobita, Bangladeshi film actress
- Chhabi Biswas, Bengali actor
- Debashree Roy, Bollywood actress
- Deep Roy, Hollywood Actor
- Devika Rani, Bollywood and Bengali actress
- Dhritiman Chatterjee, Bollywood and Bengali actor
- Dimpy Ganguly, Model, Television presenter
- Diya Mirza, Bollywood actress. Part Bengali.
- Humayun Faridi, Bangladeshi film actor
- Imran Khan, Bollywood actor
- Jaya Bachchan, Bollywood actress
- Joy Mukherjee, Bollywood actor
- K.C. Dey, Bengali actor
- Kajol Mukherjee, Bollywood actress
- Kamalini Mukherjee, Bollywood & Tollywood actress
- Khan Ataur Rahman A Bengali actor, director, producer, screenplay writer, music composer and singer.
- Kishore Kumar, Bollywood singer, actor, music composer
- Koena Mitra, Former channel V VJ and Bollywood actress
- Konkona Sen Sharma, Bollywood Actress
- Konnie Huq, British television presenter
- Koyel Mullick, Bengali actress. Daughter of Ranjit Mullick, renowned Bengali veteran actor.
- Lisa Ray, actress and model
- Madhabi Mukherjee, actress notable works include charulata, mahanagar
- Mahima Chaudhry, Bollywood actress
- Mamata Shankar, Bollywood and Bengali actress
- Mauli Ganguly, actress
- Mithun Chakraborty, Bollywood and Bengali film actor
- Monikangana Dutta, model and actress
- Moushumi Chatterjee, Bollywood actress
- Nandana Sen, Bollywood actress, daughter of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen
- Paoli Dam, actress
- Pradeep Kumar, Bollywood actor
- Preeti Ganguly, actress
- Priyanshu Chatterjee, Bollywood actor
- Raakhee Gulzar, Bollywood actress
- Rabi Ghosh, Bengali actor
- Rahul Bose, Bengali and Bollywood actor and rugby player
- Raima Sen, Bengali Film and Bollywood actress
- Rani Mukerji, Bollywood actress
- Reema Sen, Bollywood & Kollywood actress
- Reena Roy, Bollywood actress
- Reshmi Ghosh, Actress, Miss India Earth 2002
- Rhona Mitra, Half-Bengali actress in Britain
- Richa Gangopadhyay, actress and miss India usa 2007
- Rimi Sen, Bollywood actress
- Rituparna Sengupta, Bollywood and Bengali actress
- Riya Sen, Bollywood actress
- Rohit Roy, TV and Bollywood actor
- Ronit Roy, Bollywood and TV actor
- Ruma Guha Thakurta, actress notable works include Ganashatru, Abhijan, Palatak; wife of Kishore Kumar
- Rupa Ganguly, Bengali and Bollywood actress
- Rupali Ganguly, Actress
- Sabitri Chatterjee, Bengali actor
- Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Bollywood and Bengali actor
- Saif Ali Khan, Bollywood actor
- Sameer Bhattacharya, Bollywood actor
- Samit Bhanja, Bollywood and Bengali actor
- Sangeeta Ghosh, actress, model
- Seema Biswas, Bollywood actress
- Shabnam, actress in Bangladeshi and Pakistani films
- Shahana Goswami, Bollywood actress
- Shakib Khan, Bangladeshi actor
- Sharmila Tagore, Bollywood and Bengali film actress
- Shayan Munshi, Bollywood and Bengali actor
- Shefali Chowdhury, Hollywood actor, seen in Harry Potter movies as Parvati Patil
- Shonal Rawat, Model, Miss India International 2003
- Shraddha Das, Bollywood and tollywood actress
- Smriti Irani, Half Bengali actress, Politian
- Soha Ali Khan, Bollywood actress
- Soumitra Chatterjee, Bengali actor
- Suchitra Sen, Bollywood and Bengali film actress
- Sumita Devi, Bangladeshi film and television actress
- Sushmita Sen, Bollywood actress, India's first Miss Universe
- Tanisha Mukherjee, Bollywood actress
- Tannishtha Chatterjee, Bollywood and Bengali actress
- Tanushree Dutta, Former Miss India and Bollywood actress
- Tia Kar, Bollywood actress
- Utpal Dutt, Bengali actor
- Ushoshi Sengupta, Model Former Miss India
- Uttam Kumar, Bollywood and Bengali film actor
- Victor Banerjee, Bengali and Bollywood actor
