Toru Dutt

Tarulatta Datta, popularly known as Toru Dutt (Bengali: তরু দত্ত; 4 March 1856 – 30 August 1877) was an Indian Bengali poet and translator from British India, who wrote in English and French. She is among the founding figures of Indo-Anglian literature, alongside Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (1809–1831), Manmohan Ghose (1869–1924), and Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949). She is known for her volumes of poetry in English, Sita, A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields (1876) and Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan (1882), and for a novel in French, Le Journal de Mademoiselle d'Arvers (1879). Her poems explore themes of loneliness, longing, patriotism and nostalgia. Dutt died at the age of 21 of tuberculosis.

Early life and education

Toru Dutt was born in Calcutta on 4 March 1856 to a well-respected Bengali kayastha family. Her father, Govind Chandra Dutt was known to be of pro imperialist thoughts and worked as a Magistrate in Calcutta. Her mother, Kshetramoni Dutt (née Mitter), belonged to the Rambagan Dutt family.

Toru was the youngest of three siblings; her sister Aru was two years older to her and she also had a brother Abjie. She and her siblings spent most of their childhood in Calcutta, dividing their time between a house in the city and a garden house in the suburb of Baugmaree. Dutt was educated at home by her father and by an Indian Christian tutor, Babu Shib Chunder Banerjee. She learnt French, English, and eventually Sanskrit, in addition to her first language, Bengali. During this time, she developed a love for English literature, growing to understand and appreciate works such as John Milton's epic, Paradise Lost. She also learned stories of ancient India from her mother.