Gyanadanandini Devi was one of the momentous pioneers of 19th Century Bengal, who had pivotally ushered the initial social reformation and women’s empowerment of her time through various cultural renovations and progressive demeanour. She was born at Narendrapur village of Jessore district of undivided Bengal in 1850. Later, she was married to Satyendranath Tagore, who introduced and inspired Gyanadanandini Devi to the western philosophy of women subjection, and supported her to develop absorb the traits of free thinking and self-reliance, which was hardly prevalent during that time among the women of Bengali society. With him, Gyanadanandini Devi first moved to Mumbai, and then set sail for England in 1877. Upon her return to Calcutta in 1880, she was one of the leading persona of women’s liberation and feminist intellectualism; she had introduced many socio-cultural traditions and customs that markedly influenced the contemporary Bengali society.
Along with her reformist activities, Gyanadanandini Devi also contributed to the Bengali literary domain. After returning to Calcutta, she started writing essays in the literary magazine Bharati, of which “Kinder Garden” and “Stree Sikshya” (Woman Education) were worth mentioning. In 1885, Gyanadanandini Devi published the in-house magazine Balak, which the first children's literary magazine in Bengali. Her literary endeavour also included the stage-adaptation of two Bengali fairy “Takdumadum” and Saat Bhai Champa - both of which were highly praised in the literary circles. She also translated the Marathi literature “Bhau Saheber Bakhar” in Bengali. Her essay “Ingraj ninda O Swadeshanurag” reflected her strong patriotic ideologies and critical analysis of the impact of the colonial imperialism on the Indian society. Again, her memoirs were published near the very end of her lifetime, named “Smritikotha o Puratoni” which provide quite a true essence of the world around her during her childhood and days at the Tagore family. Gyanodanondinee devi passed away in 1st of October, 1941 at the age of 91 years.