Filmmakers
- Aditya Bhattacharya, filmmaker
- Anjan Dutta, filmmaker, actor, musician
- Anurag Basu, filmmaker
- Aparna Sen, filmmaker
- Arin Paul, filmmaker, made his debut with 10:10
- Ayan Mukerji, filmmaker
- Basu Bhattacharya, filmmaker
- Basu Chatterjee, Bollywood filmmaker
- Bimal Roy, filmmaker
- Buddhadeb Dasgupta, filmmaker
- Dibakar Banerjee, filmmaker
- Gautam Ghose, filmmaker
- Himanshu Rai, filmmaker
- Hrishikesh Mukherjee, filmmaker
- Humayun Ahmed, writer, filmmaker
- Ken Ghosh, filmmaker
- Manick Sorcar, director and animator
- Mrinal Sen, filmmaker
- Nitin Bose, filmmaker
- Partho Sen-Gupta, filmmaker
- Pradeep Sarkar, Bollywood filmmaker
- Raja Sen, film and television director
- Rituporno Ghosh, filmmaker
- Ritwik Ghatak, filmmaker
- Sachin Bhowmick, filmamaker
- Samir Ganguly, filmmaker
- Satyajit Ray, director, won the Bharat Ratna in 1992, won the Academy Honorary Award in 1992 for lifetime achievement, and Légion d'honneur award of France
- Satyen Bose, filmmaker
- Shakti Samanta, filmmaker, President of the Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association for 5 years
- Shashanka Ghosh, filmmaker
- Shashwati Talukdar, filmmaker
- Shomu Mukherjee, filmmaker
- Sombhu Mitra, filmmaker
- Subodh Mukherjee, filmmaker
- Sujoy Ghosh, filmmaker
- Tanvir Mokammel, filmmaker
- Tapan Sinha, filmmaker
- Zahir Raihan, filmmaker
Musicians
- Mumzy Stranger, British-Bangladeshi MC, singer-songwriter, dancer and record producer
- Baba Allauddin Khan, multi-instrumentalist musical genius, master of many great musicians, Master of Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar khan, Annapurna devi etc. Founder of the Maihar Gharana.
- Ravi Shankar, sitar virtuoso, composer, musicologist three-time Grammy award-winner
- Ali Akbar, sarod virtuoso, composer, musicologist, international master, founder of the Ali Akbar College of Music in California, USA.
- Kishore Kumar, multifaceted genius of Bollywood: playback singer, songwriter, composer, actor, comedian
- Lalon, mystic devotional composer and singer
- Hason Raja
- Shah Abdul Karim
- Abdul Alim
- Abdul Jabbar
- Annapurna Devi, surbahar virtuso, daughter of Allauddin Khan and sister of Ali Akbar Khan, instructor to many eminent musicians and considered a rare genius
- Sandhya Mukhopadhyay singer of multiple genres, one of the greatest female voclaists of Bengal and India.
- Firoza Begum, eminent exponent of Nazrul Geeti
- Runa Laila, folk, ghazal, and pop fusion singer
- R.D. Burman, composer, singer, son of S.D.Burman
- Sameer Bhattacharya, Lead Guitarist of the American alternative rock band Flyleaf
- Hemanta Kumar Mukhopadhyay, singer of multiple genres -- film, Rabindrasangeet, folk -- Hindi and Bengali, and composer
- Kumar Bose tabla maestro and composer
- Debabrata Biswas eminent exponent of Rabindrasangeet
- Kanika Banerjee eminent exponent of Rabindrasangeet
- Manna Dey, Bollywood playback singer
- Shaan, Hindi and Bengali playback and pop singer singer
- Kumar Sanu, Bollywood playback singer
- Arnab Chakrabarty, Indian Classical musician, sarod player
- Anoushka Shankar, sitar player and composer
- Abhijeet, Bollywood playback singer
- Nikhil Banerjee, sitar maestro
- Pannalal Bhattacharya eminent exponent of devotional songs, specially Shyama Sangeet
- Dhananjay Bhattacharya elder brother of Pannalal Bhattacharya, another maestro of Shyama Sangeet
- Gautam Chattopadhyay, composer, filmmaker, founder of the group 'Mohiner Ghoraguli'
- Anjan Chattopadhyay, Sitar player
- Khaled 'Bassbaba' Sumon, lead vocalist and bassist of rock band Aurthohin
- Anjan Dutta, singer, filmmaker, actor
- Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh, Tabla master, composer and Musician
- Shankar Ghosh Tabla master and singer
- Pannalal Ghosh, pioneering master of the Indian classical flute, composer, musicologist
- Bickram Ghosh table master, composer, actor, fusion musician
- Norah Jones, Jazz pianist and singer-songwriter, Grammy award winner; half-Bengali (daughter of sitarist Pandit Ravi Shankar)
- Rupam Islam, Frontman of Bengali hard rock band Fossils, Bollywood Singer, National Award Winner
- Vilayat Khan, sitar maestro
- Pritam, Bollywood Music Composer
- Sanjaya Malakar is an American born Bengali and Italian singer
- Ruma Guha Thakurta, founder and lead singer of Calcutta Youth Choir. Also playback singer
- Abbas Uddin, folk singer
- Geeta Dutt, Bollywood playback singer
- Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta classical and rabindrasangeet exponent, also folk modern and devotional music
- Suchitra Mitra, eminent exponent of Rabindrasangeet, also playback singer and composer
- Babul Supriyo, Bollywood playback singer
- Sabina Yasmin, popular Bangladeshi playback singer
- Shreya Ghoshal, Bollywood playback singer
- Madhushree, Bollywood playback singer
- Robin Ghosh, music composer
- Momtaz Begum, Bangladeshi folk singer, world record holder
- Shantanu Moitra, Bollywood Music composer
- Monali Thakur, Bollywood playback singer
- Suman Kalyanpur, Bollywood playback singer
- Bappi Lahiri, Bollywood Music Composer
- Salil Chowdhury, Bollywood Music Composer
- Sapna Mukherjee, Bollywood playback singer
- Jolly Mukherjee, Bollywood playback singer
- Amit Sana, Bollywood playback singer and Indian idol runner-up
- Aarti Mukherji, Bollywood playback singer
- Palash Sen, singer and lead vocalist of Indian band euphoria
- Anil Biswas, Bollywood Music Composer
- Chitra Singh, Hindi/Urdu Ghazal Singer and wife of Jagjit singh
- Amit Kumar, playback singer, performer and son of Kishore Kumar
- Mohammed Aziz, Bollywood playback singer
- Jeet Ganguly, Tollywood music Composer
- Pankaj Mullick, singer, composer, music director
- Antara Mitra, Bollywood playback singer
- Raichand Boral, Bollywood music composer
- Parul Ghosh, Bollywood playback singer
- Manas Mukherjee, Bollywood music composer, Father of Shaan
- Chandrani Mukherjee, Bollywood playback singer
- Sohail Sen, composer and singer
- Srabani Sen Rabindrasangeet exponent, also modern and folk songs
- Indrani Sen Rabindrasangeet and Nazrulgeeti exponent, also modern and folk songs
- Amit Paul, Bollywood playback singer
- James, Bangladeshi Rock Star, Bollywood playback singer
- Anwesha Datta Gupta, Bollywood playback singer, Tamil movie singer, winner of Amul Star Voice of India, Chhote Ustaad
Leaders
Business leaders
- Sir Rajendra Nath Mukherjee, co-founder, Martin Burn Ltd.,IISCO
- Sir Birendra Nath Mukherjee,IISCO
- Mutty Lal Seal
- Amar Bose, founder, Bose Corporation
- Anjan Chatterjee, Founder, Speciality Group of Restaurants
- Purnendu Chatterjee, founder, TCG Group
- Alamohan Das, founder, India Machinery Company
- Sadhan Dutt, Founder of Development Consultants of Kuljian Group
- Rono Dutta, Former President, United Airlines
- Shuman Ghosemajumder, co-founder, TeachAIDS, former click fraud czar, Google
- Rajat Gupta, former Chairman, McKinsey & Company
- Jawed Karim, co-founder, YouTube, lead architect of PayPal
- Bhaskar Pramanik, chairman, Microsoft India
- Diptendu Pramanick, founder, Secretary of Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA)
- Subir Raha, former head, ONGC
- Prannoy Roy, founder, NDTV
- Raman Roy, father of BPO industry in India, founder, Quatrro
- Subroto Roy Sahara, founder and chairman, Sahara India Pariwar
- Bibi Russell, founder, Bibi Productions
- Dwarkanath Tagore, known for partnership with the British East India Company
- Aveek Sarkar editor Ananda Bazaar Patrika
- Arindam Chaudhury founder IIPM
- Roy Sagnik director TXYCO LTD
- Asim Ghosh former CMD Hutch
- Ashok Sekhar Ganguly former chairman Hindustan Unilever
Military leaders
- Subhas Chandra Bose, Founder, Indian National Army
- General Joyanto Nath Chaudhuri, Indian Army Chief during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
- Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee, Former Head of Indian Air Force
- M. A. G. Osmani, the Supreme Commander of Bangladesh Forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War
- General Shankar Roychowdhury, Former Indian Army Chief
- Lt. General Baidya Nath Sarkar, Former Indian Quarter Master General, resigned from the Indian Army since he would not give into corrupt practices of his political masters
Political leaders
- Subhas Chandra Bose, Former President of Indian National Congress,Freedom Fighter, Head of State of India's first free Provisional Government of Azad Hind and Co-Founder Indian National Army
- Shibdas Ghosh,freedom fighter, marxist philosopher,and the founder general secretary of Socialist Unity centre of India (Communist), i.e., S.U.C.I(C)
- Bidhan Chandra Roy, physician, former Congress Chief Minister of West Bengal, Bharat Ratna.
- Chittaranjan Das, prominent person in the Indian independence movement also known as Deshabandhu.
- Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh
- Rash Behari Bose, Revolutionary leader against the British Raj in India and was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar conspiracy and later, the Indian National Army.
- Jogendra Nath Mandal who serves the first law & labour minister of pakishthan.
- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman - Founding Father of Bangladesh; first President of Bangladesh
- Pranab Mukherjee, Minister for External Affairs, Government of India, Senior leader of Indian National Congress
- Jyoti Basu, former communist Chief Minister of West Bengal
- Tajuddin Ahmed, Prime Minister, 1971–1972
- Mamata Banerjee,- Chief Minister of West Bengal (from 2011,) Ex-minister for Railways, Government of India, Chairman All India Trinamool Congress
- Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Former Chief Minister of West Bengal
- Muhammad Ali Bogra, - Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1953 until 1955
- Somnath Chatterjee, Former Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament), Expelled member of CPI(M), senior parliamentarian, prominent barrister.
- A. B. A. Ghani Khan Choudhury, Senior leader of Indian National Congress
- Hussain Mohammed Ershad, Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) & later President, 1982–1990
- A. K. Fazlul Huq, presented the Lahore Resolution of 1940 that established Muslim League's demand for a homeland for Muslims, Pakistan
- Manik Sarkar, chief minister of Tripura, Politburo member.
- Iskander Mirza, the first President of Pakistan
- Santosh Mohan Dev, Former Union Cabinet Minister. Elected to the Lok Sabha in 1985, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1999 and 2004., Senior leader of Indian National Congress
- Khawaja Nazimuddin, second Governor-General of Pakistan, and the second Prime Minister of Pakistan
- Bipin Chandra Pal, freedom fighter for Indian independence movement
- Ziaur Rahman, founder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, President of Bangladesh from 1977 until 1981; first to propose the creation of SAARC, sector commander and liberation war hero in Bangladesh.
