Santiniketan Jan. 22: Visva-Bharati is observing the birth anniversary of American philanthropist and social activist Dorothy Elmhirst, who provided financial assistance to Rabindranath Tagore to set up a second campus of the university in Sriniketan.

Dorothy (1887-1968) and her husband, British philanthropist and agronomist Leonard Knight Elmhirst who worked as Tagore's secretary, had donated $20,000 to build the Sriniketan campus in 1921. University sources said Dorothy had provided most of the amount and continued sending regular financial assistance, till 1947, after returning to Britain.

To mark her birth anniversary on January 23, Visva-Bharati's Rabindra Bhavana, which houses a Tagore museum and also memorabilia that are out of bounds for visitors, is organising an exhibition and a lecture.

The exhibition, which is showcasing pictures of Dorothy and Leonard and articles on the couple, will continue. The lecture on Dorothy was delivered this evening by Dikshit Sinha, a former professor of social work at Visva-Bharati.

Tapati Mukhopadhyay, the director of Rabindra Bhavana, told The Telegraph: "Very few people know about the contribution of Dorothy Elmhirst, who helped Tagore set up Sriniketan. She has remained unsung."

Officiating vice-chancellor Swapan Kumar Datta inaugurated the programme and also gave a speech.

The university sources said Leonard had come to Santiniketan on Tagore's invitation to participate in setting up the Sriniketan campus.

Datta said: "The second campus, which is known as Sriniketan, couldn't have been set up if Dorothy Elmhirst had not provided financial assistance. Unfortunately, we did not remember her contribution earlier. Now, we will organise a lecture in memory of Dorothy Elmhirst every year."

Swapan Kumar Ghosh, a former Visva-Bharati employee who has written several essays on Dorothy and Leonard, said: "Work to set up the Sriniketan campus was started with $20,000, most of which was contributed by Dorothy."

"When Leonard decided to come to Santiniketan and work as Tagore's secretary, he got a telegram from (Christian missionary, educationist and social reformer) C.F. Andrews, another Tagore admirer, on the scarcity of funds. Leonard wrote back saying he had sufficient money to contribute to Tagore's plan. Most of the money was actually donated by Dorothy," Ghosh added.

Asked why Visva-Bharati only had a few photographs of Dorothy, Rabindra Bhavana director Mukhopadhyay said: "Actually, Dorothy silently helped Tagore fulfil his dream. People are more familiar with her husband's contribution."