List of Tamil people
This is a list of notable Tamil people. Entries on this list
are demonstrably notable by having a linked current ar-
ticle or reliable sources as footnotes against the name to
verify they are notable and dene themselves as Tamil.
This list also includes emigrant Tamils and could be taken
as a list of famous Tamils.
1 Kings and Rulers
1.1 Ancient Dynasties
Chola Dynasty
Pandyan Dynasty
Chera Dynasty
Pallava Dynasty
1.2 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
1
Charubala Thondaiman (1958-), wife of
R. Rajagopala Thondaiman, member of
the INC, former mayor of Tiruchirappalli
(20012009)
2 Presidents
2.1 Indian President
C. Rajagopalachari (1878-1972),former Governor-
General of India, 21 June 1948 26 January 1950
R. Venkataraman (1910-2009), former President of
India July 25, 1987July 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 In-
dia
2.2 Other Countries President
S.R. Nathan (1924-2016), President of Singapore
(September 1, 2002August 31, 2011)
Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920-2000), President of
Mauritius (12 March 199230 June 1992)
Angidi Veeriah Chettiar (1928-2010), acting Presi-
dent of Mauritius (Feb 15, 2002Feb 18, 2002)
Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (1945-), acting Pres-
ident of Mauritius (Feb 18, 2002Feb 25, 2002)
3 International Positions
Radhika Coomaraswamy (1953-), Under-
Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special
Representative for Children and Armed Conict
James Appathurai (1968-), spokesperson for NATO
Roy Padayachie (1 May 1950 5 May 2012) was
the Minister of Public Service and Administration
of the Republic of South Africa. He also served in
the economics desk of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal
and as deputy head of local government portfolio
and also a consultant to UNICEF, UNESCO and the
World Bank.[1]
2 8 CENTRAL MINISTERS
4 Independence Movement
4.1 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)
4.2 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
Pandara Vanniyan was a Tamil king of Sri lanka who
died battling British colonial rule on the island nation
of Sri Lanka[2]
5 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
6 Governors of States
C. Rangarajan (1932-), Governor of Andhra
Pradesh (19972003)
T.V. Rajeswar (1926-), IPS Ocer, Governor of
Sikkim (19851989), West Bengal (19891990)
and Uttar Pradesh (20042009)
E.S.L. Narasimhan (1945-), IPS ocer, Gov-
ernor of Chhattisgarh (20072010), Andhra
Pradesh (2007Incumbent) and Telangana (2014
Incumbent)
7 Chief Ministers
7.1 Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
C. Rajagopalachari (1878-1972)
K. Kamaraj (1903-1975), Bharat Ratna Awardee
C.N. Annadurai (1909-1969)
V.R. Nedunchezhiyan (1920-2000)
J. Jayalalithaa (1948-)
O. Panneerselvam (1951-)
Karunanidhi (1924-)
7.2 Chief Ministers of Pondicherry
V. Venkatasubha Reddiar (1909-1982), rst In-
dian Chief Minister of Pondicherry, his son
V. Vaithilingam was also the chief minister of
Pondicherry
Subramanyan Ramaswamy
V. Vaithilingam (1950-), son of former chief minis-
ter of Pondicherry V. Venkatasubha Reddiar
P. Shanmugam (1927-2013)
N. Rangaswamy (1950-)
8 Central Ministers
R.K. Shanmukham Chetty (1892-1953), former Fi-
nance Minister of independent India.
Jana Krishnamurthi, (1928-2007), former Union
Law Minister.
K. Santhanam (1895-1980), former Railway Minis-
ter of independent India.
Satyavani Muthu (1923-1999), former Union Cabi-
net Minister
Vazhappady K. Ramamurthy (1940-2002), former
Union Cabinet Minister of Petroleum.
M. Arunachalam (1944-2004), former Cabinet
Minister
P. Chidambaram (1945-), former Finance Minister
of India.
A. Raja (1963-), former Communications and In-
formation Technology Minister of India.
Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan (1947-), former Minister
of State for Social Justice and Empowerment of In-
dia.

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 Chem-
icals 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 Min-
ister 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 Aairs
V. Narayanasamy (1947-), former Minister of State
in the Ministry of Parliamentary Aairs
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
9 Political Leaders in Other coun-
tries
Moses Nagamootoo (1947-), Prime Minister,
Guyana.
S Jayakumar (1939-), Deputy Prime Minister, Sin-
gapore.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam (1957-), Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister for Finance, Singapore.
Vivian Balakrishnan (1961-), Minister of Commu-
nity Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore.
S Rajaratnam (1915-2006), former Deputy Prime
Minister, Singapore.
3
S Dhanabalan (1937-), former Minister (various
portfolios), Singapore.
J. B. Jeyaretnam, (1926-2008) ex-opposition leader
and MP, Singapore.
Ramasamy Palanisamy (1949-), Deputy Chief Min-
ister of Penang state, Malaysia.
Nagalingam Shanmugathasan (1920-1993), found-
ing 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 Aairs 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 Parlia-
ment, 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 fa-
ther gure 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 Com-
munist politician, Sri Lanka.
Joseph Pararajasingham (1934-2005), Member of
Parliament, Sri Lanka.
Lakshman Kadirgamar (1932-2005), former For-
eign Minister, Sri Lanka.
4 10 POLITICAL FAMILIES

