List of Tamil people

This is a list of notable Tamil people. Entries on this list are demonstrably notable by having a linked current article or reliable sources as footnotes against the name to verify they are notable and define themselves as Tamil.

This list also includes emigrant Tamils and could be taken as a list of famous Tamils.

Kings and Rulers

Ancient Dynasties

Other Royal Families

Rulers of Ramnad
- Ramanatha Sethupathi (?-1979), last Raja of Ramnad estate
  - Rajeswari Nachiyar (?-), only daughter of last Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi, present titular ruler of Ramnad estate
- Rajkumar Sethupathi (?-), actor, brother of last Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi and Latha, married leading actress in the 1980s Sripriya
- Latha (actress) (?-), actress, sister of last Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi and actor Rajkumar Sethupathi
Rulers of Ariyalur
- Rangappa Mazhavaraayar Nayinar (1735-?), last ruler of the Vijaya Opilladha Mazhavaraya Nayinar
Rulers of Pudukkottai
- Rajagopala Thondaiman (1922-1997), last ruler of the princely state of Pudukkottai
  - R. Rajagopala Thondaiman (1958-?), present head of the royal house of Pudukkottai, son of Radhakrishna Thondaiman, nephew of last ruler Rajagopala Thondaiman
  - Charubala Thondaiman (1958-), wife of R. Rajagopala Thondaiman, member of the INC, former mayor of Tiruchirappalli (2001−2009)

Presidents

Indian President

S. Radhakrishnan (1888-1975), former President of India 13 May 1962–13 May 1967, before that he was the Vice President of India
R. Venkataraman (1910-2009), former President of India July 25, 1987–July 25, 1992, before that he was the Vice President of India
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1931-2015), former President of India, Bharat Ratna Awardee, Missile Man of India

Other Countries President

S.R. Nathan (1924-), President of Singapore (September 1, 2002–August 31, 2011)
Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920-2000), President of Mauritius (12 March 1992–30 June 1992)
Angidi Veeriah Chettiar (1928-2010), acting President of Mauritius (Feb 15, 2002–Feb 18, 2002)
Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (1945-), acting President of Mauritius (Feb 18, 2002–Feb 25, 2002)

International Positions

Radhika Coomaraswamy (1953-), Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
James Appathurai (1968-), spokesperson for NATO

Independence Movement

Indian independence movement

V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872-1936)
Subramanya Bharathi (1882-1921), poet and social reformer
V. Kalyanasundaram (1883-1953), scholar
Subramaniya Siva (1884-1925), writer
Jeevanandham (1907-1963)
Champakaraman Pillai (1891-1934)
Tiruppur Kumaran (1904-1932)

Independence movements in other countries

Nagappan Padayatchi (1891-1909), South African Satyagraha
Thillaiaadi Valliammai (1898-1914), South African militant
V.T. Sambanthan (1919-1979), one of the three founding fathers of Malaysia
Velupillai Prabhakaran (1954-2009), Tamil Eelam

Contributions to Tamil people

Marshal Nesamony (1895-1968), responsible for Kanyakumari district merger with Tamil Nadu.
Varadarajan Mudaliar (1926-1988), known as Vardha Bhai; Tamil movie Nayakan was based on his life story

Governors of States

C. Rangarajan (1932-), Governor of Andhra Pradesh (1997–2003)
T.V. Rajeswar (1926-), IPS Officer, Governor of Sikkim (1985–1989), West Bengal (1989–1990) and Uttar Pradesh (2004–2009)
M.O.H. Farook (1937-2012), Governor of Jharkhand (2010–2011) and Kerala (2011–2012)
E.S.L. Narasimhan (1945-), IPS officer, Governor of Chhattisgarh (2007–2010), Andhra Pradesh (2007–Incumbent) and Telangana (2014–Incumbent)

Chief Ministers

Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu

K. Kamaraj (1903-1975), Bharat Ratna Awardee
C.N. Annadurai (1909-1969)
V.R. Nedunchezhiyan (1920-2000)
V.N. Janaki (1923-1996)
J. Jayalalithaa (1948-)
O. Panneerselvam (1951-)
Karunanidhi (1924-)

Chief Ministers of Pondicherry

V. Venkatasubha Reddiar (1909-1982), first Indian Chief Minister of Pondicherry, his son V. Vaithilingam was also the chief minister of Pondicherry
Subramanyan Ramaswamy
V. Vaithilingam (1950-), son of former chief minister of Pondicherry V. Venkatasubha Reddiar
R.V. Janakiraman
P. Shanmugam (1927-2013)
N. Rangaswamy (1950-)

Central Ministers

R.K. Shanmukham Chetty (1892-1953), former Finance Minister of independent India.
O.V. Alagesan (1911-1992), former Union Minister for petroleum.
Jana Krishnamurthi, (1928-2007), former Union Law Minister.
K. Santhanam (1895-1980), former Railway Minister of independent India.
Satyavani Muthu (1923-1999), former Union Cabinet Minister
Vazhappady K. Ramamurthy (1940-2002), former Union Cabinet Minister of Petroleum.
N.V.N. Somu (1937-1997), former Minister for State Defence.
R.V. Swaminathan (1909-1984), former Minister of State for Agriculture
T.G. Venkatraman (1931-2013), former Union Cabinet Minister of Surface Transport.
P. Chidambaram (1945-), former Finance Minister of India.
A. Raja (1963-), former Communications and Information Technology Minister of India.
Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan (1947-), former Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment of India.
K. Venkatapathy (1946-), former Minister of State for Law and Justice of India.
S. Regupathy (1950-), former Minister of State for Forests and Environment.
Gingee N. Ramachandran (1944-), former Union Minister of State, Finance
M.K. Azhagiri (1951-), former Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers.
S. S. Palanimanickam (1950-), former Minister of State for Finance of India.
S. Jagathrakshakan (1950-), former Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.
T. R. Baalu (1941-), former Minister of Shipping and Road Transport and Highways.
Mani Shankar Aiyar (1941-), former Union Cabinet Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas
Subramanian Swamy (1939-), former Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Law
R. Velu (1940-), former Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways
V. Radhika Selvi (1976-), former Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs
V. Narayanasamy (1947-), former Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Nirmala Sitharaman (1959-), present Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Anbumani Ramadoss (1968-),former Minister of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India
Pon Radhakrishnan (1952-), present Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping

Political Leaders in Other countries

Moses Nagamootoo (1947-), Prime Minister, Guyana.
S Jayakumar (1939-), Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam (1957-), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Singapore.
Vivian Balakrishnan (1961-), Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore.
S Rajaratnam (1915-2006), former Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore.
S Dhanabalan (1937-), former Minister (various portfolios), Singapore.
J. B. Jeyaretnam, (1926-2008) ex-opposition leader and MP, Singapore.
Ramasamy Palanisamy (1949-), Deputy Chief Minister of Penang state, Malaysia.
Nagalingam Shanmugathasan (1920-1993), founding General Secretary of the Ceylon Communist Party, Sri Lanka.
Bala Tampoe (1922-2014), Tamil trade unionist, Sri Lanka.
Pillayan alias Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (1975-), former Chief Minister of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
P. P. Devaraj (b.1929), Former Cabinet Minister of Sri Lanka.
Radhakrishnan (?-), Current Deputy Minister for Industry Affairs of Sri Lanka.
Visvanathan Rudrakumaran(?-), Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam.
Samy Vellu (1937-), former Works Minister and Leader of Malaysian Indian Congress, Malaysia.
K.R. Somasundram (1930-), politician and member of Malaysian Indian Congress, Malaysia.
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (1926-2008), founder of Reform Party of Singapore
Radhakrishna Padayachi (1950-2012), Deputy Minister for Communication, Republic of South Africa.
Rathika Sitsabaiesan (1981-), Member of Parliament, Canada.
Gunasagaran Gounder (?-), prominent politician and a member of Fiji Labour Party, Fiji.
Perumal Mupnar (?-), prominent politician and a member of Fiji Labour Party, Fiji.
S.J.V. Chelvanayakam (1898-1977), leader and father figure of Sri Lankan Tamils.
Savumiamoorthy Thondaman (b.1913, d.1999), leader of Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka and had served the Sri Lankan Cabinet.
N. Shanmugathasan (1920-1993), prominent Communist politician, Sri Lanka.
Joseph Pararajasingham (1934-2005), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka.
Lakshman Kadirgamar (1932-2005), former Foreign Minister, Sri Lanka.
Veerasingham Anandasangaree (1933-), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka.
Murugesu Sivasithamparam (1923-2002), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka.
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan (1933-), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka.
Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam (1944-1999), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka.
Appapillai Amirthalingam (1927-1989), leader of the opposition, Parliament of Sri Lanka.
Douglas Devananda (1957-), leader of EPDP and Minister of Rehabilitation, Sri Lanka.
Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani (1903-1974), Tamil journalist, writer, publisher, social activist
Patrick Pillay (?-), has been the Minister of External Affairs of the Seychelles
Jean-Paul Virapoullé(1944-), member of the Senate of France, representing the island of Réunion
E.E.C. Thuraisingham (1898-1979), first local Member in British-ruled Malaya

Political Families

Tamil Nadu

P.T. Rajan Family

P.T. Rajan (1892-1974), former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency.
- P.T.R. Palanivel Rajan (1932-2006), former minister in the state cabinet, son of P.T. Rajan

P. Subbarayan Family

P. Subbarayan (1889-1962), former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (1926–1930)
- Mohan Kumaramangalam (1916-1973), former Minister of Steel and Mines, son of P. Subbarayan
  - T.M. Kaliannan (1921-), Constituent Assembly Member, former TNCC Vice President, ex MP, ex MLA, ex MLC
  - Rangarajan Kumaramangalam (1952-2000), member of parliament (Lok Sabha), son of Mohan Kumaramangalam, grandson of P. Subbarayan
  - Lalitha Kumaramangalam (1957-), member of the National Executive of the BJP, daughter of Mohan Kumaramangalam, granddaughter of P. Subbarayan
- Parvathi Krishnan (1919-2014), was member of the Communist Party of India, daughter of P. Subbarayan

C.P. Ramaswami Iyer Family

Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer (1879-1966), Member of Madras Legislative Council.
- R. Pattabhiraman (1906-2001), Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), son of C.P. Ramaswami Iyer.

M. Bhaktavatsalam Family

M. Bhaktavatsalam (1897-1987), Chief Minister of Madras state (1962–1967).
- - Jayanthi Natarajan (1954-), former Minister of State for Environment and Forests, daughter of Rukmini, granddaughter of M. Bhaktavatsalam

Rajaji Family

C. Rajagopalachari alias Rajaji (1878-1972), Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (1937–1940)
- C.R. Narasimhan (1909-1989), Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), son of Rajaji

E.V.K. Sampath Family

E.V.K. Sampath (1926-1977)
- E.V.K.S. Elangovan (1948-), son of E. V. K. Sampath
  - E. Thirumahan Everaa (?-), member of INC, son of E.V.K.S. Elangovan, grandson of E.V.K. Sampath

Kumari Ananthan Family

H. Kumari Ananthan (1933-)
- Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961-), daughter of Kumari Ananthan
H. Vasanthakumar (1950-), brother of Kumari Ananthan

S.S. Ramasami Padayatchi

S.S. Ramasami Padayatchiyar (1918-1992), Indian politician and founder of the Tamil Nadu Toilers' Party.
- S.S.R. Ramadass (1964-), Member of Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) for Tindivanam

G.K. Moopanar Family

G.K. Moopanar (1931-2001), Indian politician and founder of the Tamil Maanila Congress.
- G.K. Vasan (1964-), State leader of the Indian National Congress, former Union Minister of Shipping, son of G.K. Moopanar

M. Karunanidhi Family

M. Karunanidhi (1924-), leader of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, was a 5-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- M.K. Alagiri (1951-), former Central Minister, son of Karunanidhi
- M.K. Stalin (1953-), former Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, son of Karunanidhi
- Kanimozhi (1968-), former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), daughter of Karunanidhi
- Murasoli Maran (1934-2003), former Central Minister, nephew of Karunanidhi
- Dayanidhi Maran (1966-), former Central Minister, grandnephew of Karunanidhi

Dr. S. Ramadoss Family

S. Ramadoss
- Anbumani Ramadoss

Sri Lanka

Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy Family

Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy (1783-1836), Gate Mudaliyar, Member of Legislative Council
- Muthu Coomaraswamy (1833-1879), Member of Legislative Council, son of Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy
  - Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877-1947), grandson of Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy

Arunachalam Ponnambalam Family

Arunachalam Ponnambalam (1814-1887), son in law of Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy
- P. Coomaraswamy (1849-1906), first son of Arunachalam Ponnambalam
- P. Ramanathan (1851-1930), second son of Arunachalam Ponnambalam
  - Arunachalam Mahadeva (1885-1969), son of P. Ramanathan
    - Baku Mahadeva (1921-2013), grandson of P. Ramanathan
- P. Arunachalam (1853-1924), third son of Arunachalam Ponnambalam

S. Pararajasingam Family

S. Pararajasingam, senator, son in law of P. Arunachalam, married Pathmavathy (daughter of P. Arunachalam)
- D.M. Swaminathan, maternal grandson of S. Pararajasingam

V.P. Ganeshan Family

V.P. Ganeshan (?-), founder of the Democratic Workers' Congress, film producer and actor
- Mano Ganesan (1959-), Member of Parliament, Provincial Councillor, son of V.P. Ganeshan
- Praba Ganesan (1964-), Member of Parliament, Provincial Councillor, son of V.P. Ganeshan

Savumiamoorthy Thondaiman Family

Savumiamoorthy Thondaiman (1913-1999), founder and leader of the Ceylon Workers' Congress, government minister, Member of Parliament
- - Arumugam Thondaiman (1964-), leader of the Ceylon Workers' Congress, Member of Parliament, grandson of Savumiamoorthy Thondaiman

G.G. Ponnambalam Family

G.G. Ponnambalam (1901-1977), founder and leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, government minister, Member of Parliament, Member of State Council
- Kumar Ponnambalam (1940-2000), former leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, presidential candidate (1982), son of G.G. Ponnambalam
  - Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam (1974-), present leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, son of Kumar Ponnambalam, grandson of G.G. Ponnambalam

Arumugam Canagaratnam Family

Arumugam Canagaratnam (873-?), Member of Legislative Council
- Cathiravelu Sittampalam (1898-1964), government minister, Member of Parliament, son of A. Cathiravelu, nephew of A.Canagaratnam
- Cathiravelu Ponnambalam (?-), first mayor of Jaffna, son of A. Cathiravelu, nephew of A. Canagaratnam

Military Leaders

Army

General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam (1913-2000), 7th Chief of Army Staff (June 7, 1966–June 7, 1969).
General Krishnaswamy Sundararajan (1930-1999), 14th Chief of Army Staff (February 1, 1986–April 30, 1988).

Navy

Admiral Sushil Kumar (?-) 16th Chief of the Naval Staff (India) (December 30, 1988–December 29, 2001).

Air Force

Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishna Swamy (1943-), 19th Chief of Air Staff (December 31, 2001–December 31, 2004).

Award winners

Bharat Ratna

The Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian honour.

K. Kamaraj, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India
C.V. Raman, first Asian Nobel Laurete to win, Prize in the Science Field
C. Subramaniam for Public Affairs 1998
Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi, first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna. She is the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award
C.Rajagopalachari,first governor general of India
Dr.S.Radhakrishnan,second President of India
M.G.Ramachandran,film actor and former Chief Minister of TamilNadu

Padma Vibhushan

The Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian honour.

Arcot Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar for Medicine 1963.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar for Science & Engineering 1968.
K. V. Kalyana Sundaram for Public Affairs 1968.
Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar for Civil Service 1970.
T. Swaminathan for Civil Service 1973.
T. Balasaraswati for Arts 1977.
V. Arunachalam for Literature & Education 1990.
Raja Jesudoss Chelliah for Public Affairs 2007.
Balu Sankaran for Medicine 2007.
V. Krishnamurthy for Civil Service 2007.
Superstar Rajinikanth for Arts 2016

Padma Bhushan

Main|List of Tamil recipients of the Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is India's third highest civilian honour.

Sivaji Ganesan - 1984
Superstar Rajinikanth - Arts (2000)
Kamal Haasan - Arts
Ilaiyaraaja - veteran musician and Tamil music director
A. R. Rahman - Oscar-winning Tamil Musician, born in a Tamil mudaliar family, converted to Islam
Arogyaswami Paulraj - wireless technology pioneer
Shiv Nadar - Indian industrialist and philanthropist
jayakanthan - very first time for Tamil literature
Ranjan Roy Daniel (1923-2005) - physicist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research – 1992

Padma Shri

The Padma Shri is India's fourth highest civilian honour.

Sivaji Ganesan (1966) - Arts
K. Balachander (1987) - Arts
Kamal Haasan (1990) - Arts
Vairamuthu (2003) - Literature and Education
B. Palaniappan (2006) - Medicine
Sivanthi Adithan (2008) - Literature and Education
Actor Vivek (2009) - Arts
Mecca Rafeeque Ahmed (2011) - businessman and entrepreneur

Oscar Award

A. R. Rahman - won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2009

Nobel Prize Winners

C. V. Raman - Nobel Prize in Physics, 1930
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar - Nobel Prize in Physics, 1983
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan - Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2009

Ramon Magsaysay Award

The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established in April 1957 in memory of Ramon Magsaysay, the late president of the Philippines. It is often considered to be Asia's Nobel Prize.

M.S. Subbulakshmi - for classical carnatic genre – 1974
Jockin Arputham - for Peace and International Understanding – 2000
Palagummi Sainath - journalist – 2007
Kulandei Francis – 2012

Dadasaheb Phalke Award

is India's highest award in cinema given annually by the Government of India for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. It was instituted in 1969,the birth centenary year of Dadasaheb Phalke, considered as the father of Indian cinema

Sivaji Ganesan - 1996
K.Balachander - 2011

Param Vir Chakra

The Param Vir Chakra is India's highest military honor.

Major Ramaswamy Parmeshwaran (1946–1987) - awarded in 1987 (Posthumous) for IPKF operations in Sri Lanka.

Sahitya Akademi Award

Main article: List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is India's highest sporting honour.

Viswanathan Anand - for chess (1991–92), first recipient of the award.

Jnanpith Award

Akilan, Jnanpith Award - (1975)
Jayakanthan, Jnanpith Award - (2002)

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Vyjayanthimala, Sangeet Natak Akademi - winner (1982)

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship

Guinness World Record

L. Athira Krishna, Guinness World Record holder
Suresh Joachim, Canadian actor, producer, and multiple-Guinness World Record holder
V.S. Kumar Anandan, one of his many records include Swimming the Palk Strait, from Sri Lanka to India and back in 51 hours, in the year 1971.
Kutraleeswaran, swam across English Channel in 1994 when he was just 13 years old. That very same calendar year, he swam across 6 channels to break Mihir Sen's record of swimming across 5 channels in a calendar year. .
Rajasekharan Parameswaran, Guinness World Records^[1] holder

Arjuna Award

Main article: List of Tamil recipients of the Arjuna Award

The Arjuna Award was instituted in 1961 by the Government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in national sports.

Kutraleeswaran, youngest Arjuna Award winner

Social Workers

M.B.Nirmal - founder and chairman of Exnora International
Krishnammal Jagannathan
Naraina Pillai
Anjali Gopalan - first Indian Tamil woman awarded with Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur `Knight in the order of the legions of Honor" The highest award from France. July 2013.
Harish Iyer - Mumbai based Blogger^[2] and LGBT rights activist^[3]
Chinna Pillai - started 'Kalanjiam', microcredit movement in villages

Business & Administration

Tamil Billionaires

Tamil executives and business people

Main article: Tamil executives and businesspeople

Palani G. Periasamy, Chairman PGP Group of Companies
Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, Inc.
Kalanidhi Maran, founder and head of Sun TV Network, owner of SpiceJet Airline and owner of Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL Team
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd
Subramaniam Ramadorai, adviser, Prime Minister of India

Educationalist

L. S. Kandasamy, teacher at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

Philanthropists

Diplomats

Gopalapuram Parthasarathy, diplomat and author in India.
Yogendra Duraiswamy, was a Sri Lankan diplomat
Tamara Kunanayakam
Arunachalam Mahadeva
Anton Muttukumaru
Manicasothy Saravanamuttu
H. W. Thambiah
Krishnan Srinivasan
K. Raghunath

Journalists & Broadcasters

J. S. Tissainayagam – journalist and first winner of the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism
George Alagiah – BBC reporter and journalist.
James Coomarasamy – BBC reporter and journalist.
Darshini David – BBC reporter and journalist.
Tim Kash – MTV and BBC reporter and journalist.
Taraki Sivaram – political analyst and a senior editor for Tamilnet.com
E. Saravanapavan – managing director of the Uthayan and Sudar Oli Tamil newspapers.
N. Ram – was the editor-in-chief of The Hindu newspaper owned by Kasthuri and Sons.
Cho Ramaswamy – editor of the Tamil political journal Tughlaq
Thenkachi Ko. Swaminathan – Deputy Director of All India Radio, 'Indru oru thagaval Fame'

Scientists

Mylswamy Annadurai – Scientist with the Indian Space Research Organization and currently serves as Director, ISRO Satellite Centre
Shiva Ayyadurai – as a high school student in 1979, he developed an electronic version of an interoffice mail system, which he called "EMAIL" and copyrighted in 1982

Social Anthropology

Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah

Academicians

Arumugam Vijiaratnam – became the first Pro-Chancellor of Nanyang Technological University in 1992 and served until 2005.
Bala V. Balachandran – founder & Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, India and Professor at Northwestern University
V. L. Ethiraj – founder of Ethiraj College for Women
Malcolm Adiseshiah (1910–1994) – economist, Former Deputy Director General of UNESCO & founder MIDS (Madras Institute of Development Studies).
V C Kulandaiswamy – educator and Technologist. Formerly Vice Chancellor of Anna University, IGNOU and Tamil Virtual University.
M. Varadarasan – winner of sahitya Academy Award and Ex-Vice Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University.
Prof Philip Jeyaretnam – professor of law and member, Public Service Commission.
Prof Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam – former Head, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the National University of Singapore.
Arjun Appadurai – contemporary Social theorist, educator and founder of the School of International Relations, JNU, New Delhi.
Dr. H.S.S. Lawrence – educator who was formerly Director of School Education, Tamil Nadu and UNESCO Expert to Government of Afghanistan.
C.K. Prahalad – Professor of Corporate Strategy at the Ross School of Business of the University of Michigan.
Prof B.P. Sanjay – Vice-Chancellor of First Central University in Tamil Nadu at Tiruvaroor.
M. S. Ananth – Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in December 2001.[1]
Xavier Thaninayagam – known for setting up the International Association for Tamil Research(IATR) and organising the first World Tamil Conference.
Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer – appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.
Sanjay Subrahmanyam – Infosys Prize in the field of Humanities (History) in 2012.
Indira Samarasekera – 12th and current president and vice-chancellor of the University of Alberta
Vilayanur S. Ramachandran – neuroscientist known primarily for his work in the fields of behavioral neurology and visual psychophysics.

Agriculture

G. Nammalvar – Indian organic farming scientist
M. S. Swaminathan – agricultural scientist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee
Sivakumar Veerasamy – plant geneticist

Botanists

Computer science

Ramanathan V. Guha, known for his work on Cyc, Schema.org, Meta Content Framework, Resource Description Framework and developed the first

version of RSS

Madhu Sudan (1966-), professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Hari Balakrishnan, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Arogyaswami Paulraj (1944-), Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. A pioneer of wireless smart antenna technology
Srinidhi Varadarajan, director of Virginia Tech's Terascale Computing Facility.
Shiva Ayyadurai
Ravindran Kannan, currently a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research India,
T. V. Raman
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google

Finance & economics

Marti Subrahmanyam, professor at New York University (NYU) and board of directors of Infosys and ICICI
Bala V. Balachandran, professor at the Kellogg School of Management
Ravi Jagannathan, economist and professor at the Kellogg School of Management
H.V.R. Iyengar, ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1957–1962)
S. Jagannathan, ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1970–1975) and Executive at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)
M. Narasimham, banker, ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1977) and executive at the World Bank and IMF
S. Venkitaramanan, ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1990–1992)
K. Ramachandran, Director, CFO, Barclays Wealth, India (2008–)
T.N. Srinivasan (born 1933), economist and the Samuel C. Park, Jr. Professor of Economics at Yale University.
Raghuram Rajan, RBI Governor and economist, Government of India
Sendhil Mullainathan, co-founder of Ideas-42
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Ramon Navaratnam
Raj Chetty, in 2008 The Economist listed Chetty as one of the top eight young economists in the world

