India has many gems to its credit. Among its long list of precious gems are the country’s Nobel laureates who were conferred the honour for their contributions to the progress of humankind through their hard work, sacrifice, discovery and achievements in different fields. Our five laureates whom we are very proud of are:

Rabindranath Tagore

7 May, 1861 – 7 August, 1941

Birth Place: Kolkata, West Bengal

Alma Mater: University College London

Won Nobel Prize in Literature for his literary work Gitanjali in 1913.

The literary icon is the creator of national anthems of three nations: India’s ‘Jana Gana Mana’, Bangladesh’s ‘Amar Sona Bangla’ and Sri Lanka’s national anthem. Tagore was also the first Indian to receive the Noble Award.

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman

7 November, 1888 – 21 November, 1970

Birth Place: Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu

Alma Mater: Presidency College, University of Madras

Won Nobel Prize in Physics for Raman Effect in 1930

28 February is observed as National Science Day in India to commemorate  the discovery of Raman Effect.

Mother Teresa (Born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu)

26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997

Birth Place: Skopje, Macedonia

Alma Mater: Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham

Won Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979

Mother Teresa was canonised as a saint in a ceremony on 4 September 2016 in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican City by Pope Francis.

Amartya Kumar Sen

3 November 1933 (age 84)

Birth place: Santiniketan, West Bengal

Alma mater: University of Calcutta (BA) and University of Cambridge (BA, MA, PhD)

Won Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998

Sen has received over 90 honorary degrees from universities around the world and is known for his work on welfare economics and political liberalism.

Kailash Satyarthi (Born Kailash Sharma)

11 January 1954

Birth place: Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh

Alma mater: Samrat Ashok Technological Institute, Vidisha

Satyarthi, along with Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for their struggle against the suppression of children and for their right to education.

Founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement) and is known for activism for children’s rights and children’s education.

Also read: Two women scientists awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry