This is a list of notable people from West Bengal, India. This list does not include the significant number of prominent East Bengali refugees from East Bengal who settled in West Bengal after the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947.
Literature
Major figures
Children's story writers
Medieval Bengal literary scene
Other authors from early modern period
Prominent foreign-language authors from Bengal
Other authors from early/mid-twentieth century and some contemporary authors
Journalists
Language/linguistics, anthropology, history, and other social sciences
Scholars and polymaths
Asima Chatterjee, scholar of chemistry
Suniti Kumar Chatterji, linguist
Amlan Datta, economist, Vice Chancellor of Visva Bharati
Radhakanta Deb, linguist
Anil Kumar Gain, scholar, mathematician
Prithwindra Mukherjee, scholar of Indian history, philosophy, religion and culture
Ramendra Sundar Tribedi, scientist
Education
Pioneers
Girish Chandra Bose
Anil Kumar Gain
Ashutosh Mukherjee
Satish Chandra Mukherjee
Begum Rokeya
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Post-independence
Sudhi Ranjan Das, Chief Justice of India, Vice-chancellor of Visva Bharati
Modern times
Shuddhaanandaa Brahmachari
Others
Mahesh Chandra Nyayratna Bhattacharyya
Teachers
Katyayanidas Bhattacharya, philosophy, Presidency College
Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya, philosophy, University of Calcutta
Barun De, history, Presidency College
K. C. Nag, mathematics, Mitra institution
Susobhan Sarkar, history, Presidency College
Babar Ali, the world's youngest headmaster, Headmaster & Founder of Ananda Siksha Niketan
Philosophy
Pre-modern period
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Achintya Bhedabheda Vedanta) born in Nabadwip of Nadia district to parents who hailed from Sylhet in present day Bangladesh
Madhusudana Saraswati (Advaita Vedanta), born in Kotalipara, Gopalganj District in present day Bangladesh & studied at Nabadwip in Nadia district
Raghunatha Siromani (Navya Nyaya) from Nabadwip
Modern age
Balaram Hari, born in Nadia
Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya born in Serampore in Howrah district
Anukulchandra Chakravarty born in Pabna district in present day Bangladesh, worked & preached in Kolkata. After the Partition of India in 1947, he relocated to Deoghar
Surendranath Dasgupta, born in Kusthia of present day Bangladesh which was then a part of Nadia before Partition of India, studied in Kolkata
Bimal Krishna Matilal, born in Jaynagar Majilpur in South 24 Parganas district
Amartya Sen, born in Shantiniketan in Birbhum District
Keshab Chandra Sen born in Kolkata
Rabindranath Tagore born in Kolkata
Swami Vivekananda, born in Kolkata
Sri Aurobindo
Abu Sayeed Ayyub, Born in Kolkata.
Early / Mid twenty century
Chandril Bhattacharya, born in Kolkata.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, born in Kolkata.
Shuddhaanandaa Brahmachari, born in Kolkata.
Sibnarayan Ray, born in kolkata.
Ramkrishna Bhattacharya, born in kolkata.
Science
Religious scholars
Muslim
Jalaluddin Tabrizi (13th-century)
Gazi Pir (13th-century)
Pir Gorachand (13th-century)
Usman Serajuddin (1258–1357)
Alaul Haq (1301–1384)
Nur Qutb Alam (d. 1416)
Shah Mehr Ali (1808–1868)
Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy (1832–1885)
Azangachhi Shaheb (1828–1932)
Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique (1865–1943)
Abdullah al-Baqi (1886–1952)
Abbas Siddiqui (born 1987)
Pre-modern period
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Nityananda
Six Goswamis of Vrindavana
Krishnananda Agamavagisha
Ramprasad Sen
The Brahmo Samaj
Debendranath Tagore
Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Ram Chandra Vidyabagish
Keshub Chunder Sen
Anandamohan Bose
Hindu revival movement
Ramakrishna
Sarada Devi
Swami Vivekananda
Sri Aurobindo
Mid-twentieth-century religious figures
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Paramahansa Yogananda
Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri
Lahiri Mahasaya
Social reformation and social work
Major figures
Ram Mohan Roy
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Keshab Chandra Sen
Swami Vivekananda
Protap Chunder Mozoomdar
Anil Kumar Gain
Nibaran Chandra Mukherjee
Sri Sri Harichand Thakur
Satish Chandra Mukherjee
Dwarkanath Ganguly
Derozians
Ramtanu Lahiri
Radhanath Sikdar
Rajnarayan Basu
Peary Chand Mitra
Rasik Krishna Mallick
Krishna Mohan Banerjee
Madhusudan Dutta
Hara Chandra Ghosh
Ramgopal Ghosh
Kishori Chand Mitra
Women's rights
Rani Rashmoni
Kadambini Ganguly
Chandramukhi Basu
Kaberi Gain
Sarala Devi
Begum Rokeya
Charulata Mukherjee
Romola Sinha
Military
Subhas Chandra Bose, founder, Indian National Army
General Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri, Indian Army Chief during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji, Indian Navy Chief between 1966 and 1970.
Air Commodore Sudhindra Kumar Majumdar (1927–2011), India's first military helicopter pilot
Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee, former Head of Indian Air Force
Chief of the Air Staff Designate Arup Raha, 24th chief of Indian Air Force.
Indra Lal Roy, first Indian (pre Independence) flying ace
General Shankar Roychowdhury, former Indian Army Chief
Flight Lieutenant Suhas Biswas, recipient of Ashoka Chakra
Captain Man Bahadur Rai, recipient of Ashoka Chakra
Air Vice Marshal Madhavendra Banerji, recipient of Maha Vir Chakra
Nripendra Narayan, philanthropist and ruler of Cooch Behar
Kalim Sharafi
Indian freedom fighters
Early figures
Durjan Singh, leader of Chuar Rebellion
Rani Shiromani, queen of Karnagarh and leader of Chuar Rebellion
Surendranath Banerjee
Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee
Twentieth century
Politicians
Others
Abul Barkat
Donation and social welfare
Old Calcutta / Bengal legends
Raja Nabakrishna Deb
Raja Radhakanta Deb, published two Sanskrit dictionaries used by Westerners
Gobindram Mitter
Anil Kumar Gain
Mutty Lal Seal
Bijoy Chand Mahtab
Uday Chand Mahtab
Mother Teresa
Manindra Chandra Nandy, Maharaja of Cossimbazar
Sports
Chess
Dibyendu Barua, Grandmaster
Surya Shekhar Ganguly, Grandmaster
Nisha Mohota, first woman Grandmaster of West Bengal
Cricket
Arun Lal
Benu Dasgupta
Deep Dasgupta
Gopal Bose
Jhulan Goswami
Pankaj Roy
Priyanka Roy
Probir Sen
Rumeli Dhar
Ambar Roy
Saba Karim
Sourav Ganguly
Subrata Guha
Saradindu Mukherjee
Ashok Dinda
Montu Banerjee
Manoj Tiwary
Nirode Chowdhury
Wriddhiman Saha
Shreevats Goswami
Shute Banerjee
Subroto Banerjee
Utpal Chatterjee
Football
P. K. Banerjee
Samar Banerjee
Shibdas Bhaduri
Subrata Bhattacharya
Gostho Pal
Krishanu Dey
Sailen Manna
Chuni Goswami
Gautam Sarkar
Arnab Mondal
Abhijit Mondal
Lawn tennis
Leander Paes, noted lawn tennis player of India
Jaidip Mukerjea
Squash
Saurav Ghosal, currently highest ranked Indian player
Ritwik Bhattacharya, currently second highest ranked Indian player
Bodybuilding
Manohar Aich, Mr. Universe, 1952
Monotosh Roy, Mr. Universe, 1951
Bishnu Charan Ghosh, Noted bodybuilder and hathayogi
Swimming
Arati Saha, first Asian woman to swim English Channel in 1959
Bula Choudhury, first Indian woman to swim the English Channel twice
Mihir Sen, first Indian to swim across the English Channel in 1958
Prasanta Karmakar, para swimmer, 2010 Commonwealth Games, bronze medal
Masudur Rahman Baidya, world's first physically handicapped swimmer to swim across the Strait of Gibraltar
Table tennis
Subhajit Saha, Commonwealth games gold medalist
Mouma Das, table tennis player
Poulomi Ghatak, table tennis player
Ankita Das, table tennis player, 2012 Summer Olympics; participant in women's singles event, 2014 Commonwealth Games; participant in women's doubles even
Soumyajit Ghosh, table tennis player; as of January 2013, his rank is 1st in India and 68th in Asia; 2014 Commonwealth Games, Participant in men's doubles event.
Weightlifting
Anil Mondal, Indian weightlifter.competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics, the Arjuna Award in the year (1972).
Sukhen Dey, Indian weightlifter; 2014 Commonwealth Games, gold medal; 2010 Commonwealth Games, gold medal
Others
Arjun Atwal, golfer
Anirban Lahiri, Indian golfer
Balaram Bose, philanthropist
Chhanda Gain, mountaineering, first Bengali woman to climb Mount Everest
Dipa Karmakar, Indian artistic gymnast; 2014 Commonwealth Games, bronze medal; 2010 Commonwealth Games participant
Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, athletics, double gold medallist at Bangkok Asiad, 1996
Joydeep Karmakar, Indian shooter, 2012 Summer Olympics; qualified to represent India in men's 50m rifle prone event; 2014 Commonwealth Games participant
Mohammad Ali Qamar, boxing, Commonwealth games gold medalist
Mohammed Ali Qamar, Indian boxer, 2002 Commonwealth Games, gold medal