Law

P. Sathasivam, formerChief Justice of India
K. Sripavan, current Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, and former Deputy Solicitor General, judge and president of the Court of Appeal, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
Rajesh Sreenivasan
Karthy Govender, Commissioner, South African Human Rights Commission and law professor at the University of Natal
Kamala Harris, current U.S. Attorney
K.S. Rajah, former Supreme Court Judge – Singapore
V.L. Ethiraj, first Indian to be appointed as Crown Prosecutor by the British Raj
A.R. Lakshmanan, former judge of the Supreme Court of India and Former chairman of the Law Commission of India during 2006-2009.
Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. A South African of Indian origin and Tamil descent, she was the first non-white woman on the High Court of South Africa,[1] and she has also served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
M. Patanjali Sastri, Second Chief Justice of India
V. Bhashyam Aiyangar, lawyer and jurist
P.R. Sundaram Iyer, Indian Tamil lawyer and founder of Madras Law Journal
A. Vaidyanatha Iyer(1890–1955), Tamil Indian activist. Participated in the Indian independence movement and organized the temple entry movement in the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. President of the Tamil Nadu Harijan Seva Sangh.
Mythili Raman, Tamil American lawyer and the current acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division.
Sri Srinivasan, United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Mathematics

Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), known for his contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions
Swami Bharati Krishna Tirtha, known for his book Vedic Mathematics (book)
Ramachandran Balasubramanian, Indian Number Theorist and current Director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai, India
Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai (1901-1950), known for his work in Number theory
Kollagunta Gopalaiyer Ramanathan (1920-1992), known work in Number theory
Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer (1918-2001), mathematician and Tamil rights activist from Sri Lanka and a recipient of the Order of Australia.
C.S. Seshadri, Director, Chennai Mathematical Institute and Trieste awardee
S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan, mathematician and fellow of the Royal Society, abel prizewinner
C.P. Ramanujam (1938–1974), worked on number theory and algebraic geometry.
T.S.Vijayaraghavan (1902-1955), worked on Pisot-Vijayaraghavan number
Ravindran Kannan, Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at Yale University. Joint winner of the 1991 Fulkerson Prize in discrete mathematics for work on the volumes of convex bodies.
V.S. Varadarajan, professor of mathematics, UCLA, current work (2012) centers around supersymmetry and representations of super Lie groups and super homogeneous spaces.
Kannan Soundararajan
Conjeeveram Seshadri
Ramaiyengar Sridharan
Chidambaram Padmanabhan Ramanujam
Srinivasacharya Raghavan
Madabusi Santanam Raghunathan
A.A. Krishnaswami Ayyangar, exponent of Vedic mathematics
Mudumbai Seshachalu Narasimhan, mathematician and fellow of the Royal Society (1996)
K.R.Parthasarathy, Professor Emeritus at the Indian Statistical Institute of New Delhi
Ramaiyengar Sridharan,mathematician at Chennai Mathematical InstituteSridharan was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB prize) in Mathematical Science
Raman Parimala, known for her contributions to algebra
K.S. Chandrasekharan (born November 21, 1920), professor emeritus at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich and a founding faculty member of School of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).

Medicine

Balamurali Ambati, world's youngest doctor at age 17^[4]
Rangaswamy Srinivasan, ultraviolet excimer laser / LASIK. inventor at IBM Research.
V.S. Ramachandran, neuroscientist; Director Professor at UC San Diego.
S.S. Ratnam, pioneer in Singapore in-vitro fertilisation. (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry)
Ganapathi Thanikaimoni, Palynologist, French Institute of Pondicherry, awarded the Fyson Prize in Natural Science.
R. Venkataswami, founder of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the Stanley Medical College.
Govindappa Venkataswamy, founder of Aravind Eye Hospital
Ravi Iyengar, professor and founder of the Iyengar Laboratory, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Gunamudian David Boaz, was an Indian Tamil psychologist

Engineering (Scientists)

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, 1930 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, 1983 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics.
Dr K. Kasturirangan, former Chairman of ISRO and present director of National institute of advanced studies (NIAS).
Raja Ramanna, former Chairman of Department of Atomic Energy and presided over India's first nuclear test in 1974.
Dr. P.K. Iyengar, former Chairman of Department of Atomic Energy.
M.R.Srinivasan, former Chairman of the Department of Atomic Energy.
R. Chidambaram, scientific adviser to the Prime Minister of India and ex-Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission.
S.R. Ranganathan, devised the five laws of library science.
A. Sivathanu Pillai, defence scientist and the CEO of the Indo-Russian Brahmos company
G. N. Ramachandran (1922–2001), made major contributions to Biology and Physics.
R. V. Perumal, former Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
P.S. Veeraraghavan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
Ramanuja Vijayaraghavan (born 1931), physicist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Udaya Kumar, designer of the Indian rupee sign.
A.P. Balachandran, theoretical physicist
R.S. Krishnan, Elagu V. Elaguppillai, businessman, nuclear scientist, university professor, medical researcher, municipal politician.
Veerasingham Dhuruvasangary, was a scientist and inventor
Vallampadugai Srinivasa Raghavan Arunachalam
Poondi Kumaraswamy, only one to have received both the Homi Bhabha Fellowship 1967–69[4] and the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship 1975–77, two of the country's top research awards.hydrologist
P.S.Krishnaprasad, professor of electrical engineerihg at the University of Maryland.
S. Somasegar, he was presented the Asian American Engineer of the Year Award.
S.Vanajah, only woman among four finalists who outlasted 11,000 other Malaysians who applied for the astronaut selection process in 2003
B.C. Shekhar, modernised Malaysia's natural rubber industry
Raman Sundrum, developed a class of models called the Randall-Sundrum models
Siva Sivananthan, awarded the "Champion of Change" (Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Innovators category) by the White House.
G.D. Naidu, was an Indian inventor and engineer who is also referred to as the Edison of India Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu.