Veerasingham Anandasangaree (1933-), Member Parvathi Krishnan (1919-2014), was member

of Parliament, Sri Lanka. of the Communist Party of India, daughter of
P. Subbarayan
Murugesu Sivasithamparam (1923-2002), Member
of Parliament, Sri Lanka.
10.1.3 C.P. Ramaswami Iyer Family
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan (1933-), Member of
Parliament, Sri Lanka. Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer (1879-1966), Member of
Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam (1944-1999), Member of Madras Legislative Council.
Parliament, Sri Lanka.
Appapillai Amirthalingam (1927-1989), leader of 10.1.4 M. Bhaktavatsalam Family
the opposition, Parliament of Sri Lanka.
M. Bhaktavatsalam (1897-1987), Chief Minister of
Douglas Devananda (1957-), leader of EPDP and Madras state (19621967).
Minister of Rehabilitation, Sri Lanka.
Jayanthi Natarajan (1954-), former Min-
Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani (1903-1974), Tamil ister of State for Environment and
journalist, writer, publisher, social activist Forests, daughter of Rukmini, grand-
daughter of M. Bhaktavatsalam
Patrick Pillay (?-), has been the Minister of External
Aairs of the Seychelles
10.1.5 Rajaji Family
Jean-Paul Virapoull(1944-), member of the Senate
of France, representing the island of Runion C. Rajagopalachari alias Rajaji (1878-1972), Chief
E.E.C. Thuraisingham (1898-1979), rst local Minister of Madras Presidency (19371940)
Member in British-ruled Malaya
10.1.6 E.V.K. Sampath Family

10 Political Families E.V.K.S. Elangovan (1948-), son of E. V. K.

Sampath
10.1 Tamil Nadu
10.1.7 Kumari Ananthan Family
10.1.1 P.T. Rajan Family
H. Kumari Ananthan (1933-)
P.T. Rajan (1892-1974), former Chief Minister of
Madras Presidency. Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961-), daughter of
Kumari Ananthan
P.T.R. Palanivel Rajan (1932-2006), former
minister in the state cabinet, son of P.T. Ra- H. Vasanthakumar (1950-), brother of Kumari
jan Ananthan

10.1.2 P. Subbarayan Family 10.1.8 G.K. Moopanar Family

P. Subbarayan (1889-1962), former Chief Minister G.K. Moopanar (1931-2001), Indian politician and
of Madras Presidency (19261930) founder of the Tamil Maanila Congress.
Mohan Kumaramangalam (1916-1973), for- G.K. Vasan (1964-), State leader of the Indian
mer Minister of Steel and Mines, son of P. National Congress, former Union Minister of
Subbarayan Shipping, son of G.K. Moopanar
Rangarajan Kumaramangalam (1952-
2000), member of parliament (Lok
10.1.9 M. Karunanidhi Family
Sabha), son of Mohan Kumaraman-
galam, grandson of P. Subbarayan
M. Karunanidhi (1924-), leader of Dravida
Lalitha Kumaramangalam (1957-), Munnetra Kazhagam, was a 5-time Chief Minister
member of the National Executive of Tamil Nadu
of the BJP, daughter of Mohan Ku-
maramangalam, granddaughter of P. M.K. Alagiri (1951-), former Central Minis-
Subbarayan ter, son of Karunanidhi
 5

M.K. Stalin (1953-), former Deputy Chief 10.2.4 V.P. Ganeshan Family
Minister of Tamil Nadu, son of Karunanidhi
V.P. Ganeshan (?-), founder of the Democratic
Kanimozhi (1968-), former Member of
Workers Congress, lm producer and actor
Parliament (Rajya Sabha), daughter of
Karunanidhi Mano Ganesan (1959-), Member of Par-
Murasoli Maran (1934-2003), former Central liament, Provincial Councillor, son of V.P.
Minister, nephew of Karunanidhi Ganeshan
Dayanidhi Maran (1966-), former Central Praba Ganesan (1964-), Member of Par-
Minister, grandnephew of Karunanidhi liament, Provincial Councillor, son of V.P.
Ganeshan

10.1.10 Dr. S. Ramadoss Family

10.2.5 Savumiamoorthy Thondaiman Family
S. Ramadoss
Savumiamoorthy Thondaiman (1913-1999),
Anbumani Ramadoss founder and leader of the Ceylon Workers
Congress, government minister, Member of
Parliament
10.2 Sri Lanka Arumugam Thondaiman (1964-), leader
of the Ceylon Workers Congress, Mem-
10.2.1 Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy Family ber of Parliament, grandson of Savumi-
amoorthy Thondaiman
Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy (1783-1836),
Gate Mudaliyar, Member of Legislative Council
10.2.6 G.G. Ponnambalam Family
Muthu Coomaraswamy (1833-1879), Mem-
ber of Legislative Council, son of Aru- G.G. Ponnambalam (1901-1977), founder and
mugampillai Coomaraswamy leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, govern-
Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877- ment minister, Member of Parliament, Member of
1947), grandson of Arumugampillai State Council
Coomaraswamy
Kumar Ponnambalam (1940-2000), former
leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, pres-
10.2.2 Arunachalam Ponnambalam Family idential candidate (1982), son of G.G. Pon-
nambalam
Arunachalam Ponnambalam (1814-1887), son in Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam (1974-),
law of Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy present leader of the All Ceylon Tamil
Congress, son of Kumar Ponnambalam,
P. Coomaraswamy (1849-1906), rst son of grandson of G.G. Ponnambalam
Arunachalam Ponnambalam
P. Ramanathan (1851-1930), second son of 10.2.7 Arumugam Canagaratnam Family
Arunachalam Ponnambalam
Arunachalam Mahadeva (1885-1969), Arumugam Canagaratnam (873-?), Member of
son of P. Ramanathan Legislative Council
Baku Mahadeva (1921-2013),
Cathiravelu Sittampalam (1898-1964), gov-
grandson of P. Ramanathan
ernment minister, Member of Parliament, son
P. Arunachalam (1853-1924), third son of of A. Cathiravelu, nephew of A.Canagaratnam
Arunachalam Ponnambalam
Cathiravelu Ponnambalam (?-), rst mayor of
Jana, son of A. Cathiravelu, nephew of A.
Canagaratnam
10.2.3 S. Pararajasingam Family

