Famous people from Bangladesh
Here is a list of famous people from Bangladesh. Curious if anybody from Bangladesh made it our most famous people in the world list? Read the aformentioned article in order to find out.
Mithun Chakraborty
Actor
Gouranga Chakraborty, better known by his stage name Mithun Chakraborty is an Indian film actor, social worker, and entrepreneur, who has won three National Film Awards. He made his acting debut with the art house drama Mrigayaa, for which he won his first National Film Award for Best Actor. Chakraborty is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema. He gained fans as a dancing star and went on to establish himself as one of the all time top ten greatest and most popular actors of India, particularly recognized for his role as the street dancer Jimmy in the 1982 Bollywood movie Disco Dancer. He also attracted worldwide audiences, particularly in the former Soviet Union where he became a household name for his role in Disco Dancer. He later won two more National Film Awards for his performances in Tahader Katha & Swami Vivekananda. Chakraborty has appeared in about 350 films including Bengali, Oriya, Bhojpuri and Punjabi pictures. He owns the Monarch Group, which has interests in the hospitality sector and educational sector. He has also started the production house Paparatzy Productions Chakraborty is the Chairperson of Film Studios Setting & Allied Mazdoor Union which take care the welfare of cine workers and resolve their demands and problems. The Television show Dance India Dance where Mithun is the Grandmaster has already entered in Limca Book of Records and Guinness World Records Chakraborty played a crucial role of mediator between Pranab Mukherjee and Mamata Banerjee, winning the Congressman the support of the Trinamool chief in the 2012 presidential election. A comic book named Jimmy Zhingchak has been made based on Chakraborty.
Muhammad Yunus
Economist
Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi banker, economist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. As a professor of economics, he developed the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. These loans are given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. In 2006 Yunus and Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below". Yunus has received several other national and international honours. He was awarded the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal in 2010, and presented with it at a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on 17 April 2013. In 2008, he was rated #2 in Foreign Policy magazine's list of the 'Top 100 Global Thinkers'. In February 2011, Yunus together with Saskia Bruysten, Sophie Eisenmann and Hans Reitz co-founded Yunus Social Business - Global Initiatives. YSB creates and empowers social businesses to address and solve social problems around the world. As the international implementation arm for Yunus’ vision of a new, humane capitalism, YSB manges Incubator Funds for social businesses in developing countries and providing advisory services to companies, governments, foundations and NGOs.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Politician
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was a Bengali politician and statesman who was the founding leader of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League and served as the first President of Bangladesh, and later as Prime Minister. He is popularly referred to as Sheikh Mujib, with the honorary title of Bangabandhu, and widely revered in Bangladesh as the founding father of the nation. His eldest daughter, Sheikh Hasina, is the present leader of the Awami League and the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. As a student political leader, Mujib rose in Bengali politics as a charismatic and forceful orator. An advocate of socialism, he became popular for his opposition to the ethnic and institutional discrimination against Bengalis, who comprised the majority of Pakistan's population. He demanded increased provincial autonomy, and strongly opposed the military rule of Field Marshal Ayub Khan. At the heightening of sectional tensions, Mujib outlined a 6-point autonomy plan, which West Pakistan perceived as separatism. He was tried in 1968 for allegedly conspiring with the Indian government but was acquitted. Despite leading his party to a major victory in the 1970 elections, Mujib was not invited to form the government. On March 26, 1971, he was arrested by the Pakistan Army in the early hours of Operation Searchlight. During his nine-month detention, guerrilla war erupted between Pakistan Army and Bengali nationalists. An all-out war between the Pakistan Army and Bangladesh-India Allied Forces led to the liberation of Bangladesh and its founding as an independent nation in 1971.
Sri Chinmoy
Poet
Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, better known as Sri Chinmoy, was an Indian guru who taught meditation in the West after moving to New York City in 1964. A prolific author, artist, poet, and musician, he also held public events such as concerts and meditations on the theme of inner peace. Chinmoy also advocated athleticism to achieve spiritual enlightenment, including distance running, swimming, and weightlifting. He organized marathons and other races, and was an active runner and, following a knee injury, weightlifter.
Shakib Al Hasan
Cricket Bowler
Shakib Al Hasan is a Bangladeshi international cricketer. He is an all-rounder batting left-handed in the middle order and bowling slow left-arm orthodox. He is currently placed 2nd at Reliance ICC Test & ODI Championship All-Rounder Rankings and 4th at Reliance ICC T20I All-Rounder Rankings. He represented Bangladesh at under-19 level playing 18 Youth One Day Internationals between 2005 and 2006. Shakib made his One Day International debut against Zimbabwe in August 2006, and his Test debut the following May against India. During a match against New Zealand in 2008, Shakib took the best bowling figures by a Bangladesh player in Tests, 7 wickets for 36 runs. From January 2009 to April 2011 and again from March 2012, Shakib was ranked first amongst ODI all-rounders by the ICC. In December 2011, he became the world's top-ranked Test all-rounder. Shakib was appointed Bangladesh's vice-captain in June 2009. During Bangladesh's tour of the West Indies the following month, the captain Mashrafe Mortaza was injured and Shakib took over the captaincy. He was 22 years old at the time. Initially a temporary position, Shakib's success against the West Indies, securing his side's first overseas series win, ensured his retention of captaincy even after Mortaza recovered. Shakib was named The Wisden Cricketer's "Test Player of the Year" in November 2009. In July 2010, he stepped down from the ODI captaincy to concentrate on his personal performance. Mortaza took over until he became injured again and Shakib was asked to resume leadership. This lasted until he was relieved of captaincy in September 2011. Shakib is Bangladesh's highest wicket taker in test matches. He is considered to be the best cricketer Bangladesh has ever produced.
Taslima Nasrin
Poet
Taslima Nasrin, born 25 August 1962, is a Bengali author and former physician who has lived in exile since 1994. From a modest literary profile in the late 1980s, she rose to global fame by the end of the 20th century owing to her feminist views and her criticism of Islam in particular and of religion in general. Since leaving Bangladesh in 1994 on account of threat calls, she has lived in many countries; as of June 2011 she lives in New Delhi. She works to build support for secular humanism, freedom of thought, equality for women, and human rights by publishing, lecturing, and campaigning.
Shakib Khan
Actor
Shakib Khan is a Bangladeshi film actor. His original name is Masud Rana. Shakib made his debut film in Shohanur Rahaman Sohan's “Annotho Bhalobasha”; though it did not grant him wide fame. After few years Khan established himself as one of the most successful and highest paid actors in Bangladesh film history. Throughout his career, Khan has received various awards and acclamations, including a couple of National Film Awards for Best Actor Bhalobaslei Ghor Bandha Jay Na and Khodar Pore Ma.
Sheikh Hasina
Politician
Sheikh Hasina, has been Prime Minister of Bangladesh since 2009; she also served in that position from 1996 to 2001. Hasina has led the Bangladesh Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father and first President of Bangladesh, and widow of M. A. Wazed Miah, a nuclear scientist. Hasina's party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary election, assuring her of the post of prime minister. Hasina's political career has spanned more than four decades during which she has been both Prime Minister and opposition leader. As opposition leader, she was the target of an assassination attempt in 2004. In 2007, she was arrested for corruption and charged with murder by the military-backed Caretaker Government during the 2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis, when the generals imposed a state of emergency. She returned as Prime Minister after a landslide victory for the Awami League-led Grand Alliance in 2008, when they took two-thirds of the seats in parliament.
S.D. Burman
Film score Artist
Sachin Dev Burman was an Indian music composer. He was one of the most well-renowned Bollywood music directors. S D Burman composed music for 100 movies, including Hindi and Bengali films. Apart from being a versatile composer, he also sang songs in the folk style of Tripura. His Son Rahul Dev Burman was also a music director. S.D. Burman's compositions have been mainly sung to a large extent by the likes of Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhosle and Shamshad Begum. Mukesh and Talat Mahmood have also sung songs composed by him. He also sang about 20 film songs.
Ritwik Ghatak
Film Director
Ritwik Ghatak was a Bengali Indian filmmaker and script writer. Along with prominent contemporary Bengali filmmakers Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen, his cinema is primarily remembered for its meticulous depiction of social reality. Although their roles were often adversarial, they were ardent admirers of each other's work and, in doing so, the three directors charted the independent trajectory of parallel cinema, as a counterpoint to the mainstream fare of Hindi cinema in India. Ghatak received many awards in his career, including National Film Award's Rajat Kamal Award for Best Story in 1974 for his Jukti Takko Aar Gappo and Best Director's Award from Bangladesh Cine Journalist's Association for Titash Ekti Nadir Naam. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for Arts in 1970.
Utpal Dutt
Actor
Utpal Dutta was an Indian actor, director, and writer-playwright. He was primarily an actor in Bengali theatre, where he became a pioneering figure in Modern Indian theatre, when he founded the 'Little Theater Group' in 1947, which enacted many English, Shakespearean and Brecht plays, in a period now known as the 'Epic theater' period, before immersing itself completely in highly political and radical theatre. His plays became apt vehicle of the expression for his Marxist ideologies, visible in socio-political plays like, Kallol, Manusher Adhikar, Louha Manob, Tiner Toloar and Maha-Bidroha. He also acted over 100 Bengali and Hindi films in his career spanning 40 years, and remains most known for his roles in films like Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome, Satyajit Ray’s Agantuk, Gautam Ghose’s Padma Nadir Majhi and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's breezy comedies such as Gol Maal and Rang Birangi. He received National Film Award for Best Actor in 1970 and three Filmfare Best Comedian Awards. In 1990, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Theatre, awarded him its highest award the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime contribution to theatre.
Mohammad Ashraful
Cricket Bowler
Mohammad Ashraful is a Bangladeshi international cricket player and has represented the Bangladesh national cricket team. A top-order batsman with a penchant for flashy strokeplay, he has also been selected to represent ACC Asia XI ODI side. Between 2007 and 2009, Ashraful captained his country in 13 Tests, losing all but one which ended in a draw, and 38 One Day Internationals of which Bangladesh won eight. Ashraful scored the fastest fifty in the test among any batsman of the world and scored the fastest fifty in the ODI and twenty20 international among any Bangladeshi batsman. Ashraful is Bangladesh's second-highest run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs. When not playing with the national team, Ashraful plays domestic cricket for the Dhaka Division cricket team in Bangladesh's domestic one-day and first-class competitions, captaining both sides on occasion.
Mrinal Sen
Film Director
Mrinal Sen is a renowned Bengali filmmaker based in Kolkata. Along with his contemporaries Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak, he is often considered to be one of the greatest ambassadors of Indian parallel cinema on the global stage. Like the works of Ray and Ghatak, his cinema is known for its artistic depiction of social reality. Although the three directors shared a healthy rivalry, they were ardent admirers of each other's work, and in so doing, they charted the independent trajectory of parallel cinema, as a counterpoint to the mainstream fare of Hindi cinema in India.
Ali Akbar Khan
Hindustani classical Artist
Ali Akbar Khan, often referred to as Khansahib or by the title Ustad, was a Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Khan was instrumental in popularizing Indian classical music in the West, both as a performer, and as a teacher. He established a music school in Calcutta in 1956, and the Ali Akbar College of Music in 1967, which is now located in San Rafael, California and has a branch in Basel, Switzerland. Khan also composed several classical ragas and film scores. He was a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Music at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Trained as a musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, Khan first came to America in 1955 on the invitation of violinist Yehudi Menuhin and later settled in California. Khan was nominated for five Grammy Awards and was accorded India's second highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan, in 1989. He has also won a MacArthur Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Arts's National Heritage Fellowship.
Humayun Ahmed
Novelist
Humayun Ahmed was a Bangladeshi author, dramatist, screenwriter, playwright and filmmaker. Dawn referred to him as the cultural legend of Bangladesh. Humayun reached peak of his fame with the publication of his novel Nondito Noroke in 1972, which remains one of his most famous works, winning admiration from literary critics, including Dr. Ahmed Sarif. He wrote over 200 fiction and non-fiction books, all of which were bestsellers in Bangladesh. In recognition to the works of Humayun, Times of India wrote Humayun was a custodian of the Bangladeshi literary culture whose contribution single-handedly shifted the capital of Bengali literature from Kolkata to Dhaka without any war or revolution. Ahmed's writing style was characterized as magic realism. Sunil Ganguly described him as the most popular writer in the Bengali language for a century and according to him, Ahmed was even more popular than Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Ahmed's books have been the top sellers at the Ekushey Book Fair during the 1990s and 2000s.
William Beveridge
Economist
William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge KCB was a British economist and social reformer. He is best known for his 1942 report Social Insurance and Allied Services which served as the basis for the post-World War II welfare state put in place by the Labour government elected in 1945. Lord Beveridge, considered an authority on unemployment insurance from early in his career, served under Winston Churchill on the Board of Trade as Director of the newly created labour exchanges and later as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Food. He was Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1919 until 1937, when he was elected Master of University College, Oxford. Beveridge published widely on unemployment and social security, his most notable works being: Unemployment: A Problem of Industry, Planning Under Socialism, Full Employment in a Free Society, Pillars of Security, Power and Influence, and A Defence of Free Learning.
Charles Sturt
Author
Captain Charles Napier Sturt was a British explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide. His expeditions traced several of the westward-flowing rivers, establishing that they all merged into the Murray River. He was searching to determine if there was an "inland sea".
Ziaur Rahman
Politician
Ziaur Rahman, Bir Uttam, a career military officer He formed and was commander of the Central Sector, BDF Sector 11, during the nations war of independence in 1971. Later turned politician, he formed one of the largest political parties, the BNP, and became the seventh President of Bangladesh in 1977. During the independence war in 1971, he was first sector commander of BDF Sector 1, before being posted to Teldhala. Later in August, he organised a separate unit, Z Force, after his first initial, and commanded it along with Sector 11 until October 10, 1971. A highly decorated and accomplished military officer, he was awarded Bir Uttom, the highest gallantry award for a living officer for his wartime services, and retired from the Bangladesh Army as a Lieutenant General. He later became the seventh President of Bangladesh from 1977 until 1981. During his administration, he founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, one of the two largest political parties in the country. He is popularly known as Shaheed President Zia, meaning "martyred Zia," in reference to his 1981 assassination. He personally informed Mujibur Rahman about the problems in military ranks, morale and allegiance,.
