Top 10 Famous Bangladeshi People

Top 10 Famous Bangladeshi People

Bangladesh is a country that is to the east of India on the Bay of Bengal. This South Asian country is marked by lush greenery and many waterways.

Its main rivers; Padma (also known as the Ganges), Meghna and Jamuna have created fertile plains. Most Bangladeshi people travel by boat on these rivers.

Towards the southern coast of Bangladesh are the Sundarbans. This is an enormous mangrove forest that sits on the border with Eastern India.

The Royal Bengal tiger is found here. Bangladesh has three UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

With a beautiful country are amazing people. The Bangladeshi people have not only made a name in their home country but globally as well.

They have greatly contributed to the growth of their economy through innovative start-ups, politics, culture and sports.

Here is our pick of the top 10 famous Bangladeshi people.

1. Sheikh Hasina – Politician

Photo Courtesy of the Kremlin – Wikimedia

Sheikh Hasina is a politician as well as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2009. Hasina had previously served as Prime Minister from June 1996 to July 2001.

She is the longest-serving Prime Minister in the history of Bangladesh, her term totalling more than 17 years. Moreover, Sheikh is the longest-serving incumbent female head of government in the world.

It is in this regard that she is considered to be one of the most powerful women in the world. Forbes magazine listed her as the 39th in the list of the World’s 100 most powerful women, 2020.

Hasina has also been on the list of the top 100 Global Thinkers. She is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders. This is an international network of current and former female presidents and prime ministers.

2. Mithun Chakraborty – Actor

Gouranga Chakraborty is popularly known by his stage name Mithun Chakraborty. He is an actor, social worker, and entrepreneur. Mithun has won three National Film Awards.

His first acting role was in the drama Mrigayaa which earned him his first national film award for best actor.

As one of the most successful actors, Mithun is regarded as an influential actor in the history of Bangladesh cinema.

His fans loved him when he started as a dancer who later became one of the greatest. In 1982, he was featured as a street dancer in the Bollywood movie Disco Dancer.

This role got him more international fans, especially in the former Soviet Union. In his acting career, Mithun has appeared in more than 350 films.

3. Muhammad Yunus – Economist

Photo by Hossain Toufique Iftekher – Wikimedia

Muhammad Yunus was born in 1940, Chittagong, East Bengal. He is an economist. A Nobel Peace Prize recipient and the founder of the Grameen Bank.

This is a microcredit institution that helps its clients establish creditworthiness and financial self-sufficiency.

The loans are given to entrepreneurs who are too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans.

In 2006 Yunus and Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from the bottom.

He received the US Congressional Gold Medal in 2010 for his efforts.

4. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – Politician

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a politician and founding father of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

Mujibur was the first president of Bangladesh, he also served as the Prime minister. His honorary title is Sheikh Mujib and he is widely revered in his country.

He is the father of the current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. Rahman was a charismatic and influential orator.

Some of his political policies were on socialism and opposing ethnic and institutional discrimination against Bengali.

As president, Rahman called for increased provincial autonomy. He was opposed to the military rule of Field Marshal Ayub Khan.

5. Taslima Nasrin – Writer

Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia

Taslima Nasrin is an author and former doctor who has lived in exile since 1994. Nasrin currently lives in New Delhi, India. She rose from a modest literary profile in the late 1980s to global fame by the end of the 20th century.

As a feminist, she was critical of Islam in particular and religion in general. Taslima has lived in several countries across the globe due to threats to her life.

She is an advocate for secular humanism, freedom of thought, equality for women. Her literary work covers human rights issues.

Most of Taslima’s work is on women’s oppression and religion. Some of her books have been banned in Bangladesh.

6. Suchitra Sen – Actress

Suchitra Sen has appeared in several Bengali films. She has acted alongside Uttam Kumar, another superstar in Bengali films.

In all the films that she was featured in, Suchitra was always the leading lady. Her role made her the first Bengali actress to be awarded in an international film festival.

It was in 2005 when Suchitra refused to accept the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Instead, she chose to live out of the public eye.

After a successful acting career, Suchitra chose to live in recluse and shunned all public appearances.

Her legacy lives through her daughter Moon Moon Sen and granddaughters Raima Sen and Riya Sen who are successful actors.

7. Runa Laila – Singer & Composer

Photo by Sazzad Hossain – Wikimedia

Runa is another famous Bengali playback singer and composer. She started her career in the Pakistan film industry in the late 1960s.

Laila’s style of singing is inspired by Pakistani playback singer Ahmed Rushdi. She is also a playback singer in films like The Rain (1976), Jadur Banshi (1977), Accident (1989), Ontore Ontore (1994), Devdas (2013) and Priya Tumi Shukhi Hou (2014).

Through these films, Runa received seven Bangladesh National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer. In 2018, she won the Best Music Composer award for the film Ekti Cinemar Golpo.

Runa’s best-known number is Dama Dam Mast Qalandar.

8. Jibanananda Das – Poet

Jibanananda Das was a poet, writer, novelist and essayist. He is regarded as the pioneer of poetry in the post-Tagore era in India and Bangladesh.

One of his translators named him as Bengal’s greatest modern and best-loved poet. His writing is described as conscious and uniting.

Other poets have described Das as eclectic and as one who does not fit any classification.

Das has published 7 volumes of his poems. More of his writings were discovered after his death. They were short stories and novels.

He died after he was hit by a tramcar. Some people believe it was attempted suicide.

9. Meghnad Saha – Physicist

Photo by Sdeoghuria – Wikimedia

Meghnad Saha was an Indian astrophysicist best known for his development of the Saha ionization equation. This equation is used to describe chemical and physical conditions in stars.

Through his work, astronomers can get accurate spectral classes of stars to their actual temperatures. His equation was perfected by the British astrophysicist Edward A. Milne.

In 1952 Meghnad Saha was elected to the Parliament of India.

Other than physical, Saha was interested in ancient history and archaeology. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize multiple times.

10. Fazlur Khan – Structural Engineer

Fazlur Rahman Khan was a structural engineer and architect, who initiated structural systems that form the basis of tall building construction today.

Rahman is regarded as the father of tubular designs for skyscrapers, making him an icon in both architecture and structural engineering.

He was the first architect to use computers to design and engineering. Furthermore, he encouraged other engineers and architects to use computers in structural engineering.

Khan designed the Willis Tower, which is the 2nd tallest building in the United States.