- Siddhartha Shankar Ray, former Congress Chief Minister of West Bengal, former ambassador of India to United States
- Khwaja Salimullah, founder of Muslim League
- Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, President, 1975-1975
- Ashoke Kumar Sen, Former Law Minister, barrister, and parliamentarian
- Rabi Ray, speaker of lok sabha
- Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 until 1957; founder of Awami League
- Sheikh Hasina Wazed; Prime Minister, 1996–2001, 2009–present
- Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister; 1991–1996, 2001–2006
- Ronen Sen, former Indian ambassador in USA
- Ashok Bhattacharya, Minister
- Mrinal Banerjee, former Minister
- Sarojini Naidu, freedom fighter and poet
- Sucheta Kriplani, freedom fighter and politician
- Aruna Asaf Ali, Indian independence activist
- Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee, first president of Indian national congress
- Batukeshwar Dutt, freedom fighter
Religious leaders
- Sri Anandamoyi Ma-- mystic, spiritual teacher and Tantrik Guru
- Thakur Anukulchandra, Saint, mystic and preacher
- Atisha, or Srjnana Atisa Dipanakara -- Buddhist scholar, missionary and teacher, inventor of bodhichitta
- Sri Aurobindo, yogi, nationalist, philosopher, author, poet, visionary
- Baba Lokenath Brahmachari, Yogi and philosopher
- Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, vaishnava mystic, missionary, monk and social reformer
- Nityananda, great sahajiya mystic, social reformer, chief associate of Chaitanya and a primary figure within the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Bengal
- Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Gadadhar Chattopadhaya) -- mystic, preacher
- A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Abhay Charan Dey) -- Vaishnava missionary and theologian, founder of ISKCON
- Debendranath Tagore, social thinker and reformer, founder of the Brahmo Religion or Brahmoism, the youngest religion of India
- Tibbetibaba, Saint and mystic
- Tilopa, tantrik master and mahasiddha,Buddhist scholar and teacher, founder of the Kagyu lineage and progressor of Mahamudra method
- Paramahansa Yogananda, monk, philosopher, preacher, author and exponent of Kriya Yoga
- Bamakhepa tantrik guru and mystic
- Ramprasad Sen tantrik master, mystic and famous as the composer of mystic, devotional songs to Goddess Kali.
- Lahiri Mahasaya or Shyama Charan Lahiri -- Yogi, philosopher, the propagator of Kriya Yoga.
- Mahavatar Babaji yogi and tantrik master
- Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar or Sri Anandamurti, polymathic personality, author, philosopher, socio-political thinker, educationist, revolutionary, poet, composer, linguist, self-development and human welfare theorist, the founder of Ananda Marga, a socio-spiritual movement.
- Swami Vivekananda(Narendranath Datta) monk, missionary and social reformer, founder of the Ramakrishna math and Mission
- Swami Abhedananda(Kaliprasad Chandra) monk, author, philosopher, occultist, reformer the founder of the Ramakrishna Vedanta Math
- Yukteswar Giri (Priyanath Karar) yogi, educationaist, astronomer & astrologer
- Swami Satyananda Giri (Manamohan Mazumder) monk, preacher and yogi
- Gopinath Kaviraj -- yogi, philosopher, spiritual master, tantrik scholar and author
- Nolini Kanta Gupta -- revolutionary, linguist, scholar, critic, poet, philosopher and mystic, was the most senior of Sri Aurobindo's disciples; author of many books.
- Nigamananda Saraswati -- tantrik guru, vedantic scholar, author, yogi, mystic, philosopher, disciple of Bamakhepa, founder of several institutions.
- Kamalakanta Bhattacharya -- Tantrik/ Shakta saint and master, composer of Shakta devotional songs.
- Lalon fakir -- sahajiya saint philosopher, humanist, poet and composer of baul/ sahajiya mystic songs.
Philosopher
- Sir Brajendra Nath Seal, VC, Mysore University
Social leaders
- Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission of India
- Muhammad Abdul Bari, Head, Muslim Council of Britain
- Bagha Jatin, Bengali Indian revolutionary philosopher against British rule
- Manabendra Nath Roy, pioneer Bengali Indian revolutionary philosopher. Founder of Mexican Communist Party and Indian Communist Party.
- Shri Aurobindo, Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, scholar, poet, mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru
- Ram Mohan Roy, founder of the Brahmo Samaj
- Roquia Sakhawat Hussain, prolific writer, important Women's right activist and social worker, early feminist science fiction writer
- Debendranath Tagore, active Brahmo, and was against sati, idol worship
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, responsible for introducing major reforms in the educational system and was Women's right activist
- Keshub Chunder Sen, intellectual and a noted religious reformer
- Surya Sen, also known as Masterda Surya Sen, was an Indian freedom fighter and was the chief architect of anti-British freedom movement in Chittagong, Bengal
- Sivanath Sastri, an important intellectual
- Nasreen Pervin Huq, prominent Women's Rights Activist
- Muhammad Shahidullah, famous educationist, writer, polyglot, philologist and linguist
- Pritilata Waddedar, Anti-British, pro-India revolutionary
- Rani Rashmoni, Nineteenth century philanthropist and anti-British activist
- Sarojini Naidu, (Sarojini Chattopadhyaya) Freedom fighter
- Syed Ameer Ali, Law reformer
- Irene Khan, Former Secretary General, Amnesty International; first woman, first Asian, and first Muslim to hold the position
- Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder & Chairperson of the worlds largest international development NGO, BRAC.
Sportspeople
- Brojen Das, swimmer, first Asian to swim across the English Channel and the first person to cross it four times
- Niaz Morshed chess player from Bangladesh, the first Chess Grandmaster to emerge from South Asia.
- Mohammad Rafique, cricketer
- Ziaur Rahman, Bangladeshi Grandmaster
- Abdullah Al Rakib, Bangladeshi Grandmaster
- Sourav Ganguly, Former Indian cricket team captain, Padma Shri awardee.
- Aminul Islam, Bangladeshi cricketer
- Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladeshi cricketer
- Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi cricketer
- Subroto Banerjee, Former Test and ODI player for India, Fast bowler.
- Krishna Das, former Indian archer
- Pradip Kumar Banerjee, footballer: named Indian Footballer of the 20th Century by FIFA
- Saif Ahmad
- Dibyendu Barua, Indian chess grandmaster
- Ritwik Bhattacharya, squash player
- Gopal Bose, Former ODI Player for India
- Utpal Chatterjee, Former India Cricketer.
- Nirode Chowdhury, Former Test Cricketer for India/ Pace bowler.
- Bula Choudhury, swimmer
- Mouma Das, Table Tennis player
- Deepak Kumar Mondal, football player.
- Deep Dasgupta, Former Indian National Cricket Team Wicket-Keeper, played 8 Tests with a Century against England
- Rumeli Dhar, The cricketer of Indian woman Cricket Team
- Ashok Dinda, Indian cricket team player
- Chuni Goswami, Former Great India Footballer, Padma Shri awardee.
- Poulomi Ghatak, Table Tennis player
- Jhulan Goswami, ICC Women's Cricketer of the year 2007
- Aftab Ahmed Chowdhuryআফতা আহমেদ চৌধুরী
- Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladeshi cricketer, youngest centurion in test cricket.
- Isa Guha, English Women Cricketer
- Subrata Guha, Former Indian Test Cricketer.
- Rani Hamid, chess player: was awarded the FIDE Woman International Master (WIM) title in 1985 and won British Women's
- Saradindu Mukherjee, Former India Cricketer
- Enamul Hossain, Bangladeshi Grandmaster
- Shailen Manna, Footballer
- Gostho Pal, footballer. Member of the 1st Indian Team(MohunBagan)those who won the IFA shield against a British team in the pre independence period.
- Pankaj Roy, Former Indian Cricket Captain, he is best known for establishing the world record opening partnership of 413 runs, together with Vinoo Mankad, against New Zealand at Chennai, Padma Shri awardee.
- Pranab Roy, Former Test Cricketer for India Championship (1983, 1985, 1989)
- Priyanka Roy, The cricketer of Indian woman cricket team.
- Reefat Bin-Sattar, Bangladeshi Grandmaster
- Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Former ODI player for India.
- Wriddhiman Saha, Player for KKR and Bengal
- Mihir Sen, Swimmer
- Arati Saha, Swimmer
- Probir Sen, Former Indian Test Cricketer/Wicket-Keeper.
- Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, athletics: Double gold-medallist in track at Asian games, was awarded Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and Padma Shri award
- Jayanta Talukdar, archer
- Dipu Ghosh, former badminton player
- Raman Ghosh, former badminton player
- Manoj Tiwary, Player for KKR and Bengal
- Poulomi Ghatak, table tennis player
- Jaideep Mukherjea, former Indian tennis player
- Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Indian grandmaster
- Subrata Paul, Footballer playing for the Indian team
- Saurav Ghosal, Indian squash player
- Dola Banerjee, Indian female archer
- Hari Shankar Roy, Indian track field athlete
- Rahul Banerjee, Indian archer
- Mohammed Ali Qamar, Indian boxer
- Subhajit Saha, Indian table tennis player
- Sachin Nag, former swimming champion
- Subhash Bhowmick, former football player
- Saraswati Saha, Indian sprint athlete
- Soma Biswas, Indian hepathlete
- Alok Kapali, Bangladeshi cricketer
- Tapash Baisya, Bangladeshi cricketer
- Somdev Devvarman, Indian tennis player
- Anirban Lahiri, Indian Golfer
Writers
- Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad, author, Gorokho Bijoy
- Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) - poet, novelist, essayist, nobel laureate
- Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (1876–1938) - novelist
- Pramatha Chaudhuri, editor of Sbuj patra, wrote in the era of Rabindranath Tagore.