Tamim Iqbal
Cricket Bowler
Tamim Iqbal Khan, is a Bangladeshi cricketer. Tamim made his One Day International debut in 2007 and played his first Test the following year. He is left-handed opening batsman. Between December 2010 and September 2011 he was vice-captain of the national side. In 2011 he was named as one of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack's four Cricketers of the Year, and Wisden's Test Player of the Year, becoming just the second Bangladesh player to be awarded the accolade. He plays first-class cricket for Chittagong Division cricket team. Tamim Iqbal is the brother of Nafees Iqbal and the nephew of Akram Khan, who both played Test cricket for Bangladesh. He is currently the highest run scorer for Bangladesh in T20 international. He was named an international elite player for the inaugural Caribbean Premier League in 2013.
Suchitra Sen
Actor
Suchitra Sen or Rama Dasgupta, is an Indian actress who acted in several Bengali films. In particular, the movies in which she paired opposite another legend in Bengali films, Uttam Kumar, became classics in the history of Bengali cinema. She now lives a life of a recluse rarely making any public appearances. When she left movies, she was slowly but steadily losing the position of leading lady of Bengali silver screen. She is the first Bengali actress to be awarded in an international film festival. Notably, she allegedly refused the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2005, preferring to live in seclusion out of the public eye. In 2012, Sen was conferred West Bengal government`s highest award Banga Bibhushan.
Geeta Dutt
Singer
Geetā Dutt born Geetā Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri was a prominent singer in India, born in Faridpur before the Partition of India. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema. She also sang many modern Bengali songs.
Sunil Gangopadhyaya
Novelist
Sunil Gangopadhyay or Sunil Ganguly, was an Indian poet and novelist. Born in Faridpur, Bangladesh, Gangopadhyay obtained his Master's degree in Bengali from the University of Calcutta, In 1953 he with few of his friends started a Bengali poetry magazine Krittibas. Later he wrote for many different publications. Ganguly created the Bengali fictional character Kakababu and wrote a series of novels on this character which became significant in Indian children's literature. He received Sahitya Akademi award in 1985 for his novel Those Days. Gangopadhyay used the pen names Nil Lohit, Sanatan Pathak, and Nil Upadhyay.
Ghulam Azam
Politician
Ghulam Azam is a convicted war criminal of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and a retired Islamist political leader. He was the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh until 2000. Azam opposed the independence of Bangladesh during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. On 15 July 2013 the International Crimes Tribunal found Azam guilty of war crimes such as conspiring, planning, incitement to and complicity in committing genocide and gave him a 90-year prison sentence. The judges unanimously agreed that Azam deserved capital punishment for his activity during Liberation war of Bangladesh but was given a lenient punishment because of his age and health condition. As a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, he lead to form the controversial Peace or Shanti Committees which were formed at the time of the Liberation War alongside other pro-Pakistan Bengali leaders. Azam is accused of forming paramilitary groups for the Pakistani Army, including Razakars, and Al-Badr. These militias opposed the Mukti Bahini revolutionaries who fought for the independence of Bangladesh, and also stand accused of war crimes. Azam's citizenship of Bangladesh had been cancelled by the Bangladeshi Government because of his role during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He lived in Bangladesh illegally without any authorised Bangladeshi visa from 1978 to 1994.
Purnima
Actor
Purnima is a Bangladeshi film actress. She is very nice Bengali actress and also well-liked Bangladeshi heroine. Purnima’s nickname is Rita. Purnima's Debut film was E Jibon Tomar Amar released on 1997. She was discovered by director Zakir Hossain.
Mahasweta Devi
Playwright
Mahasweta Devi is an Indian social activist and writer.
Shabnur
Actor
Shabnur is an famous Bengali actress of Bangladeshi film industry. Shabnur is the most popular, beautiful and successful Bangladeshi film actress who made her debut in film career with acting in ‘Chaandni Raatain”. However, her commercial successful movie was Tomakey Chai with co-actor Salman Shah in 1994. She started acting with Riaz and Shakil Khan after Salman Shah’s death. She has been acting with most of the hero of Bangladesh such as Manna, Amin Khan, Ferdous and Shakib Khan. Her real name is Nupur.
Asit Sen
Actor
Asit Sen was an Indian film director, cinematographer and screenwriter, who worked both in Bengali and Hindi cinema. He was born in Dhaka now in modern day Bangladesh when it was part of East Bengal in British India. He directed 17 feature films in Hindi and Bengali, most known for films, Deep Jweley Jai and Uttar Falguni in Bengali, Mamta, Khamoshi, Anokhi Raat and Safar in Hindi.
Anandamayi Ma
Deceased Person
Sri Anandamayi Ma was an Indian saint from Bengal. Swami Sivananda described her as "the most perfect flower the Indian soil has produced." Precognition, healing and other miracles were attributed to her by her followers. Paramhansa Yogananda translates Anandamayi as "joy-permeated". This name was given to her by her devotees in the 1920s to describe what they saw as her habitual state of divine joy and bliss.
Mushfiqur Rahim
Cricket Bowler
Mohammad Mushfiqur Rahim is a Bangladeshi cricketer and was the captain of the national team until May 2013. He made his Test debut in 2005, at the age of 16, during Bangladesh's first tour of England and the next year played his first One Day International. Between August 2009 and December 2010 Rahim served as Bangladesh's vice-captain. Standing 5 feet 3 inches tall, he specialises as a wicket-keeper and is a lower-order batsman. At domestic level he represents Rajshahi Division and captains Sylhet Royals. He scored the first double hundred in the history of Bangladesh in Test cricket on 11 March against Sri Lanka, 2013. He got out exactly on 200 facing 321 balls hitting 22 fours and 1 six.
Runa Laila
Ghazal Artist
Runa Laila is a Bangladeshi singer who started her career from Pakistan film industry and sings in Ghazals also. She made a pair with singer Ahmed Rushdi after replacing Mala. She also has done playbacks for movies in Bangladesh, India and Pakistani film industries during late 60s, 70s, and the early 80's. Her best known number is Dama Dam Mast Qalandar.
Jibanananda Das
Poet
Jibanananda Das was a Bengali poet, writer, novelist and essayist. Dimly recognised during his lifetime, today Das is acknowledged as “the premier poet of the post-Tagore era in India" and Bangladesh. One of his translators, Clinton B. Seely, is among those who consider Jibananda Das as "Bengal's greatest modern poet" and its "best loved poet" too. Author and literary critic Amit Chaudhuri concurs, describing Das's writing with admiration: "The poems are now part of the Bengali consciousness, on both sides of the border dividing India from what was Pakistan and is now Bangladesh; it's safe to claim that Das is the pre-eminent and best loved Bengali poet after Tagore." For the poets in the latter half of the twentieth century Das "has practically come to take place of Tagore". Das's oeuvre is eclectic and resists classification under any single heading or school. Das wrote ceaselessly, but as he was an introvert and the “most alone of [Bengali] poets”, he felt "compelled to suppress some of his most important writings or to locate them in a secret life". During his lifetime, only seven volumes of his poems were published. After his death, it was discovered that apart from poems Das wrote several novels and a large number of short stories. His unpublished works are still being published. Das died on 22 October 1954; eight days after he was hit by a tramcar. The witnesses said that though the tramcar whistled, he did not stop and got struck. Some deem the accident as an attempt at suicide.