S. Pararajasingam, senator, son in law of P.

Arunachalam, married Pathmavathy (daughter of P. 11 Military Leaders
Arunachalam)
6 12 AWARD WINNERS

11.1 Army 12.2 Padma Vibhushan

General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam The Padma Vibhushan is Indias second highest civilian
(1913-2000), 7th Chief of Army Sta (June 7, honour.
1966June 7, 1969).
Arcot Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar for Medicine
General Krishnaswamy Sundararajan (1930-1999), 1963.
14th Chief of Army Sta (February 1, 1986April
30, 1988).
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar for Science & Engi-
neering 1968.

11.2 Navy K. V. Kalyana Sundaram for Public Aairs 1968.

Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson was the 12th Chief Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar for Civil Service 1970.
of Naval Sta, India, serving from March 1, 1982
to November 30, 1984. T. Swaminathan for Civil Service 1973.

Admiral Sushil Kumar (?-) 16th Chief of the Naval

T. Balasaraswati for Arts 1977.
Sta (India) (December 30, 1988December 29,
2001).
V. Arunachalam for Literature & Education 1990.

Raja Jesudoss Chelliah for Public Aairs 2007.

11.3 Air Force
Balu Sankaran for Medicine 2007.
Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishna Swamy
(1943-), 19th Chief of Air Sta (December 31, V. Krishnamurthy for Civil Service 2007.
2001December 31, 2004).
Superstar Rajinikanth for Arts 2016

12 Award winners
12.3 Padma Bhushan
12.1 Bharat Ratna
Main|List of Tamil recipients of the Padma Bhushan The
The Bharat Ratna is Indias highest civilian honour. Padma Bhushan is Indias third highest civilian honour.

K. Kamaraj, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Sivaji Ganesan - 1984

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India Superstar Rajinikanth - Arts (2000)

C.V. Raman, rst Asian Nobel Laureate to win, Kamal Haasan - Arts
Prize in the Science Field
Ilaiyaraaja - veteran musician and Tamil music di-
C. Subramaniam for Public Aairs 1998 rector

Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi, rst mu- A. R. Rahman - Oscar-winning Tamil Musician,

sician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna. She born in a Tamil mudaliar family, converted to Islam
is the rst Indian musician to receive the Ramon
Magsaysay award Arogyaswami Paulraj - wireless technology pioneer

C.Rajagopalachari,rst governor general of India Shiv Nadar - Indian industrialist and philanthropist

Dr.S.Radhakrishnan,second President of India jayakanthan - very rst time for Tamil literature

M.G.Ramachandran,lm actor and former Chief Ranjan Roy Daniel (1923-2005) - physicist at the
Minister of TamilNadu Tata Institute of Fundamental Research 1992
12.8 Dadasaheb Phalke Award 7

12.4 Padma Shri 12.8 Dadasaheb Phalke Award

The Padma Shri is Indias fourth highest civilian honour.
Sivaji Ganesan (1966) - Arts
K. Balachander (1987) - Arts
is Indias 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

Kamal Haasan (1990) - Arts Sivaji Ganesan - 1996

K.Balachander - 2011
Vairamuthu (2003) - Literature and Education

B. Palaniappan (2006) - Medicine 12.9 Param Vir Chakra

Sivanthi Adithan (2008) - Literature and Education The Param Vir Chakra is Indias highest military honor.

Actor Vivek (2009) - Arts Major Ramaswamy Parmeshwaran (19461987) -

awarded in 1987 (Posthumous) for IPKF operations
Mecca Rafeeque Ahmed (2011) - businessman and in Sri Lanka.
entrepreneur

12.10 Sahitya Akademi Award

12.5 Oscar Award
Main article: List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners
A. R. Rahman - won the Academy Award for Best for Tamil
Original Score and Academy Award for Best Origi-
nal Song in 2009

12.11 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

12.6 Nobel Prize Winners The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is Indias highest
sporting honour.
C. V. Raman - Nobel Prize in Physics, 1930

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar - Nobel Prize in Viswanathan Anand - for chess (199192), rst re-
Physics, 1983 cipient of the award.

