Ananda Coomaraswamy

Ananda Coomaraswamy Biography

Ananda Coomaraswamy was a Ceylonese Tamil philosopher and metaphysician, best known as a philosopher of Indian art. He was also a historian who lived between 22 August 1877 and 9 September 1947. He is one of the early interpreters of Indian culture to the West. He married four times, his first three wives being famous personalities - Ethel Mairet, Ratna Devi and Stella Bloch. Ananda passed away in 1947 and he was survived by his fourth wife, Luisa Runstein.

Ananda Coomaraswamy was born on 22 August 1877 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was born as the son of Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy, Ceylonese Tamil legislator and philosopher belonging to the famous Ponnambalam–Coomaraswamy family. His mother Elizabeth Beeby was an English lady. Ananda lost his father at the age of just two. Later he spent most of his time abroad, where he completed his studies. Coomaraswamy moved to England in 1879 at the age of 12, and attended Wycliffe College. He later studied geology and botany. His first marriage happened in 1902, when he got married to Ethel Mairet. The marriage lasted for 11 years. After that he married three more times. His last marriage lasted for 17 years till his death.

He earned doctorate of science for his study of Ceylonese mineralogy in 1906. He started his mission to educate the West about Indian art since 1906. His mission was first started in England where he tried to influence people with Indian photographs. He then married a British woman Alice Ethel Richardson, and reached Srinagar. Commaraswamy studied Rajput painting while his wife studied Indian music with Abdul Rahim of Kapurthala. When they returned to England, Ananda became the first Keeper of Indian art in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1917. Soon after he moved to America, he divorced his second wife and married American artist Stella Bloch, 29 years his junior in 1922.

Philosophy of art, literature, and religion are some of the areas where Ananda Coomaraswamy gave significant contribution.  While in India, he was part of the literary circle around Rabindranath Tagore. He also contributed to the "Swadeshi" movement. He authored numerous books based on Indian philosophy, art and others.

Published: January 28, 2019

Updated: January 28, 2019