Bankimchandra Chatterjee or Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay, was an Indian novelist, poet and journalist. He was the composer of Vande Mataram, originally in Sanskrit stotra personifying India as a mother goddess and inspiring activists during the Indian Independence Movement. Chattopadhyay wrote thirteen novels and many serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific and critical treatises in Bengali. His works were widely translated into other regional languages of India as well as in English. He was born on 13th Ashard 1245, as per Bengali calendar.