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan - Nobel Prize in

12.12 Jnanpith Award
Chemistry, 2009
Akilan, Jnanpith Award - (1975)

12.7 Ramon Magsaysay Award Jayakanthan, Jnanpith Award - (2002)

The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established in April

1957 in memory of Ramon Magsaysay, the late president 12.13 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
of the Philippines. It is often considered to be Asias No-
bel Prize. Vyjayanthimala, Sangeet Natak Akademi - winner
(1982)

M.S. Subbulakshmi - for classical carnatic genre

1974 12.14 Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship

Jockin Arputham - for Peace and International Un- Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer
derstanding 2000
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
Palagummi Sainath - journalist 2007 Papanasam R. Sivan

Kulandei Francis 2012 V. Raghavan

8 17 DIPLOMATS

12.15 Guinness World Record Kalanithi Maran

L. Athira Krishna, Guinness World Record holder Shiv Nadar

Suresh Joachim, Canadian actor, producer, and Ram Shriram

multiple-Guinness World Record holder
Chinnakannan Sivasankaran
V.S. Kumar Anandan, one of his many records in-
clude Swimming the Palk Strait, from Sri Lanka to A. Vellayan
India and back in 51 hours, in the year 1971. Maha Sinnathamby
Kutraleeswaran, swam across English Channel in
1994 when he was just 13 years old. That very same
14.2 Tamil executives and business people
calendar year, he swam across 6 channels to break
Mihir Sens record of swimming across 5 channels
Main article: Tamil executives and businesspeople
in a calendar year. .
Rajasekharan Parameswaran, Guinness World
Records[3] holder Palani G. Periasamy, Chairman PGP Group of
Companies

12.16 Arjuna Award Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, former Chairman and

CEO of PepsiCo
Main article: List of Tamil recipients of the Arjuna
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, Inc.
Award
Kalanidhi Maran, founder and head of Sun TV
The Arjuna Award was instituted in 1961 by the Network, owner of SpiceJet Airline and owner of
Government of India to recognize outstanding achieve- Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL Team
ment in national sports.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO of Tata Consul-
tancy Services Ltd
Kutraleeswaran, youngest Arjuna Award winner
Subramaniam Ramadorai, adviser, Prime Minister
of India
13 Social Workers
M.B.Nirmal - founder and chairman of Exnora In- 15 Educationalist
ternational
L. S. Kandasamy, teacher at Tamil Nadu Agricul-
Krishnammal Jagannathan tural University
Naraina Pillai
Anjali Gopalan - rst Indian Tamil woman awarded 16 Philanthropists
with Chevalier de la Lgion d'honneur `Knight in the
order of the legions of Honor The highest award
Alagappa Chettiar
from France. July 2013.
Harish Iyer - Mumbai based Blogger[4] and LGBT Pachaiyappa Mudaliar
rights activist[5] Chengalvaraya Naicker
Chinna Pillai - started 'Kalanjiam', microcredit Kandasamy Kandar
movement in villages

17 Diplomats
14 Business & Administration
Gopalapuram Parthasarathy, diplomat and author in
14.1 Tamil Billionaires India.

B.S. Abdur Rahman Yogendra Duraiswamy, was a Sri Lankan diplomat

Ananda Krishnan Tamara Kunanayakam

19.2 Academicians
Arunachalam Mahadeva
Anton Muttukumaru
Manicasothy Saravanamuttu
H. W. Thambiah
Krishnan Srinivasan
K. Raghunath
Beno Zephine N L
18 Journalists & Broadcasters
J. S. Tissainayagam journalist and rst winner of
the Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethi-
cal 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'
Komal Anbarasan - Media Professsional ,Writer and
Social Activist
19 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 interoce
mail system, which he called EMAIL and copy-
righted in 1982
19.1 Social Anthropology
Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah
9
19.2 Academicians
Arumugam Vijiaratnam became the rst 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 (19101994) 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 Kama-
raj University.
Prof Philip Jeyaretnam professor of law and mem-
ber, Public Service Commission.
Prof Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam former Head,
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the Na-
tional 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 Tech-
nology, Madras in December 2001.[1]
Xavier Thaninayagam known for setting up the In-
ternational Association for Tamil Research(IATR)
and organising the rst World Tamil Conference.
Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer appointed a Member
of the Order of Australia.
Sanjay Subrahmanyam Infosys Prize in the eld 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 elds of behavioral neu-
rology and visual psychophysics.
10
19.3 Agriculture
G. Nammalvar Indian organic farming scientist
M. S. Swaminathan agricultural scientist and
Ramon Magsaysay Awardee
Sivakumar Veerasamy plant geneticist
19.4 Botanists
Ganapathi Thanikaimoni (19381986),
M.O.P. Iyengar
Dr. C. Livingstone
19.5 Computer science
Ramanathan V. Guha, known for his work on Cyc,
Schema.org, Meta Content Framework, Resource
Description Framework and developed the rst
version of RSS
Madhu Sudan (1966-), professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a
member of MIT Computer Science and Articial
Intelligence Laboratory.
Hari Balakrishnan, professor at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and a member of MIT Com- 19.7 Law
puter Science and Articial Intelligence Laboratory.
Arogyaswami Paulraj (1944-), Professor of
Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. A
pioneer of wireless smart antenna technology
Srinidhi Varadarajan, director of Virginia Techs
Terascale Computing Facility.
Shiva Ayyadurai
Ravindran Kannan, currently a Principal Researcher
at Microsoft Research India,
T. V. Raman
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google
19.6 Finance & economics
Marti Subrahmanyam, professor at New York Uni-
versity (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
19 SCIENTISTS
H.V.R. Iyengar, ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of In-
dia (19571962)
S. Jagannathan, ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India
(19701975) 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 (19901992)
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
P. Sathasivam, formerChief Justice of India
K. Sripavan, current Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, and
former Deputy Solicitor General, judge and presi-
dent 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 Singa-
pore
Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Human Rights. A South African of Indian
origin and Tamil descent, she was the rst 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
19.9 Medicine
A. Vaidyanatha Iyer(18901955), Tamil Indian ac-
tivist. Participated in the Indian independence
movement and organized the temple entry move-
ment in the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. Pres-
ident 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
19.8 Mathematics
Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), known for his
contributions to mathematical analysis, number the-
ory, innite 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), mathe-
matician and Tamil rights activist from Sri Lanka
and a recipient of the Order of Australia.
C.S. Seshadri, Director, Chennai Mathematical In-
stitute and Trieste awardee
S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan, mathematician and fellow
of the Royal Society, abel prizewinner
C.P. Ramanujam (19381974), worked on number
theory and algebraic geometry.
T.S.Vijayaraghavan (1902-1955), worked on Pisot-
Vijayaraghavan number 19.10
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.
Kannan Soundararajan
Conjeeveram Seshadri
Ramaiyengar Sridharan
Chidambaram Padmanabhan Ramanujam
Srinivasacharya Raghavan
11
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
19.9 Medicine
Balamurali Ambati, worlds youngest doctor at age
17[6]
Rangaswamy Srinivasan, ultraviolet excimer laser /
LASIK. inventor at IBM Research.
V.S. Ramachandran, neuroscientist; Director Pro-
fessor at UC San Diego.
S.S. Ratnam, pioneer in Singapore in-vitro fertilisa-
tion. (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry)
Ganapathi Thanikaimoni, Palynologist, French In-
stitute of Pondicherry, awarded the Fyson Prize in
Natural Science.
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 Indias rst nu-
clear test in 1974.
12 20 MUSIC

