สำนักราชบัณฑิตยสภา

18 The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume III - 2011 18 Rabindranath Tagoreûs Contributions to Thailand and the World freedom fighters, Tagore inspired both nationalists and lovers of culture. One important reason for Tagoreûs winning the Nobel Prize was that his poetry had a universal appeal and an ùidealistic tendencyû as stipulated by Alfred Nobel, who created this prize. Tagoreûs poetry transcends the Indian border and can be understood universally. His idealism inspires readers of all nationalities including the Thai people. Tagoreûs background Rabindranath Tagore was born on 7 May 1861 at his family residence named Jorashanko (the Twin Bridges) in north Calcutta (now called Kolkata). He was the fourteenth child and the youngest son of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore. Tagore gave up formal studies at the age of thirteen (de Bary, 1966: vol. II, 231). This gave him time to explore knowledge by himself and to experiment with writing verse. Picture 2 In front of Tagoreûs house 16-28_mac9 5/3/12, 11:13 PM 18