Skip to main content

Primary sourcePhotograph1930

Rabindranath Tagore and Albert Einstein, 1930

UNESCO · 1930

A photograph of Tagore meeting the physicist Albert Einstein in 1930, documenting an exchange between two leading figures of the age.

The photograph shows Tagore meeting Albert Einstein, documenting his role in international intellectual exchange.

Ask Rabindranath Tagore about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Black and white photograph of two elderly men standing outdoors before a staircase. The man on the left has a long white beard and wears a long, loose robe. The man on the right has tousled white hair, a mustache, a suit jacket, and a tie, with his hands behind his back.
Rabindranath Tagore and Albert Einstein, 1930. UNESCO.

About this source

What it is

This black-and-white photograph, dated 1930, shows two elderly men standing outdoors before a staircase: one with a long white beard and loose robe (Rabindranath Tagore) and one with tousled hair and a suit (Albert Einstein).

Why it matters

The picture records a meeting between a leading Bengali poet-philosopher and one of the world's most famous scientists, a symbol of dialogue between different cultures and ways of understanding the world in the early twentieth century.

Look closer

  • What can you tell about each man from his clothing and posture?
  • Why might this meeting have been considered newsworthy at the time?
  • What does a single photograph not tell us about what the two men actually discussed?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rabindranath Tagore on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Rabindranath Tagore sources

Meet the AI Rabindranath Tagore →
Title page of the book Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore, a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats, published by Macmillan and Co., London, 1913.Book

Primary source

Song Offerings

Rabindranath Tagore · 1912

Black and white photograph of Rabindranath Tagore leaving a building, Sigtuna, May 1921.Photograph

Primary source

Tagore Leaves the Sigtuna Foundation

Bertil Waldén · May 1921

Title page of Gitanjali (Song Offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore, a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats. Macmillan and Co., Limited, London, 1913.Book

Primary source

Gitanjali

Rabindranath Tagore · 1910

Black and white photograph of Rabindranath Tagore standing with K.B. Westman and M. Björkqvist, Sigtuna, May 1921.Photograph

Primary source

Tagore with K.B. Westman and M. Björkqvist

Bertil Waldén · May 1921

Piano sheet music score titled 'Jana Gana Mana' by Rabindranath Tagore, in D minor/F major key with 4/4 time, tempo 96, two staves (treble clef) with dynamics like f, p, ff and a fermata at the end.Document

Primary source

Jana Gana Mana

Rabindranath Tagore · 11 December 1911

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Rabindranath Tagore now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions