The following people were born or based their life in the Mayiladuthurai district in Tamil Nadu, India.
Academics[edit | edit source]
- M. S. Udayamurthy – A Tamil writer and social activist.[1]
- K. S. Venkataramani - An Indian novelist and short-story writer.[2]
- S.R. Renganathan – An Indian librarian and mathematician. He is considered to be the father of library science, documentation, and information science in India.[3]
- Sa. Kandasamy – A novelist and documentary film-maker.[4][5]
- T. R. Venkatarama Sastri – An Indian lawyer and politician who served as the Advocate-General for Madras Presidency[6][7]
- Raghavan Seetharaman – former CEO of Doha Bank, Qatar.[8]
Film artists and musicians[edit | edit source]
- M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar – An Indian actor and Carnatic singer. Critics and film historians acknowledge Bhagavathar as the "First superstar of Tamil cinema.[9]
- Padma Shri Sirkazhi Govindarajan – A Carnatic vocalist and a playback singer of Indian cinema, predominantly in Tamil cinema.[10][11]
- S. S. Mani Bhagavathar - An Indian Carnatic music singer, cine actor and a playback singer in Tamil language films.[12]
- Nadaswaram Vidwan T.N. Rajarathinam – An Indian Carnatic musician, nadaswaram maestro, vocalist and film actor. He was popularly known as "Nadaswara Chakravarthi" (literally, the Emperor of Nadaswaram).[13][14][15]
- Kumari Kamala - an Indian dancer and actress, appeared in almost 100 Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films.[16]
- G. N. Balasubramaniam – An Indian Carnatic singer and also a Tamil film actor.[17]
- S. Kalyanaraman – A vocalist in the Carnatic tradition.[18]
- T. Rajendar – An Indian actor, film director, film producer, musician, cinematographer, film distributor and politician.[19]
- P. Krishnamoorthy – An Indian film art director, production designer and costume designer.[20]
- S. R. D. Vaidyanathan – An Indian musician who played the Nadaswaram.[21]
- R. D. Rajasekhar – an Indian cinematographer who predominantly works in films of Indian languages such as Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, and Hindi.[22]
- T. V. Sankaranarayanan - A Carnatic vocalist and a South Indian classical playback singer.[23]
Religious and spiritual poets[edit | edit source]
- Sambandar - a Shaiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived in the 7th century CE. He is revered as one of the Nalvar ("group of four" in Tamil), a set of four foremost Nayanars Tamil saints alongside Appar, Sambandarm and Manikkavacakar.[24]
- Iyarpagai Nayanar - a Nayanar saint and counted as the third in the list of 63 Nayanars.[25]
- Thirumangai Alvar - the last of the 12 Alvar saints of south India, who are known for their affiliation with the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.[26]
- Kambar – A poet and the author of Ramayana in Tamil Language known as Kambaramayanam.[27][28]
- Manakanchara Nayanar – a Nayanar saint, counted as the twelfth in the list of 63 Nayanars.[29]
- Abhirami Pattar - A Hindu saint, famed as the author of a collection of hymns called Abhirami Anthadhi. [30]
- Muthu Thandavar - A composer of Carnatic music. He composed several kritis and padams, short songs mainly sung accompanying Bharatanatyam performances.[31]
- Arunachala Kavi - A Tamil poet and a composer of Carnatic music. He composed the opera Rama Natakam.[32][33]
- Marimutha Pillai - A composer of Carnatic music and was a contemporary of Arunachala Kavi.[34]
- Mayuram Vedhanaygam Pillai – An Indian civil servant, Tamil poet, novelist and social worker who is remembered for the authorship of Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram (1879), recognized as the "first modern Tamil novel"[35][36]
- Kundrakudi Adigal - a Saivite ascetic, Tamil orator, and writer, has written many books about Saivism and Tamil Literature.[37]
- Kalki Krishnamoorthy – An Indian writer, journalist, poet, critic and Indian independence activist. Historical novels such as Ponniyin Selvan, Sivagamiyin Sabatham written by Kalki apart from this his writings include over 120 short stories, 10 novellas, 5 novels, 3 historical romances, editorial and political writings and hundreds of film and music reviews.[38][39][40][41]
- Kavignar Meenavan - A Tamil poet, writer, activist, popular scholar and has written lot of poetry and research articles in Tamil language.[42]
Science[edit | edit source]
- S. Srinivasan - An Indian aeronautical engineer and the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, known for his work in rocket science. He also served as the director of Satish Dhawan Space Centre and assisted A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in the SLV3 Mission as its deputy director.[43][44][45]
Sports[edit | edit source]
- Viswanathan Anand – An Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion, a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion and six-time Chess Oscar Winner. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and he has the eighth-highest peak FIDE rating of all time. He has been awarded with Padma Vibhushan – Second highest civilian award awarded by Government of India in 2008.[46][47][48]
Participants in anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu[edit | edit source]
- Mayiladuthurai Sarangapani - was a student and participant in the anti-Hindi agitations who died by self-immolation during the anti-Hindi agitations in 1965.[49]
Political leaders[edit | edit source]
- Thillaiyadi Valliammai – A South African Tamil girl who worked with Mahatma Gandhi in her early years when she developed her nonviolent methods in South Africa fighting its apartheid regime.[50][51]
- R. K. Bharathi Mohan – An Indian politician and former Member of Parliament elected from the from Mayiladuthurai constituency.[52]
- P. Govindasamy Pillai – A revered successful South Indian businessman and philanthropist in Singapore.[53][54]
- P. V. Rajendran – An Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu.[55]
- Kudanthai N. Ramalingam – An Indian politician and former Member of Parliament elected from Tamil Nadu.[56]
- S. Ramanathan – An Indian politician who served as the minister of Madras Presidency in the Congress-led government of 1937.[57]
- K. R. Sambandam – An Indian politician and former Member of Parliament elected from the from Nagapattinam.[58]
- N. Kittappa - An Indian politician and former Member of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Mayuram constituency[59]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "Tamil writer M.S. Udayamurthy passes away". The Hindu. 2013-01-21. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ Benson, Eugene; Conolly, L. W. (2004-11-30). Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-46848-5.
- ↑ Islam, Md Nurul (2015-06-10). "S. R. Ranganathan:Library and Documentation Scientist". Current Science. 108 (11): 2110–2111. doi:10.18520/cs/v108/i11/2110-2111 ( (inactive $1) 18 August 2025). ISSN 0011-3891.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of August 2025 (link) - ↑ Dutt, Kartik Chandra (1999). Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-260-0873-5.
- ↑ "Sa Kandasamy, Tamil writer and documentary filmmaker, dies in Chennai". The Times of India. 2020-07-31. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ Arnold, David (1977). The Congress in Tamilnad: Nationalist Politics in South India, 1919-1937. Manohar. ISBN 978-0-88386-958-1.
- ↑ vdt12. "The Hindu : dated July 3, 1953: Eminent lawyer's demise". www.hindu.com. Archived from the original on 2004-11-22. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Bloomberg.com". www.bloomberg.com. 16 Aug 2025. Retrieved 16 Aug 2025.
- ↑ "Madras Musings - We care for Madras that is Chennai". archive.madrasmusings.com. Archived from the original on 2025-04-27. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "archive.ph". archive.ph. Archived from the original on 2022-01-23. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Sirakazhi Govindrajam: The Man Who Sang For God". News18. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ Guy, Randor. "Blast from the past: Kannika 1947". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2017-02-04. Retrieved 2025-11-30.
- ↑ "The Hindu : Friday Review Chennai / Columns : The Emperor passes". www.hindu.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-08. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2007-05-22). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN 978-0-8108-6445-0.
- ↑ "Kalamegham 1940". The Hindu. 2007-09-20. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ thmmn. "The Hindu : She danced her way to stardom". hindu.com. Archived from the original on 2002-03-24. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
- ↑ "The Hindu : GNB, the good friend". www.hinduonnet.com. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "Wayback Machine". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ↑ Anantharam, Chitradeepa (2017-03-27). "I am the pioneer of kuthu: T Rajendherr". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ Staff, T. N. M. (2020-12-14). "National Award winning art director P Krishnamoorthy passes away at 77". The News Minute. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "Nagaswaram exponent dies". The Hindu. 2013-11-18. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ Native, Digital (2020-08-29). "Cinematographer RD Rajasekhar roped in for Muttiah Muralitharan biopic". The News Minute. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ Ramakrishnan, H. (2021-12-30). "T.V. Sankaranarayan: As zestful as always". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
- ↑ Verma, Rajeev (2009). Faith & Philosophy of Hinduism. Gyan Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7835-718-8.
