Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay or Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (27 June 1838-8 April 1894) was a Bengali writer, poet and journalist. He was the composer of India's national song Vande Mataram, originally in Sanskrit stotra personifying India as a mother goddess and inspiring the activists during the Indian Independence Movement. Chattopadhyay wrote thirteen novels and several 'serious, serio-comic, satirical, scientific and critical treaties' in Bengali. His works were widely translated into other regional languages of India as well as in English.