Monica Ali
Novelist
Monica Ali is a Bangladeshi-born British writer and novelist. In 2003 she was selected as one of the "Best of Young British Novelists" by Granta magazine based on her unpublished manuscript; her debut novel, Brick Lane, was published later that year. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. It was adapted as a 2007 film of the same name. She has published three additional novels.
Bagha Jatin
Deceased Person
Bagha Jatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee was an Bengali revolutionary philosopher against British rule. He was the principal leader of the Yugantar party that was the central association of revolutionaries in Bengal. Having personally met the German Crown-Prince in Calcutta shortly before World War I, he obtained the promise of arms and ammunition from Germany; as such, he was responsible for the planned German Plot during World War I. Another of his original contributions was the indoctrination of the Indian soldiers in various regiments in favour of an insurrection. In 1925, Gandhi told Tegart that Jatin Mukherjee, generally referred to as “Bagha Jatin”, was “a divine personality”. Little did he know that Tegart had once told his colleagues that if Jatin were an Englishman, then the English people would have built his statue next to Nelson’s at Trafalgar Square. In his note to J.E. Francis of the India Office in 1926, he described Bengali revolutionaries as “the most selfless political workers in India”. Jatin was born to Sharatshashi and Umeshchandra Mukherjee in Kayagram, a village in the Kushtia subdivision of Nadia district in what is now West Bengal. He grew up in his ancestral home at Sadhuhati, P.S. Rishkhali Jhenaidah until his father's death when Jatin was five years old. Well versed in Brahmanic studies, his father liked horses and was respected for the strength of his character. Sharatshashi settled in her parents' home in Kayagram with her husband and his elder sister Benodebala. A gifted poet, she was affectionate and stern in her method of raising her children. Familiar with the essays by contemporary thought leaders like Bankimchandra Chatterjee and Yogendra Vidyabhushan, she was aware of the social and political transformations of her times. Her brother Basantakumar Chatterjee taught and practised law, and counted among his clients the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Since the age of 14, Tagore had claimed in meetings organised by his family members equal rights for Indian citizens inside railway carriages and in public places. As Jatin grew older, he gained a reputation for physical bravery and great strength; charitable and cheerful by nature, he was fond of caricature and enacting mythological plays, himself playing the roles of god-loving characters like Prahlad, Dhruva, Hanuman, Râja Harish Chandra. He not only encouraged several playwrights to produce patriotic pieces for the urban stage, but also engaged village bards to spread nationalist fervour in the countryside. Jatin had a natural respect for the human creature, heedless of class or caste or religions. He carried for an aged Muslim villager a heavy bundle of fodder and, on reaching her hut, he shared with her the only platter of rice she had, and sent her some money every month.
Antara Biswas
Actor
Antara Biswas is an Indian actress. She has done over 50 Bhojpuri films, and has also appeared in Hindi, Bengali, Oriya, Tamil and Telugu films.
Meghnad Saha
Physicist
Meghnad Saha FRS was an Indian astrophysicist best known for his development of the Saha equation, used to describe chemical and physical conditions in stars.
Michael Madhusudan Dutt
Playwright
Michael Madhusudan Dutt, or Michael Madhusudan Dutta was a popular 19th-century Bengali poet and dramatist. He was born in Sagordari, on the bank of Kopotaksho River, a village in Keshabpur Upazila, Jessore District, East Bengal. His father was Rajnarayan Dutt, an eminent lawyer, and his mother was Jahnabi Devi. He was a pioneer of Bengali drama. His famous work Meghnad Bodh Kavya, is a tragic epic. It consists of nine cantos and is exceptional in Bengali literature both in terms of style and content. He also wrote poems about the sorrows and afflictions of love as spoken by women. From an early age, Dutt aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Born to a Hindu landed-gentry family, he converted to Christianity as a young man, to the ire of his family, and adopted the first name Michael. In later life he regretted his attraction to England and the Occident. He wrote ardently of his homeland in his poems and sonnets from this period. Dutt is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature and the father of the Bengali sonnet. He pioneered what came to be called amitrakshar chhanda. Dutt died in Kolkata, India on 29 June 1873.
Bipin Chandra Pal
Politician
Bipin Chandra Pal was an Indian nationalist. He was among the triumvirate of Lal Bal Pal.
Fazlur Khan
Structural engineer
Fazlur Rahman Khan was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated structural systems that form the basis of tall building construction today. Considered the Father of tubular designs for high-rises, Khan became an icon in both architecture and structural engineering. He was also a pioneer in the use of computers for design and engineering. He is the designer of Willis Tower – the 2nd tallest building in the United States and John Hancock Center, a 100-story tall building, both in Chicago, Illinois. He also designed structures that are not high rises such as the Hajj Terminal and helped in initiating the widespread usage of computers for structural engineering. Khan, more than any other individual, ushered in a renaissance in skyscraper construction during the second half of the twentieth century and made it possible for people to live and work in "cities in the sky". Khan in his short life created a legacy of innovations that is without peer and left an unprecedented and lasting influence on the profession, both nationally and internationally. He has been called the "Einstein of structural engineering" and the Greatest Structural Engineer of the 20th Century for his innovative use of structural systems that remain fundamental to modern skyscraper construction. CTBUH named an award after him called Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal. Khan's seminal work of developing tall building structural systems are still used today as starting point when considering design options for tall buildings.
Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay
Novelist
Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay was an Indian Bengali author and one of the leading writers of modern Bengali literature. His best known work is the autobiographical novel, Pather Panchali, which was later adapted into the Apu Trilogy films, directed by Satyajit Ray. The 1951 Rabindra Puraskar, the most prestigious literary award in the West Bengal state of India, was posthumously awarded to Bibhutibhushan for his novel, Ichhamati.
Jahid Hasan Ameli
Footballer
Mohamed Jahid Hasan Ameli is a Bangladeshi international footballer who plays as a striker for Sheikh Russel KC.
Delwar Hossain Sayeedi
Politician
Delwar Hossain Sayeedi is a Bangladeshi Islamist politician and Muslim cleric convicted of war crimes during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. He was an elected member of the National Assembly of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2008. He is the Nayeb-e-Ameer or the Vice President of Jamaat-e-Islami. The International Crimes Tribunal found Sayeedi guilty in 8 of the 20 charges, including mass killing, rape, arson, looting and forcing minority Hindus to convert to Islam during 1971. On 28 February 2013, the tribunal sentenced him to death by hanging for two charges among the eight committed during the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh. The tribunal has been criticized as well as supported by international observers. In 2004 Sayeedi was included in the No Fly List maintained by United States government's Terrorist Screening Center. He has made speeches against the western world in the aftermath of the US-UK combined attack on Afganistan in 2001 to unseat the Taliban. He was also criticized for his comments on journalists who published reports about his activities in 1971, which were seen as threatening press freedom.
