Chatterjee

Chatterjee/Chatarjee (sometimes Chatterji or Chatterjea or chatarjee) Chêṭarji) is an Indian family name of the Bengali Brahmin caste. It is a variant of Chattopadhyay(a). Chattopadhyay (compound of village name "Chaṭṭa" and "upādhyāya" denoting "priest, teacher" originally granted with the village named Chaṭṭa) is the Sanskritized form of the local Prakrit word "chaturjye", anglicized to Chatterjee. Upadhyays from Chattol area of gangetic Bengals were popularly known as Chattopadhyay or Chatterjee. The renowned 19th century mystic Gadadhar Chattopadhyay or Sri Ramakrishna is from this caste.

Lineage and ancestry

Chatterjees or Chatarjees are from the ancient Kashyap Gotra, which means all Chatterjees are descended from the ancient sage Kashyapa, son of Marichi as per the Puranas. Together with Mukherjees, Banerjees, Bhattacharjees and Gangulys, Chatterjees form the Kulin Brahmins, the highest tier of the Bengali caste system.

Notable Chatterjees

• Abir Chatterjee – actor
• Adhar Kumar Chatterji (1914–2001), the Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy 1966–1970
• Amarendranath Chatterjee – freedom fighter
• Amitava Chattopadhyay – INSEAD professor of marketing and innovation, book author
• Angana P. Chatterji (born 1966), anthropologist, activist and feminist historian from Kolkata, India
• Anil Chatterjee – actor
• Anjan Chattopadhyay (living) – sitar maestro
• Aroup Chatterjee (living) – author
• Ashim Chatterjee (20th century) – communist politician and activist
• Bamacharan Chattopadhyay (1837–1911), Bengali tantrik and devotee popularly known as "Bamakhepa"
• Bankim Chandra Chatterji (1838–1894), Bengali writer, poet and journalist
• Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838–1894) – author, poet, and journalist
• Basu Chatterjee (born 1930) – film director
• Basu Chatterji (born 1930), Indian film director
• Debashis Chatterjee – professor, IIM, Harvard, MIT
• Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya – author
• Debjani Chatterji (born 1952), Indian-born British poet
• Dhritiman Chatterjee – actor
• Dhruva Chatterjee – writer and screenplay writer of Hindi movies
• Gadhadhar Chatterji (1836–1886), born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay, a famous mystic of 19th-century India
• Gautam Chattopadhyay (d. 1999) – musician
• Harindranath Chattopadhyay – poet
• Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee (1895–1969) – revolutionary, activist
• Jogesh Chandra Chatterji (1895–1969), Indian freedom fighter, revolutionary and member of Rajya Sabha
• Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (1903–1988) – social reformer
• Kshetresa Chandra Chattopadhyaya (1896–1974) – Sanskrit scholar
• Mirai Chatterji, Indian social worker and coordinator at SEWA, Ahmedabad
• Moushmi Chatterji (born 1948), Bollywood actress, who has also acted in Bengali cinema
• Moushumi Chatterjee (living) – actress
• Nalini Ranjan Chatterjee – Chief Justice, Knighted
• Nalini Ranjan Chatterji (died 1942), judge of the Calcutta High Court, India from 1910 to 1926
• Parambrata Chatterjee – actor
• Partha Chatterjee (living) – postcolonial scholar and author
• Pratap Chatterjee (living) – journalist and author
• Priyanshu Chatterjee – Bollywood actor
• Prosenjit Chatterjee (living) – Bengali film actor
• Pulok Chatterji (born 1952), retired Indian civil servant, Principal Secretary in the Prime Ministers Office (2011–2014)
• Pulok Chatterji (born 1952), retired Indian civil servant, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India (2011–2014)
• Purnendu Chatterjee – businessman, founder of TCG
• Ramakrishna Chattopadhyay – 19th century Hindu religious leader
• Ramananda Chatterjee – founder, editor and owner of the Calcutta-based Modern Review
• Sabitri Chatterjee – actress
• Sabitri Chatterji (born 1937), Indian Bengali female actor whose career spans more than 50 years
• Sankar Chatterjee (living) – paleontologist
• Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (1876–1938) – novelist and short story writer
• Sarojini Naidu née Chattopadhyay (1879–1949) – freedom fighter, poet
• Saswata Chatterjee – actor
• Shakti Chattopadhyay (born 1934) – poet
• Sharat Chandra Chatterji (1876–1938), Bengali novelist and short story writer
• Shekhar Chatterjee (living) – serial entrepreneur, speaker.
• Shiba P. Chatterjee – professor, former president of International Geographical Union
• Somnath Chatterjee (born 1929) – speaker of the Lok Sabha
• Soumitra Chatterjee (born 1935) – actor
• Sourav Chatterjee – mathematician
• Srabanti Chatterjee – actress
• Subhendu Chatterjee – actor
• Sudeep Chatterjee – cinematographer
• Sudip Chatterjee – footballer
• Suman Chatterjee (now Kabir Suman, born 1950) – Jeebonmukhi musician
• Suniti Kumar Chatterji – linguist
• Suniti Kumar Chatterji (1890–1977), Indian linguist, educationist and litterateur
• Swapan Chattopadhyay – director of the Cockcroft Institute
• Tannishtha Chatterjee – actress
• Tara Chatterjea – philosopher
• Upamanyu Chatterjee (born 1959) – author
• Utpal Chatterjee (living) – cricketer
• Uttam Kumar (Arun Chatterjee) – Bengali actor
• Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (1880–1937) – revolutionary

See also

• Kulin Brahmins