Dr. P.K. Iyengar, former Chairman of Department 20 Music

of Atomic Energy.

M.R.Srinivasan, former Chairman of the Depart- 20.1 Tamil music

ment of Atomic Energy.
Muthu Thandavar, one of the Tamil Trinity
R. Chidambaram, scientic adviser to the Prime Marimutthu Pillai, one of the Tamil Trinity
Minister of India and ex-Chairman of Atomic En-
ergy Commission. Arunachala Kavi, one of the Tamil Trinity

S.R. Ranganathan, devised the ve laws of library Kollangudi Karuppayee

science.

A. Sivathanu Pillai, defence scientist and the CEO 20.2 Carnatic music
of the Indo-Russian Brahmos company
Ranjani & Gayatri
G. N. Ramachandran (19222001), made major
Papanasam Sivan
contributions to Biology and Physics.
Sikkil Gurucharan
R. V. Perumal, former Director, Liquid Propulsion
Systems Centre. Lalgudi Jayaraman

Ramanuja Vijayaraghavan (born 1931), physicist at Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan

the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
Udaya Kumar, designer of the Indian rupee sign. T.M. Krishna
Veerasingham Dhuruvasangary, was a scientist and Madurai Mani Iyer
inventor
Veena Dhanammal
Vallampadugai Srinivasa Raghavan Arunachalam
E. Gayathri
Poondi Kumaraswamy, only one to have received D.K. Pattammal
both the Homi Bhabha Fellowship 196769[4] and
the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship 197577, two of Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
the countrys top research awards.hydrologist
Muthuswami Dikshitar
P.S.Krishnaprasad, professor of electrical engineer-
N. Ramani
ihg at the University of Maryland.
L. Athira Krishna
S. Somasegar, he was presented the Asian American
Engineer of the Year Award. Aruna Sairam

S.Vanajah, only woman among four nalists who T. Brinda

outlasted 11,000 other Malaysians who applied for
T. Muktha
the astronaut selection process in 2003
T. Viswanathan
B.C. Shekhar, modernised Malaysias natural rubber
industry R. Vedavalli

Raman Sundrum, developed a class of models called Sirkazhi Govindarajan

the Randall-Sundrum models
Maharajapuram Santhanam
Siva Sivananthan, awarded the Champion of Sanjay Subrahmanyan
Change (Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Innovators
category) by the White House. T.M. Krishna

T.M. Soundararajan
19.11 Zoologist Sudha Raghunathan

Mahadeva Subramania Mani, entomologist Unni Krishnan

20.4 Western music 13

Nithyashree Mahadevan Harris Jayaraj (1975-), composer

Nisha Rajagopalan D. Imman (1983-), composer, singer
Bombay Jayashri
Srikanth Deva, composer, singer
Chinmayi
Bobo Shashi, composer, singer
Mahathi
Karthik Raja (1973-), composer
Aruna Sayeeram
Alathur Brothers, Alathur Brothers Srinivasa Iyer Bharathwaj (1960-), composer, singer
(1912-1964) and Sivasubramania Iyer (1916-1980)
G. V. Prakash Kumar (1987-), composer, singer, ac-
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar tor
Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar Vijay Antony (1975-), composer, singer, actor
Patnam Subramania Iyer
Anirudh Ravichander (1990-), composer, singer
G.N. Balasubramaniam
James Vasanthan (?-), composer
S. Sowmya
Santhosh Narayanan (1983-), composer
M.L. Vasanthakumari
Charumathi Ramachandran Mohamaad Ghibran (b.1980), composer

Vasundhara Devi
Vyjayanthimala 20.4 Western music

Abraham Pandithar, musicologist and siddha M.I.A. (Mathangi Maya Arulpragasam), British
medicine practitioner from Madras Presidency, musician
British India.
Clarence Jey (Clarence Jeyaretnam), Sri Lankan
American record producer
20.3 Film music
Yogi B (Yogeswaran Veerasingam), Malaysian
K.V. Mahadevan (1918-2001), composer, Win- hiphop artist, founder of Poetic Ammo
ner National Film Award for Best Music Direction
(1968 & 1980) Kamahl (Kandiah Kamalesvaran), Australian
cabaret/easy listening singer
T.K. Ramamoorthy (1922-2013), composer
Ilayaraja Tharini Mudaliar, Australian singer and violinist

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)
Jacintha Abisheganaden, Singaporean singer
Rudra, Singaporean Death metal band
Shruti Haasan, western singer, daughter of Tamil ac-
tor Kamal Haasan
Blaaze, rap artist and playback singer
Lord Kossity
Siva Kaneswaran, band member of The Wanted
Arjun Coomaraswamy, UK RnB Singer[7]

Yuvan Shankar Raja (1979-), composer, singer, Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Sri Lankan hiphop artist
winner Cyprus International Film Festival Award in
2006 for Raam. Hiphop Tamizha, Tamil rap duo
14 22 CINEMA

21 Dance Dharani

Parthiban
T. Balasaraswati
Kamal Hassan
Chitra Visweswaran
R.K. Selvamani
Padma Subramanyam
Selvaraghavan
Rukmini Devi Arundale
S. Shankar (born 1963)
Anita Ratnam
Vasanth
Vyjayanthimala
A.R. Murugadoss

Vikraman
22 Cinema
Vetrimaaran, winner, National Film Award for Best
22.1 Directors Direction & National Film Award for Best Screen-
play (2011)
Susi Ganeshan
Mysskin
A.P. Nagarajan
Suseenthiran
A. Bhimsingh
Pandiarajan
Balu Mahendra (1946-), director, cinematographer
Sebastian Seeman
and winner, National Film Award for Best Cine-
matography (1978) & (1983) K.S.Ravikumar
Bharathiraja (1941-), winner, National Film Award S.J. Suryah (born 1968)
for Best Screenplay (2001)
Kothamangalam Subbu, poet, lyricist, writer, actor
Bhagyaraj and director
Cheran Hari
C.V. Sridhar A.L.Vijay
Shankar Maniratnam
J. Mahendran Thangar Bachan, director, actor

K. Balachander (1930-2014), winner, National Film V. Gowthaman, director, actor

Award for Best Screenplay (1982)
Sasikumar, director, actor, producer
Mani Ratnam (1956-), multi National Film Award
winner. Samuthirakani, director, actor

Manoj Nelliyatu Shyamalan (also known as M.

Night Shyamalan) (born 1970), two-time Academy 22.2 Actors
Award nominated lmmaker and screenwriter
Sivaji Ganesan world class actor
B. Lenin, winner, National Film Award for Best Di-
rection (2002) Rajinikanth Indian Superstar

Agaththian, winner, National Film Award for Best Kamal Hassan national award winner
Direction & National Film Award for Best Screen- Ajith Kumar formula three racer and lmfare award
play (1997) winner [Stylish Actor]
Bala, director National Film Award for Best Direc- Vijay Entertainer
tion (2009)
Dhanush
Ameer Sultan, director and National Film Awards
for Best Film Paruthiveeran (2007) Suriya
22.4 Music composers 15

Vikram best actor next to shivaji and kamal Kasthuri

Silambarasan Sridevi Vijayakumar

Sathyaraj Preetha Vijayakumar

Lakshmi
Vijayakanth
Manorama
Vivek
Radhika
Senthil
Vadivukkarasi
Goundamani
Trisha
Karthi Priya Anand
Sarath Kumar Andrea Jeremiah
Vijayakumar Samantha Ruth Prabhu

Madhavan Shruti Hassan

Prasanth Regina Cassandra

Keerthy Suresh
Karthik

Janagaraj (actor)
22.4 Music composers
N. Santhanam
See: Film Music
Prabhu Ganesan

Arun Vijay 22.5 In Hollywood

Vimal Sendhil Ramamurthy, actor in NBC drama Heroes
Siddharth Ashok Amritraj, lmmaker, producer

Ganesh Venkatraman Sunkrish Bala, actor in ABC show Notes from the
Underbelly
Vadivelu
Mindy Kaling, actor in NBC sitcom The Oce
Vijay Sethupathi
Aziz Ansari, actor
Sivakumar Chandran Rutnam, award-winning director for the
Sivakarthikeyan movie A Common Man at the Madrid International
Film Festival as the Best Director

22.3 Actresses
22.6 Other entertainers
Vyjayanthimala
Aziz Ansari, comedian
Sridevi, voted best actress of all time in Indian Padma Lakshmi, model and television host
cinema[8]

Suhasini
23 Sports & Games
Hema Malini

Meena 23.1 Athletics

Sneha Santhi Soundarajan, rst World Peace Sports Festi-
val Ambassador from India and rst Tamil woman
Meenakshi Sheshadri to win a medal at Asian Games
Waheeda Rahman Mani Jegathesan
Sripriya Sathish Sivalingam
16
23.2 Carrom
A. Maria Irudayam, World Carrom Champion and
Arjuna Award winner for Carrom (1996)
R. Arokiaraj, Carrom Champion
B. Radhakrishnan, Carrom Champion
23.3 Volleyball
A. Palanisamy, rst Arjuna Award winner for vol-
leyball (1961)
G.E. Sridharan, Arjuna Award winner
Kumaran, played for Indian team and currently play-
ing for IOB,Chennai
Sivabalan, played for India and currently playing for
IOB, Chennai
23.4 Chess
Viswanathan Anand, World Chess champion and
the rst Indian to earn the title of Grandmaster.
Manuel Aaron, rst 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 Womens national cham-
pion 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
Baskaran Adhiban, Chess GrandMaster from Tamil
Nadu
S.P. Sethuraman, Chess GrandMaster from Tamil
Nadu
23.5 Cricket
23.5.1 India
Buchi Babu Naidu (1868-1908), Father of South In-
dian Cricket
Cota Ramaswami (1896-presumed dead), repre-
sented India in both International Cricket and
Tennis.
M.Baliah Naidu (1895-1948), represented India in
International Cricket
23 SPORTS & GAMES
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.
23.5.2 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
23.8 Mountain climbing 17