Riaz Uddin Ahamed Siddique
Actor
Riaz Uddin Ahamed Siddique is a Bangladeshi film actor, model and television host.
Prafulla Chandra Ray
Chemist
Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray was an Indian chemist, educator and entrepreneur. The Royal Society of Chemistry honoured his life and work with the first ever Chemical Landmark Plaque outside Europe. He was the founder of Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, India's first pharmaceutical company. He is the author of A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of Sixteenth Century.
Mashrafe Mortaza
Cricket Bowler
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is a Bangladeshi cricketer and former captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He broke into the national side in late 2001 against Zimbabwe and represented Bangladesh before having played a single first-class match. Mortaza captained his country in one Test and seven One Day Internationals between 2009 and 2010, however injury meant he was in and out of the side and Shakib Al Hasan was appointed captain in Mortaza's absence. Mortaza is considered one of the fastest bowlers produced by Bangladesh, usually bowling in the mid-80s mph, and regularly opens the bowling. He is a useful lower-middle order batsman, with a first-class century and three Test half centuries to his name. Mortaza's career has been hampered by injuries and he has undergone a total of ten operations on his knees and ankles. He was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2009 Indian Premier League; although KKR paid US$600,000 for Mortaza, he played just one match for them, in which he went for 58 runs in 4 overs. Due to his international commitments, Mortaza has infrequently played for Khulna Division in Bangladesh's domestic cricket competitions. While he has represented Bangladesh 36 times in Tests and in 124 ODIs between 2001 and 2012 he has played only 11 first-class and 9 list A matches for Khulna Division in the same period. In 2012 he joined the Dhaka Gladiators in the newly formed Bangladesh Premier League twenty20 competition and captained them to the tournament title.
Allauddin Khan
Hindustani classical Artist
Allauddin Khan was a Bengali sarodiya and multi-instrumentalist, composer and one of the most renowned music teachers of the 20th century in Indian classical music. In 1935, he toured Europe, along with Uday Shankar's ballet troupe, and later also worked at his institute, 'Uday Shankar India Culture Centre' at Almora for a while. During his lifetime, he composed several ragas and laid the foundation of a modern Maihar gharana. Amongst his recordings which are rare, the most important ones are those he recorded with the All India Radio in 1959-60. He was the father of sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi, and the uncle of Raja Hossain Khan, as well as the guru of Ravi Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, Vasant Rai, Pannalal Ghosh, Bahadur Khan, Sharan Rani, Jyotin Bhattacharya and other influential musicians. He himself was a disciple of many great musicians, including Gopal Chandra Banerjee, Lobo, Munne Khan, and most importantly after a lot of struggle managed to become a shagird of the legendary Veena player, Wazir Khan of Rampur. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour in 1971, and prior to that in 1954, the Sangeet Natak Akademi awarded him with its highest honour, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime contribution to Indian music.
Joya Ahsan
Actor
Jaya Ahsan is a Bangladeshi model and actress. She received The National Film Award of Bangladesh for second time. Ahsan received her first National Film Award for her performance in the film Guerrilla which has earned her national and international recognition and she won best actress award at the 11th Dhaka International Film Award 2012. She Won the Best Actress Award in National Film Awards 2013 for her performance in Chorabali. Ahsan has received numerous Awards and International Recognition, and has established herself as one of Bangladesh's most high-profile celebrities.
Shabnam
Actor
Shabnam Persian: شبنم, is an Bangladeshi stage and film actress. Actor Waheed Murad introduced her to Pakistani film industry by offering her a lead role in his film Samundar in 1968. Shabnam remained active in Lollywood in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s . Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh formerly East Pakistan, she was considered a versatile, romantic and most popular actress in both West Pakistan and East Pakistan in her time.
Irene Khan
Organization leader
Irene Zubaida Khan is a Bangladeshi international human rights activist based in the United Kingdom. She was the seventh Secretary General of Amnesty International until her resignation on 31 December 2009. She was appointed as a member of the Charity Commission of England and Wales on 1 January 2010 but resigned after a controversy over post-retirement payments she received from Amnesty International. Khan joined The Daily Star, a Bangladeshi newspaper, as consulting editor on 15 May 2010. Since 2009, she has served as the Chancellor of the University of Salford. On 17 November 2011, she was elected as the Director-General of the International Development Law Organization, an intergovernmental organization based in Rome, Italy.
Ajmal Masroor
Politician
Ajmal Masroor is a Bangladeshi-born British Imam, broadcaster and politician. He is well known for being a television presenter on political discussions and on Muslim channels.
Zillur Rahman
Politician
Mohammed Zillur Rahman was the 19th President of Bangladesh from 2009 to 2013. He was also a senior presidium member of the Awami League. In 2009, Rahman was elected to the presidency by parliament in an uncontested vote; the Awami League had won the vast majority of seats in the 2008 parliamentary election. He is the third president of Bangladesh, after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman, to die in office, while being the first to die of natural causes.
Dino Shafeek
Actor
Dino Shafeek was a Bangladeshi actor and comedian based in the United Kingdom and the star or co-star of several popular English TV comedies during the 1970s and early 1980s. He is best remembered for playing the part of Char Wallah Muhammed in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum as well as the role of Ali Nadim in ITV sitcom Mind Your Language.
Khawaja Nazimuddin
Politician
Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin, KCIE was one of the notable Bengali Founding Fathers of the modern state of Pakistan, career statesman from East Pakistan, serving as the second Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 until the assassination of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951. Afterwards, Nazimuddin took the office of Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the second prime minister and first Bengali prime minister of the country. His government lasted only two years, but saw civil unrest and foreign challenges that led to their final dismissal. In response to the 1953 Lahore riots, Nazimuddin was the first to declare martial law in Punjab, under Major-General Azam Khan and Colonel Rahimuddin Khan, initiating a massive repression of the right-wing sphere in the country. His short tenure also saw the quick rise of socialism in West Pakistan after failing to enforce the reduced expenditure programme to alleviate poverty, and failed to counter the Awami League in East Pakistan after the successful demonstration of the Bengali Language Movement – in both states the Muslim league was diminished. Foreign relations with the United States, the Soviet Union and India gradually declined, and anti-Pakistan sentiment persisted in those countries.
Suman Kalyanpur
Indian classical Artist
Suman Kalyanpur is an Indian singer. She was born on January 28, 1937 in Dhaka, British India. In 1943, her family moved to Mumbai, where she received her musical training. She is married to Ramanand S. Kalyanpur.
Nirad C. Chaudhuri
Author
Nirad C. Chaudhuri was a Bengali−English writer and cultural commentator. He was born in 1897 in Kishoreganj, which today is part of Bangladesh but at that time was part of Bengal, a region of British India. He is known for his hostility to Islam and Hindu extremist ideology. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1975 for his biography on Max Müller called Scholar Extraordinary, by the Sahitya Akademi, India's national academy of letters. In 1992, he was honoured by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom with the title of Commander of Order of the British Empire. His 1965 work The Continent of Circe earned him the Duff Cooper Memorial Award, becoming the first and only Indian to be selected for the prize.