Zoologist

Mahadeva Subramania Mani, entomologist

Music

Tamil music

Muthu Thandavar, one of the Tamil Trinity
Marimutthu Pillai, one of the Tamil Trinity
Arunachala Kavi, one of the Tamil Trinity
Kollangudi Karuppayee

Carnatic music

Ranjani & Gayatri
Papanasam Sivan
Sikkil Gurucharan
Lalgudi Jayaraman
Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
T.N. Seshagopalan
T.M. Krishna
Madurai Mani Iyer
Veena Dhanammal
E. Gayathri
D.K. Pattammal
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Muthuswami Dikshitar
N. Ramani
L. Athira Krishna
Aruna Sairam
T. Brinda
T. Muktha
T. Viswanathan
R. Vedavalli
Sirkazhi Govindarajan
Maharajapuram Santhanam
Sanjay Subrahmanyan
T.M. Krishna
T.M. Soundararajan
Sudha Raghunathan
Unni Krishnan
Nithyashree Mahadevan
Nisha Rajagopalan
Bombay Jayashri
Chinmayi
Mahathi
Alathur Brothers, Alathur Brothers Srinivasa Iyer (1912-1964) and Sivasubramania Iyer (1916-1980)
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar
Patnam Subramania Iyer
G.N. Balasubramaniam
M.L. Vasanthakumari
Charumathi Ramachandran
Vasundhara Devi
Vyjayanthimala
Abraham Pandithar, musicologist and siddha medicine practitioner from Madras Presidency, British India.

Film music

K.V. Mahadevan (1918-2001), composer, Winner National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1968 & 1980)
T.K. Ramamoorthy (1922-2013), composer
Ilayaraja
Gangai Amaran (1947-), composer, singer, director
Chandrabose (composer) (?-2010), composer
Sankar Ganesh (?-), composer
Deva (music director) (1950-), composer, singer
S. A. Rajkumar (1964-), composer
Sirpy (1962-), composer
A. R. Rahman (1967-), composer, singer, winner Academy Award for Best Original Song, National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1993, 1997, 2002 & 2003)
Yuvan Shankar Raja (1979-), composer, singer, winner Cyprus International Film Festival Award in 2006 for Raam.
Harris Jayaraj (1975-), composer
D. Imman (1983-), composer, singer
Srikanth Deva, composer, singer
Bobo Shashi, composer, singer
Karthik Raja (1973-), composer
Bharathwaj (1960-), composer, singer
G. V. Prakash Kumar (1987-), composer, singer, actor
Vijay Antony (1975-), composer, singer, actor
Anirudh Ravichander (1990-), composer, singer
James Vasanthan (?-), composer
Santhosh Narayanan (1983-), composer
Mohamaad Ghibran (b.1980), composer

Western music

M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam), British musician
Clarence Jey (Clarence Jeyaretnam), Sri Lankan American record producer
Yogi B (Yogeswaran Veerasingam), Malaysian hiphop artist, founder of Poetic Ammo
Kamahl (Kandiah Kamalesvaran), Australian cabaret/easy listening singer
Tharini Mudaliar, Australian singer and violinist
Jacintha Abisheganaden, Singaporean singer
Rudra, Singaporean Death metal band
Shruti Haasan, western singer, daughter of Tamil actor Kamal Haasan
Blaaze, rap artist and playback singer
Lord Kossity
Siva Kaneswaran, band member of The Wanted
Arjun Coomaraswamy, UK RnB Singer^[5]
Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Sri Lankan hiphop artist

Dance

Cinema

Directors

Susi Ganeshan
A.P. Nagarajan
A. Bhimsingh
Balu Mahendra (1946-), director, cinematographer and winner, National Film Award for Best Cinematography (1978) & (1983)
Bharathiraja (1941-), winner, National Film Award for Best Screenplay (2001)
Bhagyaraj
Cheran
C.V. Sridhar
J. Mahendran
K. Balachander (1930-2014), winner, National Film Award for Best Screenplay (1982)
Mani Ratnam (1956-), multi National Film Award winner.
Manoj Nelliyatu Shyamalan (also known as M. Night Shyamalan) (born 1970), two-time Academy Award nominated filmmaker and screenwriter
B. Lenin, winner, National Film Award for Best Direction (2002)
Agaththian, winner, National Film Award for Best Direction & National Film Award for Best Screenplay (1997)
Bala, director National Film Award for Best Direction (2009)
Ameer Sultan, director and National Film Awards for Best Film – Paruthiveeran (2007)
Dharani
Parthiban
Kamal Hassan
R.K. Selvamani
Selvaraghavan
S. Shankar (born 1963)
Vasanth
A.R. Murugadoss
Vikraman
Vetrimaaran, winner, National Film Award for Best Direction & National Film Award for Best Screenplay (2011)
Mysskin
Suseenthiran
Pandiarajan
Sebastian Seeman
K.S.Ravikumar
S.J. Suryah (born 1968)
Kothamangalam Subbu, poet, lyricist, writer, actor and director
Hari
A.L.Vijay
Maniratnam
Thangar Bachan, director, actor
V. Gowthaman, director, actor
Sasikumar, director, actor, producer
Samuthirakani, director, actor

Actors

Actresses

Vyjayanthimala
Sridevi, voted best actress of all time in Indian cinema^[6]
Suhasini
Hema Malini
Jaya Bachchan
Meena
Meenakshi Sheshadri
Waheeda Rahman
Sripriya
Kasthuri
sridevi Vijayakumar
Preetha Vijayakumar
Lakshmi
Manorama
Radhika
Trisha
Priya Anand
Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Shruti Hassan
Vadivukkarasi

Music composers

See: Film Music

In Hollywood

Jay Chandrasekhar, actor, comedian, writer, and film director
Sendhil Ramamurthy, actor in NBC drama Heroes
Ashok Amritraj, filmmaker, producer
Sunkrish Bala, actor in ABC show Notes from the Underbelly
Mindy Kaling, actor in NBC sitcom The Office
Aziz Ansari, actor
Chandran Rutnam, award-winning director for the movie A Common Man at the Madrid International Film Festival as the Best Director

Other entertainers

Aziz Ansari, comedian
Padma Lakshmi, model and television host

Sports & Games

Athletics

Santhi Soundarajan, first World Peace Sports Festival Ambassador from India and first Tamil woman to win a medal at Asian Games
Mani Jegathesan
Sathish Sivalingam

Carrom

A. Maria Irudayam, World Carrom Champion and Arjuna Award winner for Carrom (1996)
R. Arokiaraj, Carrom Champion
B. Radhakrishnan, Carrom Champion

Volleyball

A. Palanisamy, first Arjuna Award winner for volleyball (1961)
G.E. Sridharan, Arjuna Award winner
Kumaran, played for Indian team and currently playing for IOB,Chennai
Sivabalan, played for India and currently playing for IOB, Chennai

Chess

Viswanathan Anand, World Chess champion and the first Indian to earn the title of Grandmaster.
Manuel Aaron, first Indian to earn the title of International Master
Murugan Thiruchelvam, chess player from United Kingdom
Krishnan Sasikiran, Grandmaster and Arjuna Award winner for Chess (2002)
S. Vijayalakshmi, six time Women's national champion of India, the First Women Grandmaster from India and Arjuna Award winner for Chess (2000)
Aarthie Ramaswamy, Women Grandmaster and under-18 girls' World Chess champion
R.B. Ramesh, Grandmaster and National Champion of India and winner of the 2002 British Chess Championship
Baskaran Adhiban, Chess GrandMaster from Tamil Nadu
S.P. Sethuraman, Chess GrandMaster from Tamil Nadu

Cricket

India

Cota Ramaswami (1896-presumed dead), represented India in both International Cricket and Tennis.
M.J. Gopalan (1909-2003), represented India in both International Hockey and Cricket.
C.R. Rangachari (1916-1993), pace bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
C.D. Gopinath (1930-), batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
Ravichandran Ashwin, all rounder, Indian Cricket Team.
S. Venkataraghavan (1945-), ex-Captain of Indian Cricket Team and Test & ODI umpire.
K. Srikkanth (1959-), ex-Captain and current Chief Selector of Indian Cricket Team.
T.A. Sekhar (1956-), pace bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
Thiru Kumaran (1975-), pace bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
T.E. Srinivasan, batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
L. Sivaramakrishnan (1965-), spin bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
V.B. Chandrasekhar, batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
Bharat Arun (1962-), pace bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
Murali Kartik (1976-), spin bowler, Indian Cricket Team, Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune Warriors.
Sadagoppan Ramesh (1975-), batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
Subramaniam Badrinath (born 1980), batsman, Indian Cricket Team, Chennai Super Kings.
Murali Vijay (1984-), batsman, Indian Cricket Team, Chennai Super Kings.
Lakshmipathy Balaji (1981-), pace bowler, Indian Cricket Team, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders.
Dinesh Karthik (1985-), wicketkeeper, Indian Cricket Team, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians.

Other countries

Muttiah Muralitharan (1972-), highest Wicket taker in test and ODI cricket from Sri Lanka
Angelo Mathews, Sri Lankan all rounder and captain
Russel Arnold, Sri Lankan cricketer and journalist
Roy Dias, former Sri Lankan test cricketer/vice captain – a Tamil of Negombo Chetty
Sridharan Jeganathan, former NCC and Sri Lankan test cricketer/off spin bowler (died on May 14, 1996). First Sri Lankan test cricketer to die
Vinodhan John, pace bowler, first Sri Lankan Tamil Test cricketer 1982
Pradeep Jayaprakashdaran, Sri Lankan One Day International(ODI)cricket player
S. Illangaratnam, late Sri Lankan cricketer, stalwart of Moratuwa and Bloomfield cricket clubs prior to the Test era
Mahadevan Sathasivam, one of the best cricket batsmen produced by Ceylon
Kandiah Thirugnansampandapillai Francis, International Test and ODI umpire from Sri Lanka
Nasser Hussain (March 28, 1968, Madras, India-), former Essex and England cricketer, test captain
Sanjayan Thuraisingam (1969-), pace bowler, Canadian Cricket Team
Alvin Kallicharan, former West Indies Guyana cricket captain
Mahendra Nagamootoo, former West Indies and Guyana cricketer, nephew of Alvin Kallicharan
Veerasammy Permaul, West Indies and Guyana cricketer

Football

Peter Velappan (1935-), General Secretary of Asian Football Confederation and member of FIFA Strategic Studies Committee & Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup.
Peter Thangaraj (1938-2008), Olympion and the Goalkeeper of Indian football team that won the Gold Medal at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games.
Syed Sabir Pasha represented Indian football team in the early 1990s. He also played for and coached Indian Bank-chennai

Hockey

Vasudevan Baskaran, captain of the Indian hockey team that won Olympic Gold in 1980 Moscow Olympics and Arjuna Award winner (1979-1980).
Dhanraj Pillay (1968-), ex-Indian hockey team Captain, Arjuna Award winner (1995) and also winner of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (1999-2000).
Adam Sinclair, member of the Indian hockey team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Raja, member of the Indian hockey team team.

Mountain climbing

M. Magendran, conquered the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest

Racing

Narain Karthikeyan, Coimbatore, India's first Formula 1 driver
Karun Chandhok, Formula 1 driver
S. Karivardhan, car constructor and National Champion
Naren Kumar, 4 time National Rally Champion
J. Anand, 3 time National F3 Grand Prix winner

Tennis

Vijay Amritraj, international champion and actor
Anand Amritraj, international player
Ashok Amritraj, international player
Prakash Amritraj, international player
Ramanathan Krishnan, international player
Ramesh Krishnan, international player
Nirupama Vaidyanathan, international player

Entertainers

Vyjayanthimala, Bharatanatyam dancer, she introduced semi-classical dance in Bollywood^[7]
Rukmini Devi Arundale, Bharatanatyam dancer and founder of Kalakshetra
Balasaraswati, Bharatanatyam dancer
Alarmel Valli, Bharatanatyam dancer
Chitra Visweswaran, Bharatanatyam dancer
Padma Subramanyam, Bharatanatyam dancer
Pithukuli Murugadas, musician
K.B. Sundarambal, actress/singer
Sirkazhi Govindarajan, vocalist and Carnatic music exponent
Vethathiri Maharishi, founder of the World Community Service Center
Dr. Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram, vocalist and Carnatic music exponent

