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Svetoslav Nikolaevich Roerich (23 October 1904 – 30 January 1993), Russian and Indian painter, son of Helena and Nicholas Roerich, studied from a young age under his father’s tutelage.He studied architecture in England in 1919 and entered Columbia University’s school of architecture in 1920. He won the Grand Prix of the Sesquicentennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1926.

He lived for many years in India where Jawaharlal Nehru awarded him the International Award and the Padma Bhushan. His paintings of Nehru and Indira Gandhi, adorn the historic Central Parliament Hall in New Delhi. He was married in 1945 to an Indian movie star Devika Rani, widow of producer Himanshu Rai and known as “The First Lady of the Indian Screen”. Roerich died in 1993 at the age of 88 and is buried in Bangalore, India.

He was named an Honorary Academician of the Art Academy of the USSR, and was an honorary member of the Bulgarian Academy of Art.

He had a large plantation on the outskirts of Bangalore, called Tataguni, on Kanakpura road. He and Devika Rani lived here, after their respective deaths the estate got involved in litigation and the case is still in the courts.

Roerich family’s residence in Manali, India, is now home for a gallery of paintings. It is managed by the International Roerich Trust and has been named Roerich Heritage Museum. The gallery was founded by Svetoslav Roerich in 1962.

Roerich mainly painted landscapes and portraits.His paintings were first exhibited in India in 1936-1937

Honours and awards

  • Padma Bhushan (India) (1961)
  • Order of Friendship of Peoples
  • Order of Madara Horseman (Bulgaria)
  • Awarded Jawaharlal Nehru
  • Cavalier of the Order of Cyril and Methodius (Bulgaria)
  • Honorary Member of the USSR Academy of Arts
  • Honorary Doctor of Veliko Tarnovo University (Bulgaria)
  • Academician of the Academy of Fine Arts of India