Roy Dias, former Sri Lankan test cricketer/vice cap- Adam Sinclair, member of the Indian hockey team
tain a Tamil of Negombo Chetty at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Sridharan Jeganathan, former NCC and Sri Lankan Raja, member of the Indian hockey team team.
test cricketer/o spin bowler (died on May 14,
1996). First Sri Lankan test cricketer to die
23.8 Mountain climbing
Vinodhan John, pace bowler, rst Sri Lankan Tamil
Test cricketer 1982 M. Magendran, conquered the highest peak in the
world, Mount Everest
Pradeep Jayaprakashdaran, Sri Lankan One Day In-
ternational(ODI)cricket player
S. Illangaratnam, late Sri Lankan cricketer, stalwart 23.9 Racing
of Moratuwa and Bloomeld cricket clubs prior to
Narain Karthikeyan, Coimbatore, Indias rst For-
the Test era
mula 1 driver
Mahadevan Sathasivam, one of the best cricket bats-
Karun Chandhok, Formula 1 driver
men produced by Ceylon
S. Karivardhan, car constructor and National Cham-
Kandiah Thirugnansampandapillai Francis, Interna-
pion
tional Test and ODI umpire from Sri Lanka
Naren Kumar, 4 time National Rally Champion
Nasser Hussain (March 28, 1968, Madras, India-),
former Essex and England cricketer, test captain J. Anand, 3 time National F3 Grand Prix winner
Sanjayan Thuraisingam (1969-), pace bowler,
Canadian Cricket Team
23.10 Tennis
Alvin Kallicharan, former West Indies Guyana
cricket captain Vijay Amritraj, international champion and actor

Mahendra Nagamootoo, former West Indies and
Guyana cricketer, nephew of Alvin Kallicharan
Veerasammy Permaul, West Indies and Guyana
cricketer
Anand Amritraj, international player
Ashok Amritraj, international player
Prakash Amritraj, international player
Ramanathan Krishnan, international player

23.6 Football Ramesh Krishnan, international player

Peter Velappan (1935-), General Secretary of Nirupama Vaidyanathan, international player

Asian Football Confederation and member of FIFA

Strategic Studies Committee & Organising Com-
mittee for the FIFA World Cup.
Peter Thangaraj (1938-2008), Olympion and the 24 Entertainers
Goalkeeper of Indian football team that won the
Gold Medal at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games. Vyjayanthimala, Bharatanatyam dancer, she intro-
duced semi-classical dance in Bollywood[9]
Syed Sabir Pasha represented Indian football team
in the early 1990s. He also played for and coached Rukmini Devi Arundale, Bharatanatyam dancer and
Indian Bank-chennai founder of Kalakshetra

Balasaraswati, Bharatanatyam dancer

23.7 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 Cap-
tain, Arjuna Award winner (1995) and also winner
of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (1999-2000).
Alarmel Valli, Bharatanatyam dancer
Chitra Visweswaran, Bharatanatyam dancer
Padma Subramanyam, Bharatanatyam dancer
Pithukuli Murugadas, musician
K.B. Sundarambal, actress/singer
18 26 TAMIL LITERATURE

Sirkazhi Govindarajan, vocalist and Carnatic music Perumal Rasu, philosopher and painter
exponent
Laxmisena, of the Mel Sithamur Jain Math, primary
Vethathiri Maharishi, founder of the World Com- religious head of the Tamil Jain community[10]
munity Service Center
Sadhu Kuppuswami, instrumental in the establish-
Dr. Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram, vocalist and Car- ment of the Sangam organisation in Fiji
natic music exponent
Swami Vipulananda, Hindu social reformer, literary
critic, author, poet, teacher and ascetic from the
25 Religion and Spirituality Eastern Province of Sri Lanka

Bodhidharma (5th/6th century), Buddhist monk and

28th patriarch of Buddhism. He was traditionally 26 Tamil Literature
credited as the leading patriarch and transmitter of
Zen to China.he spread shaolin kung fu in china 26.1 Classical literature
Ayya Vaikundar (1809-1851), founder and precep-
tor of the Ayyavazhi sect Thiruvalluvar, poet and author of the Tirukkua

Ramalinga Swamigal (18231873), popularly Tirumular, poet and author of Tirumantiram

known as Vallalar
Kambar, author of Ramavataram
Ramanuja (1017-1137), philosopher and saint of
Vaishnavism Avvaiyar, author of tticci

Appayya Dikshidar (1520-1593), philosopher, fol- Eelattu Poothanthevanar, classical Sri Lankan poet
lowed Advaita School of Indian Philosophy of Sangam period