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a philosopher, academic, educator, writer, translator, printer, publisher, entrepreneur, reformer, and philanthropist of the Bengal Renaissance period.
- Nurul Momen, (1908-1990), playwright of Nemesis (Nurul Momen play), recognized as the pioneer of modern Bengali drama, referred to as the "Father of Bangladeshi theatre"; also an educationist, playwright, director, humorist, lawyer, broadcaster, philanthropist and essayist of Bangladesh
- Sukanta Bhattacharya
- Banaphool, writer of short stories
- Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay (1894–1950) - novelist
- Manik Bandopadhyay (1908–1956) - novelist, short story writer
- Tarashankar Bandopadhyay (1898–1971) - novelist
- Satyajit Ray (1921–1992) - Oscar winning Film Director, he was also is well known for his contributions to Bangla literature. He created two of the most famous characters in Bengali: Feluda the sleuth, and Professor Shanku the scientist.
- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838–1894) - novelist, essayist, penned the Indian National Song of integrity Vande Mataram
- Krittibas Ojha, medieval Bengali poet,his major contribution to Bangla literature and culture was the translation of the great Indian epic Ramayana to Bangla
- Chandidas, Chandidas is perhaps most well known for his assertion Shobar upor manush shotto tahar upore nai (Above all is human, none else)
- Buddhadeb Bose (1908–1974) - poet, essayist
- Kumud Ranjan Mullick, poets of the Tagore era of Bengali literature.
- Swarnakumari Devi, first among the women writers in Bengali to gain prominence.
- Nirendranath Chakravarty (b. 1924) - poet
- Haraprasad Shastri, He is most known for discovering the Charyapada, the earliest known examples of Bengali literature
- Nirad C. Chaudhuri (1897–1999) - scholar, essayist
- Sandipan Chattopadhyay (1933–2005) - novelist
- Shakti Chattopadhyay, poet
- Shahabuddin Nagari, Bangladeshi poet and juvenile writer
- Jibanananda Das (1899–1954) - poet
- Amit Chaudhuri, currently Professor of Contemporary Literature at the University of East Anglia, 2002 Sahitya Akademi Award for A New World
- Jhumpa Lahiri, novelist, short story writer, Pulitzer prize winner.
- Ashapurna Devi (1909–1995) - novelist, short story writer
- Mahasweta Devi (b. 1926) - novelist, short story writer
- Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824–1873) - poet, dramatist
- Romesh Chunder Dutt
- Sudhindranath Dutta (1901–1960) - poet
- Sunil Gangopadhyay (b. 1934) - poet, novelist
- Amitav Ghosh, novelist, essayist
- Shankha Ghosh (b. 1932) - poet, essayist
- Vidyapati, medieval poet and Sanskrit writer.
- Joy Goswami (b. 1954) - poet
- Ramprasad Sen, was a Shakta poet of eighteenth century Bengal. His bhakti poems, known as Ramprasadi, are usually addressed to the Hindu goddess Kali and written in Bengali
- Toru Dutt, wrote in English and French
- Ekram Ali (b. 1950) - poet
- Buddhadeb Guha (b. 1936) - novelist
- Mir Mosharraf Hossain (1847–1912) - novelist
- Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, science fiction writer
- Bharatchandra Ray, poet and song composer known for his Mangalkavya.
- Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–1976) - poet
- Abul Bashar (b. 1951) - novelist, essayist
- Al Mahmud (আল মাহমুদ) - poet, novelist
- Mahmud Nurul Momen (b. 1961) - poet, essayist, translator, playwright
- Arun Mitra (1909–2000) - poet
- Premendra Mitra (1904–1988)- poet, short story writer
- Dhan Gopal Mukerji ধান গোপাল মুখোপাধ্যায় Dhan Gopal Mukhopaddhae - author
- Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay (b. 1935) - novelist
- Subimal Basak, fiction writer, one of the Hungryalists in Bengali literature
- Subhas Mukhopadhyay (1919–2003) - poet
- Narayan Gangopadhyay, author, creator of character Tenida
- Samaresh Majumdar, writer, creator of the Animesh Trilogy
- Taslima Nasrin (b. 1962) - novelist
- Shamsur Rahman (1929–2006) - poet
- Dwijendralal Ray (1863–1913) - playwright, poet
- Annadashankar Roy (1905–2002) - novelist, essayist, poet
- Arundhati Roy, novelist, essayist
- Samir Roychoudhury (1933-) -poet, novelist, short story writer and philosopher
- Nares Chandra Sen-Gupta (1882–1964) - novelist, legal scholar.