Religion and Spirituality

Bodhidharma (5th/6th century), Buddhist monk and 28th patriarch of Buddhism. He was traditionally credited as the leading patriarch and transmitter of Zen to China.he spread shaolin kung fu in china
Ayya Vaikundar (1809-1851), founder and preceptor of the Ayyavazhi sect
Ramalinga Swamigal (1823–1873), popularly known as Vallalar
Ramanuja (1017-1137), philosopher and saint of Vaishnavism
Appayya Dikshidar (1520-1593), philosopher, followed Advaita School of Indian Philosophy
Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950)
Yogaswami (1872-1964)
Bangaru Adigalar (1941-)
Sivananda Saraswati (1887-1963), proponent of Yoga and Vedanta
Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy (1924-2014), Cardinal Priest of S Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci fuori Porta Cavalleggeri, Vatican City
Dayananda Saraswati (1930-2015), Founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
Yogiraj Shri Vethathiri Maharishi, founder of The World Community Service Center, an organisation striving for World peace from 1911
Bala Prajapathi Adikalar, present Pattathu Ayya of Swamithope pathi and leader of Ayyavazhi religion
Bishop Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (1874-1945), the first Anglican Indian bishop, consecrated as the first bishop of the diocese of Dornakal in December 1912
Thirumuruga Kirupananda Variyar
D.G.S. Dhinakaran, Christian Evangelist and founder of Jesus Calls Ministries
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Perumal Rasu, philosopher and painter
Laxmisena, of the Mel Sithamur Jain Math, primary religious head of the Tamil Jain community^[8]
Sadhu Kuppuswami, instrumental in the establishment of the Sangam organisation in Fiji
Swami Vipulananda, Hindu social reformer, literary critic, author, poet, teacher and ascetic from the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka

Tamil Literature

Classical literature

Thiruvalluvar, poet and author of the Tirukkuṛaḷ
Tirumular, poet and author of Tirumantiram
Kambar, author of Ramavataram
Avvaiyar, author of Ātticcūṭi
Eelattu Poothanthevanar, classical Sri Lankan poet of Sangam period

Spiritual literature

Hindu

Nakkeerar author of Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai
Thirumular, author of Thirumandhiram
Arunagirinathar, author of Thiruppugazh
Sekkizhar, author of Periapuranam
Manikkavasagar, author of Thiruvasagam and one of the Nayanmars
Siva prakasar, author of Nanneri
Nammalvar, author of Tiruvaymoli and one of the Alwars
Thirumazhisai Alvar, author of Tiruchanda-virutham & one of the Alwars
Andal, Author of Tiruppaavai and one of the Alwars.
V. Akilesapillai,scholar, poet and author of Thirukonasala Vaipavam from Sri Lanka.

Christian

Johnson Gnanabaranam

Islam

Umaru Pulavar (1605–1703), author of Sirappuranam, Islamic spiritual work on the life of Muhammad,

Jain

Illango Adigal, poet and author of Silappathikaram
Tirutakakatevar, author of Jivaka Chintamani
Mandalapuruder, author of Vira Mandalaver is Sudamani Nigandhu
Svarupananda Desikar

Modern literature

India

Ramachandra Guha, social and political writer
Bharathidasan (1891-1964), poet & rationalist
Pudhumaipithan (1906-1948), fiction writer
Professor Karmegha Konar (1889-1957), poet
Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai, first Tamil novelist
Akilan, novelist
Ramalingam Pillai
Thi.Janakiraman, novelist
Mahavidwan Vasudeva Mudaliar, scholar
Kalki Krishnamurthy (1899-1954), novelist and journalist
Jayakanthan (1934-), writer and novelist
G.P. Rajarathnam (1909-1979), Tamil-born Kannada poet and writer
T.P. Kailasam (1884-1946), playwright and writer in Kannada literature from Karnataka
Masti Venkatesha Iyengar (1891-1986), Kannada writer and recipient of Jnanpith Award
Kannadasan (1927-1981), popularly called as Kavi Arasu poet, film lyricist & winner, National Film Award for Best Lyrics (1969)
Vairamuthu (1953-), poet, film lyricist and winner, National Film Award for Best Lyrics (1986), (1993), (1995), (2000) and (2003)
Leena Manimekalai
Indira Soundarajan, novelist and short story writer
Ashoka Mitran (born 1931), novelist & short story writer
R.K. Narayan (1906–2001), English novelist and essayist
Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliar, scholar
Pa. Subramania Mudaliar, scholar
Varadarasanar, novelist
Sandilyan, novelist
Pa. Vijay, film lyricist and winner, National Film Award for Best Lyrics (2005)
Vaali, film lyricist
Sujatha Rangarajan (1935-), novelist, haiku poet, film screenplay writer
T.K. Doraiswamy (Nakulan), (1921-2007), poet, novelist, translator, professor of English Singapore writer (also, President of Singapore Law Society).
Gopal Baratham (1935-2002), Singaporean writer and neurosurgeon
Edwin Thumboo (1933-), Singaporean writer
Shyam Selvadurai, Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist
R. Raghava Iyengar
K.S. Maniam
Rani Manicka, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 2003 for South East Asia and South Pacific region

Other countries

Ronnie Govender, won the 1997 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
Kessie Govender, playwright, actor and theatre director, who founded the Stable Theatre

Others

Arumuka Navalar (1822-1879), pioneer of Tamil prose & champion of Hinduism from Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Siva prakasar, Saiva Siddantha, scholar, wrote 32 books in Tamil (Nanneri, Thiruchendur ula)
Maraimalai Adigal, scholar and activist
U.V. Swaminatha Iyer (1855-1942)
Paventhar Bharathidasan, poet also known as "Puratchi Kavignar"
Kalyanasundara Mudaliar, writer
Varadarasanar, novelist
Erode Tamilanban, poet
Solomon Pappaiah, scholar and debate judge
Pudhumaipithan, revolutionary writer from Tirunelveli Saiva Pillai community
Jayakanthan, writer
Kavimani Desigavinayagam Pillai, poet
Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai, writer
Perumal Rasu, writer, poet, painter
Ramanuja Kavirayar, poet
Gagan Narang, Olympic medalist (shooting)

Modern Art

K.K. Raghava
S. Chandrasekaran, nominated for the APBF Signature Art Prize 2008 as one of the top ten

References

↑ Rajasekharan Parameswaran, Rajasekharan Parameswaran. "Guinness World Records". guinness world records. GWR.
↑ Bose, Sushmita (December 12, 2008). "Living in Times of Terror, Reaching out in Cyberspace". Khaleej Times. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
↑ "The Solid Seven: India’s most influential Gays & Lesbians". Pink-Pages. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
↑ http://www.howstuffworks.com/9-youngest-in-their-fields.htm#page=6
↑ http://tamilculture.ca/londons-rb-sensation-arjun/
↑ http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ibnlive-poll-sridevi-voted-the-greatest-indian-actress-in-100-years/377240-8-66.html
↑ Raheja, Dinesh (May 6, 2002). "Bollywood's Dancing Queen". Rediff. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
↑ "Glossary | Terms | Eastern Terms | Bhattaraka". Herenow4u.net. January 16, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-15.

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