Toru Dutt was born in Calcutta on 4 March 1856 to a well-respected Bengali family. Her father, Govind Chandra Dutt was known to be of liberal thoughts and worked as a Magistrate in Calcutta.[2] Her mother, Kshetramoni Dutt (née Mitter), belonged to the Rambagan Dutt family.[5]
Toru was the youngest of three siblings; her sister Aru was two years older to her and she also had a brother Abjie.[5] She and her siblings spent most of their childhood in Calcutta, dividing their time between a house in the city and a garden house in the suburb of Baugmaree.[5] Dutt was educated at home by her father and by an Indian Christian tutor, Babu Shib Chunder Banerjee. She learnt French, English, and eventually Sanskrit, in addition to her first language, Bengali.[5] During this time, she developed a love for English literature, growing to understand and appreciate works such as John Milton's epic, Paradise Lost.[5] She also learned stories of ancient India from her mother.[5]
A few years after her brother Abjie died at the age of eleven, the family sailed for Europe as Toru's father hoped to give his daughters the best education.
