A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Prabhupāda
1896–1977 · Kolkata to New York · Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism (ISKCON)
Abhay Charan De, born in Kolkata, met Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī of the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava tradition of Caitanya, who asked him to carry Kṛṣṇa’s teaching to the English-speaking world. After decades as a family man and businessman, he took sannyāsa, and in 1965, at the age of sixty-nine, sailed to New York on a cargo ship with very little money.
There in 1966 he founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). His translations with commentary, including the Bhagavad-gītā As It Is and the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, and the Hare Kṛṣṇa chant spread worldwide. He passed away at Vṛndāvan in 1977.
1896–1977 · ISKCON, 1966 · Bhagavad-gītā As It Is