Anandabharati Aiyangar (1786-1846), poet

26.2 Spiritual literature
Ramana Maharshi (1879-1950)
Yogaswami (1872-1964) 26.2.1 Hindu

Bangaru Adigalar (1941-) Nakkeerar author of Tirumurukuppaai

Sivananda Saraswati (1887-1963), proponent of Thirumular, author of Thirumandhiram
Yoga and Vedanta
Arunagirinathar, author of Thiruppugazh
Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy (1924-2014), Car-
dinal Priest of S Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci Sekkizhar, author of Periapuranam
fuori Porta Cavalleggeri, Vatican City
Manikkavasagar, author of Thiruvasagam and one
Dayananda Saraswati (1930-2015), Founder of the of the Nayanmars
Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
Siva prakasar, author of Nanneri
Yogiraj Shri Vethathiri Maharishi, founder of The
World Community Service Center, an organisation Nammalvar, author of Tiruvaymoli and one of the
striving for World peace from 1911 Alwars
Bala Prajapathi Adikalar, present Pattathu Ayya of Thirumazhisai Alvar, author of Tiruchanda-
Swamithope pathi and leader of Ayyavazhi religion virutham & one of the Alwars
Bishop Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (1874-1945),
Andal, Author of Tiruppaavai and one of the
the rst Anglican Indian bishop, consecrated as the
Alwars.
rst bishop of the diocese of Dornakal in December
1912 V. Akilesapillai,scholar, poet and author of
Thirukonasala Vaipavam from Sri Lanka.
Thirumuruga Kirupananda Variyar
D.G.S. Dhinakaran, Christian Evangelist and
founder of Jesus Calls Ministries 26.2.2 Christian

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Johnson Gnanabaranam

26.4 Others
26.2.3 Islam
Umaru Pulavar (16051703), author of Sirap-
puranam, Islamic spiritual work on the life of
Muhammad,
26.2.4 Jain
Illango Adigal, poet and author of Silappathikaram
Tirutakakatevar, author of Jivaka Chintamani
Mandalapuruder, author of Vira Mandalaver is Su-
damani Nigandhu
Svarupananda Desikar
26.3 Modern literature
26.3.1 India
Ramachandra Guha, social and political writer
Bharathidasan (1891-1964), poet & rationalist
Pudhumaipithan (1906-1948), ction writer
Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai, rst Tamil novelist
Akilan, novelist
Ramalingam Pillai
Thi.Janakiraman, novelist
Mahavidwan Vasudeva Mudaliar, scholar
Kalki Krishnamurthy (1899-1954), novelist and
journalist 26.3.2 Other countries
Jayakanthan (1934-), writer and novelist
G.P. Rajarathnam (1909-1979), Tamil-born Kan-
nada poet and writer
T.P. Kailasam (1884-1946), playwright and writer
in Kannada literature from Karnataka
Masti Venkatesha Iyengar (1891-1986), Kannada 26.4 Others
writer and recipient of Jnanpith Award
Kannadasan (1927-1981), popularly called as Kavi
Arasu poet, lm lyricist & winner, National Film
Award for Best Lyrics (1969)
Vairamuthu (1953-), poet, lm 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
19
R.K. Narayan (19062001), English novelist and es-
sayist
Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliar, scholar
Pa. Subramania Mudaliar, scholar
Varadarasanar, novelist
Sandilyan, novelist
Pa. Vijay, lm lyricist and winner, National Film
Award for Best Lyrics (2005)
Vaali, lm lyricist
Sujatha Rangarajan (1935-), novelist, haiku poet,
lm 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 Pacic
region
Ronnie Govender, won the 1997 Commonwealth
Writers Prize
Kessie Govender, playwright, actor and theatre di-
rector, who founded the Stable Theatre
Arumuka Navalar (1822-1879), pioneer of Tamil
prose & champion of Hinduism from Jana, 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 Pu-
ratchi Kavignar
Kalyanasundara Mudaliar, writer
20 29 REFERENCES

Varadarasanar, novelist 29 References

Erode Tamilanban, poet [1] http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/roy-padayachie

Solomon Pappaiah, scholar and debate judge [2] http://sangam.org/2010/09/Tamil_Struggle_6.php

[3] Rajasekharan Parameswaran, Rajasekharan

Pudhumaipithan, revolutionary writer from Parameswaran. Guinness World Records. guin-
Tirunelveli Saiva Pillai community ness world records. GWR.

Jayakanthan, writer [4] Bose, Sushmita (December 12, 2008). Living in Times
of Terror, Reaching out in Cyberspace. Khaleej Times.
Kavimani Desigavinayagam Pillai, poet Retrieved December 17, 2012.

[5] The Solid Seven: Indias most inuential Gays & Les-
Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai, writer bians. Pink-Pages. Retrieved December 17, 2012.

Perumal Rasu, writer, poet, painter [6] http://www.howstuffworks.com/

9-youngest-in-their-fields.htm#page=6
Ramanuja Kavirayar, poet [7] http://tamilculture.ca/londons-rb-sensation-arjun/

Gagan Narang, Olympic medalist (shooting) [8] http://ibnlive.in.com/news/

ibnlive-poll-sridevi-voted-the-greatest-indian-actress-in-100-years/
377240-8-66.html

27 Modern Art [9] Raheja, Dinesh (May 6, 2002). Bollywoods Dancing

Queen. Redi. Retrieved 2011-01-02.

K.K. Raghava [10] Glossary | Terms | Eastern Terms | Bhattaraka.

Herenow4u.net. January 16, 2012. Retrieved 2012-06-
S. Chandrasekaran, nominated for the APBF 15.
Signature Art Prize 2008 as one of the top ten

28 See also

Tamil people

Tamil diaspora

List of Sri Lankan Tamils

Tamil Canadian

Tamil American

Tamil Malaysians

British Tamil

Tamil Australian

Tamil Indonesians

Tamil South Africans

Tamil Germans

Tamils in France

Tamil Mauritian
 21

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