Shomi Patwary
Man
Mahfuzur "Shomi" Patwary is a Bengali born American designer, photographer, music video director, and co-founder of the creative collective Illusive Media based out of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Tareque Masud
Film Director
Tareque Masud was a Bangladeshi independent film director, film producer, screenwriter and lyricist. He first found success with the films Muktir Gaan and Matir Moina, for which he won three international awards, including the International Critics' FIPRESCI Prize, in the Directors' Fortnight section outside competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. The film became Bangladesh's first film to compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He died in a road accident on 13 August 2011 while returning to Dhaka from Manikganj on the Dhaka-Aricha highway after visiting a filming location. The cinematographer Mishuk Munier, his long-time director of photography, was also killed in the accident. Masud was working on Kagojer Phool. In 2012, he received Ekushey Padak, the highest civilian award of Bangladesh posthumously. In 2013, New York University Asian/Pacific/American Institute, and South Asia Solidarity Initiative, hosted the first North American retrospective of his films.
Abdul Hamid
Politician
Abdul Hamid is a Bangladeshi politician who has been President of Bangladesh since 2013. Previously he served as the Speaker of the National Parliament from 25 January 2009 to 24 April 2013. He was the acting President after the death of Zillur Rahman in March 2013.
Surya Sen
Person Or Being In Fiction
Surya Sen was a Bengali freedom fighter who is noted for leading the 1930 Chittagong armoury raid In Chittagong of Bengal in British India. Sen was a school teacher by profession and was popularly called as Master Da. He was influenced by the nationalist ideals in 1916, when he was a student of B.A. in Behrampore College. In 1918 he was selected as president of Indian National Congress, Chittagong branch. A film named Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey was made on the life of Surya Sen directed by Ashutosh Gowariker.
Monica Yunus
Opera singer
Monica Yunus is an American operatic soprano who has performed with many opera companies and music ensembles. Reviewers from US dailies, The New York Times, the Charleston City Paper and the Palm Beach Daily News have described her voice as -- "especially winning", "utterly captivating" and "a voice destined for super-stardom" respectively. Her voice's performance range lies from a low A to a high F.
Habib
Pop Artist
Habib Wahid is a Bangladeshi composer and musician. He is notable for his fusion of traditional Bengali folk music with contemporary techno and urban beats. His music is mainly influenced by British Bangladeshis, while he was living there as a student. He takes folk music and remixes with popular music forms. He remixes songs of composers like Hason Raja, Shah Abdul Karim, Amir Uddin and others with the tunes with hip-hop, reggae, rap and electronica.
Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain
Author
Roquia Sakhawat Hussain, was a prolific writer and a social worker in undivided Bengal in the early 20th century. She is most famous for her efforts on behalf of gender equality and other social issues. She established the first school aimed primarily at Muslim girls, which still exists today. She was a notable Muslim feminist; modern feminist writers such as Taslima Nasrin cite her as an influence. Begum Rokeya also wrote short stories and novels. Her important books are Sultana's Dream and Padmarag.
Moushumi
Actor
Arifa Parvin Moushumi is a Bangladeshi film actress and director, who was given the National Film Award for Meghla Akash. She has acted in over 150 films and made her directorial debut with Kokhono Megh Kokhono Brishti.
Nasir Hossain
Cricket Bowler
Nasir Hossain is a Bangladeshi cricketer. An all-rounder, Hossain made his One Day International debut in August 2011 against Zimbabwe; two months later he made his Test debut against the West Indies. At domestic level he has represented Barisal Division, Chittagong Division, and Rajshahi Division. He grew up in Bogra, Bangladesh.
Sajeeb Wazed
Politician
Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, also known as Sajeeb Wazed Joy, is a Bangladeshi technology consultant and political campaigner. He is the son of Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh, and the grandson of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh. Wazed is a member of the Awami League, one of Bangladesh's two main political parties. He has worked as campaigner for League for several years and played a key role in drafting Vision 2021, a manifesto which sets out goals for Bangladesh's economic, social, scientific and technological development. Wazed has been named by the World Economic Forum as one of the 250 Young Global Leaders of the World.
Shahriar Nafees
Cricket Bowler
Shahriar Nafees Ahmed is a Bangladeshi cricketer. A left-handed opening batsman, he made his One Day International debut for Bangladesh in 2005 against England, and later the same year played his first Test. In 2008 he joined the Indian Cricket League as part of the Dhaka Warriors. The members of the team were given 10-year bans by the Bangladesh Cricket Board which were lifted when they left the league. Nafees has since returned to the national team. Domestically he plays for Barisal Division.
Tarun Majumdar
Film Director
Tarun Majumdar is a renowned Bengali Indian film director who makes films in Bengali and is notable for his depiction of Bengali culture and society. Many of his films are literature-based. He has recreated classics written by Bimal Kar, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, and Tarashankar Bandopadhyay on celluloid. Another feature of many of his films is the ample use of songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore to convey a range of emotions. Although often lacking in critical acclaim as some of his peers like Tapan Sinha, Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen, he has consistently produced box-office hits for over forty years.
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani
Politician
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani was a popular political leader in British India, Pakistan and later in Bangladesh. He remained a rural-based and non-colonially educated politician revered for selflessness and solidarity with the oppressed. His long political span takes the student of political history through British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. He gained popularity among peasants and the higher status emerging leadership of Bengali Muslims. Owing to his leaning to the left, often dubbed "Islamic Socialism", he was nicknamed " The Red Maulana". Maulana Bhashani is regarded as the proponent of anti-imperialist, non-communal and left-leaning politics by his admirers in present-day Bangladesh and beyond. In 2013 the Awami League Government of Bangladesh reduced his presence in school curricula. A one-time student of Deoband, and participant of the Khilafat Movement protesting the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire he led the Muslims of Assam in a successful campaign during the 1947 Sylhet Referendum, through which Sylhet chose to become part of the Pakistan national project. He was the founder and President of the Pakistan Awami Muslim League which later became Awami League. Later however, owing to differences with the right-leaning leaders in the AML, such as Shahid Suhrawardy, on the issue of autonomy for East Pakistan, he formed a new progressive party called National Awami Party. He also differed with Suhrawardhy when he as Prime Minister of Pakistan decided to join the US-led defence pact CENTO and SEATO.
Rushanara Ali
Politician
Rushanara Ali is a British Labour Party politician and Associate Director of the Young Foundation, who has been the Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow since 2010. Previously Shadow Minister for International Development, in the 2013 Labour reshuffle, Rushanara joined the Shadow Education team.
Anil Biswas
Film score Artist
Anil Biswas was an Indian film music composer from 1935 to 1965, who apart from being one of pioneers of playback singing, is also credited for the first Indian orchestra of twelve pieces and introducing orchestral music and full-blooded choral effects, into Indian cinema. A master in western symphonic music was known for the Indian classical or folk elements, especially Baul and Bhatiyali in his music. Out of his over 90 films, most memorable were, Roti, Kismet, Anokha Pyaar, Taraana, Waaris, Pardesi and Char Dil Char Raahein. He was also the pioneer in using the counter melody in film scores, employing technique of western music, ‘cantala’, where one line overlaps the other in contra-melody, recitative prose songs as in Roti, besides he was the first one to start extensively using the Ragmala. Another important element that he introduced was western orchestration, using indigenous instruments both in the songs as well as in their melodic interludes, a trend that soon caught on and paved way for the musicals of Indian cinema today. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1986.
Akram Khan
Cricket Bowler
Mohammad Akram Hussain Khan, known as Akram Khan, is a former Bangladeshi cricketer who played in 8 Tests and 44 ODIs from 1988 to 2003. He captained Bangladesh in 15 of his ODIs. A hard hitting middle order batsman, Akram played first class cricket for Chittagong Division. Akram Khan was part of Bangladesh's inaugural Test Match, in 2000–01 against India. He had been playing One Day International cricket since 1988. He developed as an international player under the able guidance of Gazi Ashraf Lipu. He himself went onto captain the national side during the period 1994–98. He is currently the chief selector of the BCB, along with Habibul Bashar and Minhajul Abedin.
Bhanu Bandopadhyay
Actor
Bhanu Bandyopadhyay was a Bengali actor. He acted in over 300 movies, in numerous plays and performed frequently on the radio.
Muhammad Ali Bogra
Politician
Nawabzada Mohammed Ali Bogra was a well-known and notable Pakistani Foreign service officer of Bengali origin, serving as the third Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1953 until 1955, and prior to that, was also the Foreign Minister of Pakistan from 1954 to 1955. Grew up in East-Pakistan and educated at the Calcutta University of India, Bogra was one of the core and principle Founding Fathers of current and modern state of Pakistan, responsible for leading the Muslim League in East Pakistan, in charge of party's foreign directorate. Bogra was the second Pakistan Ambassador to the United States, serving in two non-consecutive terms, and was also the second Bengali to have became the prime minister. His government too saw the civil unrest, problems with India, foreign challenges, economical distress, and Kashmir issue. His government also suffered with internal violence and threat of communism in East Pakistan and socialism in West Pakistan, that shrunk his credibility, leading the dismissal of his government.
Partha Dasgupta
Economist
Sir Partha Sarathi Dasgupta, FRS, FBA, is the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge; and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Manchester. He was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, then moved to India, and is the son of the noted economist A.K. Dasgupta. He is married to Carol Dasgupta, who is a psychotherapist. His father-in-law was the Nobel Laureate James Meade. Partha and Carol Dasgupta have three children, Zubeida Dasgupta-Clark, Shamik and Aisha.
Nurul Amin
Politician
Nurul Amin, referred to as the Patriot of Pakistan, was a prominent Bengali leader, jurist, national conservative, and party chairman of the Pakistan's Muslim League, the founding party of Pakistan. Starting his statesmanship in 1948 as Chief minister of East Pakistan, he headed the Ministry of Supply, and played a vital role in the Bengali Language Movement to make the Bengali language an official part of 1956 constitution. After participating in parliamentary elections in 1970, Amin was appointed and served as the eighth Prime Minister of Pakistan. He was the first and the only Vice President of Pakistan from 1970 till 1972, leading Pakistan in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. An anti-war and principal Pakistan movement activist, Amin is considered a patriot who worked to keep Pakistan united. He opposed the Bangladesh Liberation War, which ended the concept of a united Muslim "homeland" in South Asia.
Muhammed Zafar Iqbal
Physicist
Muhammed Zafar Iqbal is a Bangladeshi author of science fiction and children's literature. He is a professor of Computer Science & Engineering and also head of the department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.
Abdur Razzak
Cricket Bowler
Abdur Razzak is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He made his first-class debut at Bangladeshi domestic level for Khulna Division in the 2001/02 season. Best known for being a tall left-arm orthodox spin bowler, he helped guide his division to the National Cricket Title in his maiden season. From there he was selected for Bangladesh A performing well against Zimbabwe A, including figures of 7 for 17 in one game in Dhaka. Razzak was called into the Bangladesh national team for the 2004 Asia Cup One Day International tournament, making his debut against Hong Kong in July. He established himself as a regular fixture in the squad although he was not a regular in the starting eleven. He made his Test debut in the second Test of the Australian tour of Bangladesh in April 2006. Though he has played just nine Tests, he has been more successful in One Day Internationals and is Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker in the format. He is the first Bangladeshi to take 200 wickets in ODI.
Rupa Goswami
Author
Rupa-Goswami was an Indian devotional teacher, poet, and philosopher of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. Alongside with his brother Sanatana Goswami, he was considered the most senior of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan associated with Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, a hidden avatarin of Krishna in Kali Yuga.
Zahir Raihan
Novelist
Zahir Raihan was a Bangladeshi novelist, writer and filmmaker. He is perhaps best known for his documentary Stop Genocide made during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin
Politician
Manzila Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin is a British Labour politician and community activist. The first female Muslim in the House of Lords, she was investigated as part of the parliamentary expenses scandal and required to repay over £120,000. She was suspended from membership of the House of Lords from October 2010 until May 2012.
Karel Fialka
Synthpop Artist
Karel Fialka is an Indian born British singer-songwriter, best known for his 1987 single, "Hey, Matthew".
Rizwan Hussain
Barrister
Rizwan Hussain is a Bangladeshi-born British barrister, television presenter and an international humanitarian worker. He is also a former Hindi music singer and producer and is best known for being a television presenter on Islamic programs on Islam Channel and Channel S.
P. C. Sorcar
Magician
P.C. Sorcar was the stage name of Protul Chandra Sorcar, a famous magician. He was an internationally active magician throughout the 1950s and 1960s, performing his Indrajal show before live audiences and on television. Sorcar died of a heart attack at the age of 58 in Ashaikawa, Hokkaidō, Japan, on January 6, 1971, where he was performing.
Dipu Moni
Politician
Dipu Moni is a Bangladeshi politician and, since 2009, Bangladesh's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Salman Shah
Actor
Shahriar Chowdhury Emon as Salman Shah nickname Emon, better known as Salman Shah, was a Bangladeshi actor. He started his career with the one episode TV serial Pathor Shomoy. After that he was seen in TV advertisement. Salman's first appearance in a major role was in Keyamat Thekey Keyamat released in 1993. Which was a blockbuster film. He had starred in many successful films, including: Keyamat Thekey Keyamat, Antorey Antorey, Bikkhov, Denmohor, Bichar Hobe, Ei ghor ei Shongshar, Jibon Shongshar, Chaowa Theke Paowa, Anondo Osru. Salman was a stylish and iconic actor. He changed Bangladesh's traditional acting and actors' styles. Even now, many actors are inspired by him and his style. He was the best actor in the Bangladesh Film Industry.