- Jasim Uddin (1903–1976) - poet, novelist, essayist
- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (born Chitralekha Banerjee) - author, poet
- Subhash Mukhopadhyay (poet), Bengali poet
- Bharati Mukherjee, author, educator
- Mallika Sengupta, Bengali poet, feminist, and reader of Sociology from Kolkata
- Humayun Ahmed (b. 1948) - novelist
- Alaol (1607–1680) - poet of medieval era
- Monica Ali, (b. 1954) - novelist
- Syed Mujtaba Ali (1904–1974) - novelist, essayist
- Upamanyu Chatterjee, Author and administrator, notable for his work set in the milieu of the Indian Administrative Service, especially his novel English August
- Subodh Sarkar, poet
- Narayan Sanyal, writer of modern Bengali literature
- Sasthi Brata, Fiction writer, based in UK
- Sanjeev Chattopadhyay, Bengali fiction writer
- Aroup Chatterjee, physician, author of the book Mother Teresa: The Final Verdict
- Rimi B. Chatterjee, novelist, short story writer based in Calcutta won the SHARP deLong Prize for 2007
- Binoy Majumdar, poet, Sahitya Akademi Award in 2005,
- Srijato, won Ananda Puroskar in 2004 for his book Udaranta Sawb Joker: All Those Flying Jokers
- Tanika Gupta, playwright, appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2008
- Sake Dean Mahomed, first Indian write a book in the English language
- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Her novel, The Mistress of Spices, was released as a film in 2005
- Syed Mustafa Siraj, eminent poet, novelist, short story writer Sahitya Akademi awardee
- Malay Roy Choudhury, Bengali poet and novelist who founded the "Hungryalist Movement" in the 1960s
- Arun Mitra, poet
- Prabir Ghosh, head of the Science and Rationalists’ Association of India,author.
- Moti Nandi, novelist
- Suniti Kumar Chatterji, linguist, educator
- Kamal Kumar Majumdar, novelist, short story writer
Journalists
- Fareena Alam, named Media Professional of the Year by Islamic Relief and was named Media Professional of the Year at the Asian Women of Achievement Awards
- Mihir Bose, was the BBC's head sports editor.
- Reeta Chakrabarti, A political correspondent for the BBC Television's Breakfast programme shown on BBC One and the BBC News Channel.
- Sunanda K. Datta-Ray, famous journalist
- Sourendra Kumar Das, Fashion Editor, FashionFad.In, International Fashion Portal
- Sumi Das, former host on TechTV and MSNBC reporter
- Swapan Dasgupta, journalist
- Mo Dutta, TV presenter for BBC Radio 2, BBC Asian Network, BBC Radio Kent.
- Bobby Ghosh, (Aparisim Ghosh) Journalist, TIME Magazine World Editor
- Pallab Ghosh, BBC News science reporter
- Shiulie Ghosh, Television journalist
- Sagarika Ghose, editor in CNN-IBN
- Mainul Hosein, chairman of the editorial board of the Daily Ittefaq, the largest daily Bengali news publication in Bangladesh
- Nina Hossain, British television news broadcaster
- Faisal Islam, won Wincott Award and Broadcast News Journalism Award; was named Young Journalist of the Year, Channel4 News(UK).
- Chandan Mitra, editor and managing director of The Pioneer newspaper in Delhi.
- Harish Chandra Mukherjee, pioneer of nationalistic Hindu journalism and a reformer
- Udayan Mukherjee, editor and anchor in cnbc India
- Pritish Nandy, Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd
- Ayan Panja, an expert on Knowitalls, a new quiz show, shown recently[when?] on BBC Two.,a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
- Reihan Salam
- Samar Sen, journalist
- Barun Sengupta, political critic, the founder-editor of Bartaman newspaper.
- Vishnu Som, news anchor and journalist
- Prannoy Roy, Founder and President of NDTV, One of India's largest Television and Media Production house
- Dwarkanath Vidyabhusan, Scholar, editor and publisher of the trend-setting weekly Bengali newspaper Somprakash.