- ↑ Sadasivan, S. N. (2000). A Social History of India. APH Publishing. ISBN 978-81-7648-170-0.
- ↑ Aiyangar, Sakkottai Krishnaswami (2004). Ancient India: Collected Essays on the Literary and Political History of Southern India. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-1850-3.
- ↑ "Kampan | Tamil Poet, Epic Writer, Bhakti Movement | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ admin (2020-01-22). "Kambar ( Kavi Chakravarthy )- Profile and Life History of a Tamil Poet". Aptinfo.in. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "கலைக்களஞ்சியம் (தொகுதி 8)". Tamil Digital Library (in தமிழ்). Tamil Virtual Academy. p. 266. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
- ↑ Abirami Anthadhi (in தமிழ்). Bharathi Puthakalayam.
- ↑ "Muthutandavar : A Landmark Composer". www.chembur.com. Archived from the original on 2006-07-07. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
- ↑ "Tamil Music". www.carnatica.net. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
- ↑ V, Sriram (2019-04-11). "The making of Rama Natakam". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
- ↑ "Royal Carpet Carnatic Composers: Marimutha Pillai". www.karnatik.com. Retrieved 2025-11-12.
- ↑ "Here rests a literary pioneer!". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2025-04-27. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "Madras Miscellany: The confusing Vedanayagams of Tanjore". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2025-04-27. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ thfcms.tamilheritage.org https://thfcms.tamilheritage.org/%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%B1%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF-%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B3%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D/. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Kalki Krishnamurthy: His Life and Times — more than just a biography". Archived from the original on 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ admin (2020-01-22). "Kalki - Profile and Life career of Indian writer - Tamilnadu". Aptinfo.in. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "Interview - Books & Hobbies - www.chennaibest.com". chennaibest.com. Archived from the original on 2013-04-14. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "பொன்னியின் செல்வன் புகழ்விழா தில்லி 21.12.2007 | MDMK". mdmk.org.in. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "கவிஞர் மீனவன் மறைந்தார்". nakkheeran.in. Archived from the original on 2012-10-15. Retrieved 2025-11-13.
- ↑ "Pioneer of Indian rocketry". www.frontline.in. Archived from the original on 2013-09-20. Retrieved 2025-12-03.
- ↑ Koornneef, Floor; Meulen, Meine van der (2003-06-29). Computer Safety, Reliability, and Security: 19th International Conference, SAFECOMP 2000, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, October 24-27, 2000 Proceedings. Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-40891-8.
- ↑ "Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre", Wikipedia, 2025-11-16, retrieved 2025-12-03
- ↑ "'I start off playing for India. And that's it.Beyond that, the game just takes over'". www.indianexpress.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "The chess games of Viswanathan Anand". www.chessgames.com. Archived from the original on 2019-12-27. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ mha.nic.in https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-15. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Self-immolation in Tamil Nadu against Hindi imposition in Tamilnadu". www.tamiltribune.com. Archived from the original on 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
- ↑ Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2017-08-25). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN 978-1-5381-0686-0.
- ↑ "The Hindu : Metro Plus Chennai / Madras Miscellany : Gandhi and the Tamils". www.hindu.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-17. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "Election Commission of India". Election Commission of India. 16 Aug 2025. Retrieved 16 Aug 2025.
- ↑ "NewspaperSG". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 2025-04-27. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "NewspaperSG". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Archived from the original on 2025-05-06. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ "IndiaVotes AC: Tamil Nadu 1989". IndiaVotes. Retrieved 2025-08-17.[dead link]
- ↑ "reFocus india - Member of Parliament - Lok Sabha - Profile - Kudanthai Ramalingam N., Shri". www.refocusindia.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-14. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ Arnold, David (2017-04-07). The Congress in Tamilnad: Nationalist Politics in South India, 1919-1937. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-315-29419-3.
- ↑ "Loksabha members : Sambandam , Shri K.R. - Data is Info: Data is more useful if it is made available in a better format". Data is Info. Retrieved 2025-08-17.
- ↑ Government of India (1967-04-25). Who is Who 1967.