M. A. G. Osmany
Military Person
General Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani, also known as Bangabir M.A.G. Osmani was the Commander-in-Chief of Bangladesh Forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. He equally presided over the significant Bangladesh Sector Commanders Conference 1971 during which the entire Bangladesh Forces were authorized and created. He is popularly referred to as General Osmani, with the honorary title of Bangabir. An officer with the British Indian Army since 1939, he served during World War II in Burma. His unit supported all plans of the Allied services as part of the Army Service Corps, rising to the rank of Major by 1942. He opted to join the Pakistan Army after British departed leaving the two new independent nations of India and Pakistan in 1947 as a Lieutenant Colonel. His career was checkered, he had disagreements with his superiors over issues regarding the unprofessional conduct and rules below norms that were practiced during recruitment and treatment of Bengali personnel during both British rule and to an extent also in Pakistan. Osmani earned a reputation as a highly principled and honest officer, and retired as a Colonel in 1967 as the DDMO in GHQ Pakistan. A legend among Bengali servicemen for his willingness to stand up against higher command for legitimate concerns, his name carried honour and prestige. After retirement, he was welcomed into politics in his area under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He later joined the Awami League, and was elected MNA in the 1970 Pakistan general elections from Sylhet. During a meeting at Mujib's residence during late afternoon hours on 25 March 1971, Osmani, also one of many, advised Sheikh Mujib regarding the terrible plight that ensued, and to declare independence of Bangladesh through mass media and move to a secure location.
Mosharraf Karim
Actor
Mosharraf Karim is a renowned Bangladeshi actor. Mosharraf generally acts more frequently in Dramas and Dramaserials, than in Bengali films. His recent works this year include numerous dramas and dramaserials. Three different Dramaserials have gone to air 2009 starring Mosharraf; which include Sakin Sarisuri, Aim in Life and Housefull, and also his most recent 'Mega-serials' that have gone to air in 2010 are Family and Friends, Fifty 50 and Patigonit. His Dramas are also very notable, as well as the handful of Films he has done, including the award winning Third Person Singular Number. At the moment he is working in the film Television directed by Faruki. Currently he is working two TV mega serials Long March and Red Signal directed by famous director and writer Masud Sezan. Gimmi, Dui Rustom, Anto Nagar, Flexiload, King Kortobbo Bimoorr, Out of network, Sada Golap, Wrong, 420, Jua, Maek, Shukher Oshukh, America, Faul, Serious Kothar Porer Kotha, Thuya, Shonadhan Chai, Loss, City Light, Behind The Scene are some Mosharraf's notable drama.
Humayun Azad
Professor
Humayun Azad was a Bangladeshi Author, poet, scholar and linguists. He wrote more than seventy titles. He was widely known for his anti-establishment, anti-religion and anti-military voice and was reputed for caustic remarks. In 2012, the Government of Bangladesh honored him with Ekushey Padak posthumously.
Tajuddin Ahmad
Politician
Tajuddin Ahmad was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He was a prominent leader of the Awami League party and served as its General Secretary during the critical period of the Bangladesh independence movement. Ahmad was instrumental in forming the Provisional Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government, during the Bangladesh Liberation War. After the independence of Bangladesh, Tajuddin served as Finance Minister until 1974. After the assassination of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975, Tajuddin was arrested by the military government and executed by a group of renegade army officers in Dhaka Central Jail on 3 November 1975. Named as "one of the most influential political leaders in the history of Bangladesh", he is highly regarded by Bangladeshis for his leadership of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh in 1971 and for being a staunch secular democrat.
Pritilata Waddedar
Person Or Being In Fiction
Pritilata Waddedar was a Bengali revolutionary nationalist. After completing her education in Chittagong, she attended the Bethune College in Calcutta. Pritilata graduated in Philosophy with distinction. After a brief stint as a school teacher, Pritilata joined a revolutionary group headed by Surya Sen. She led a 15 man team of revolutionaries in a 1932 attack on the Pahartali European Club, which had a sign board that read "Dogs and Indians not allowed". The revolutionaries torched the club and were later caught by the British police. To avoid getting arrested, Pritilata consumed cyanide and died.
Tahmima Anam
Novelist
Tahmima Anam is a Bangladeshi writer, novelist and columnist. Her first novel, A Golden Age, was published by John Murray in 2007 and was the Best First Book winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. In 2013 she was included in the Granta list of 20 best young writers. Tahmima’s first novel, ‘A Golden Age’ was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Costa First Novel Prize, and was the winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book. The follow up novel ‘The Good Muslim’ was nominated for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize.
Haradhan Bannerjee
Actor
Haradhan H Bandopadhyay was a Bengali Indian male actor of television and films. He made his debut in 1948 Bengali film Devdut directed by Atanu Bandopadhyay. His had worked with most prominent directors of Bengali cinema like Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen.
Shahadat Hossain
Cricket Bowler
Kazi Shahadat Hossain is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He made his Test debut in 2005 during Bangladesh's first tour of England. When he came onto the international scnene he was cited by then coach Dav Whatmore as the fastest bowler in the team. The following year, Hossain made his One Day International debut against Kenya. At times Hossain has struggled with conceding too many runs, and for that reason was dropped in 2009. In November 2010, Hossain was a member of the squad that won Bangladesh's first gold in any event at the Asian Games. A broken toe prevented Hossain from playing for Bangladesh in July 2011, but after more than a year since his last Test he returned to the squad in October that year.
Bobita
Actor
Bobita is a Bangladeshi film actress. She was active in acting in 1970s and 1980s. She has also participated in several NGOs focusing on the welfare of women and children and founded a community seed bank.
Ferdous Ahmed
Actor
Ferdous Ahmed is Bangladeshi actor who appears both in Bangladesh and West Bengal Indian films.
Faria Alam
TV Actor
Faria Alam is a former Football Association secretary implicated in a sexual scandal with football officials.
Buddhadeb Bosu
Author
Buddhadeva Bose was a major Bengali writer of the 20th century. Frequently referred to as a poet, he was a versatile writer who wrote novels, short stories, plays and essays in addition to poetry. He was an influential critic and editor of his time. He is recognized as one of the five poets who moved to introduce modernity into Bengali poetry. It has been said that since Tagore, perhaps, there has been no greater talent in Bengali literature.
Shayan Chowdhury Arnob
Singer
Shayan Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi indie musician. Arnob completed his school at Patha Bhavana and MFA in Kala Bhavana, Visva Bharati, and Santiniketan.
Alamgir
Singer
Alamgir is a Pakistani playback singer and is one of the pioneers of the Urdu pop music in Pakistan. His style of singing is inspired by the playback singer Ahmed Rushdi. In April 2013, Alamgir joined Meesha Shafi, String, Ali Azmat and Shahzad Hasan as a judge on the immensely popular singing talent show Cornetto Music Icons aired on ARY Digital.
Fazle Hasan Abed
Organization founder
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG is a Bangladeshi social worker and the founder chairman of BRAC. For his outstanding contributions to social improvement, he has received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the UNDP Mahbub Ul Haq Award, the inaugural Clinton Global Citizen Award and the inaugural WISE Prize for Education. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2010 New Year Honours for services in tackling poverty and empowering the poor in Bangladesh and globally.