List of Tamil people

This is a list of notable Tamils.

Ancient Kings and Rulers[edit | edit source]

Tamil dynasties[edit | edit source]

Other royal families[edit | edit source]

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, sister of last Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi and actor Rajkumar Sethupathi
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 and Governor-General[edit | edit source]

Indian Governor-General[edit | edit source]

C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), last Governor-General of India

Indian Presidents[edit | edit source]

S. Radhakrishnan (1888–1975), 2nd President of India
R. Venkataraman (1910–2009), 8th President of India
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015), 11th President of India

Indian Vice-Presidents[edit | edit source]

S. Radhakrishnan (1888–1975), 1st Vice President of India
R. Venkataraman (1910–2009), 7th Vice President of India

Non-Indian Presidents, Vice President, Prime Ministers and Governors[edit | edit source]

S.R. Nathan (1924–2016), President of Singapore (2002–2011)
Kamala Harris (1964–), Vice-President of the United States of America (20 January 2021-)
Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920–2000), President of Mauritius (1992–1992)
Angidi Veeriah Chettiar (1928–2010), Acting President of Mauritius (2002–2002)
Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (1945–), Acting President of Mauritius (2002–2002)
Moses Nagamootoo (30 November 1947–), Prime Minister of Guyana (2015–2020)
Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920–2000), Governor-General of Mauritius (1986–1982)
Sasindran Muthuvel (5 July 1974–), Governor for West New Britain Province (2012–)

Multinational positions[edit | edit source]

Radhika Coomaraswamy (1953–), Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
James Appathurai (1968–), Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Ex-spokesperson for NATO,
Roy Padayachie (1950–2012), Minister of Public Service and Administration of the Republic of South Africa; also served in the economics desk of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and as deputy head of local government portfolio; consultant to UNICEF, UNESCO and the World Bank^[1]
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google
Indra Nooyi, Indian-American business executive and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of PepsiCo
Raghuram Rajan, former IMF Chief Economist

Independence movement[edit | edit source]

Indian independence movement[edit | edit source]

Nagappan Padayatchi (1891–1909)
Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone (1710–1757)
Puli Thevar (1715–1767)
Rani Velu Nachiar (1730–1796)
Rettamalai Srinivasan (1860–1945)
V. O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872–1936)
Dheeran Chinnamalai
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)
U. Muthuramalingam Thevar (1908–1963)
K. Kamaraj (1903–1975)
Immanuvel Devendrar (1924–1957)
Veeran Sundaralingam (1770–1799)

Independence movements in other countries[edit | edit source]

Thillaiaadi Valliammai (1898–1914), South African militant
V.T. Sambanthan (1919–1979), one of the three founding fathers of Malaysia
Velupillai Prabhakaran (1954–2009), founder and leader of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, fighting for an irredenta independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka, Tamil Eelam

Contributions to Tamil people[edit | edit source]

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

Governors of states[edit | edit source]

C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Governor of West Bengal (1947–1948)
P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja (1898–1957), Governor of Odisha (1954–1956)
Jothi Venkatachalam (1917–unknown), Governor of Kerala (1977–1982)
P. Ramachandran (1921–2001), Governor of Kerala (1982–1988)
T. V. Rajeswar (1926–2018), Governor of Sikkim (1985–1989), West Bengal (1989–1990) and Uttar Pradesh (2004–2009)
C. Rangarajan (1932–), Governor of Andhra Pradesh (1997–2003)
E. S. L. Narasimhan (1945–), Governor of Chhattisgarh (2007–2010), Andhra Pradesh (2007–incumbent) and Telangana (2014–2019)
P. Sathasivam (1949–), Governor of Kerala (2014–2019)
V. Shanmuganathan (1949–), Governor of Manipur (2015–2016), Meghalaya (2015–2017) and Arunachal Pradesh (Additional charge) (2016–2017)
Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961–), Governor of Telangana (2019–Incumbent)
La. Ganesan (1945–), Governor of Manipur (2021–Incumbent)

Lieutenant Governors of union territories[edit | edit source]

Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961–), Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (Additional charge) (2021–Incumbent)

Chief Ministers[edit | edit source]

Chief Ministers of Puducherry[edit | edit source]

V. Venkatasubha Reddiar (1909–1982), first Indian Chief Minister of Pondicherry; his son V. Vaithilingam was also the chief minister of Pondicherry
Subramanyan Ramaswamy (1939–2017)
V. Vaithilingam (1950–)
P. Shanmugam (1927–2013)
N. Rangasamy (1950–)
V. Narayanasamy (1947–)

Union Ministers[edit | edit source]

A. K. Moorthy (1964–), former Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways
R.K. Shanmukham Chetty (1892–1953), former Finance Minister of independent India
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
M. Arunachalam (1944–2004), former union Cabinet Minister of Labour
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 (1947–), 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. Alagiri (1951–), Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers (2009–2013)
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–), frmer 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
Murasoli Maran (1934–2003), Minister of Commerce and Industry (1996–1998 and 1999–2002) and Minister of Urban Development (1989–1990)
Dayanidhi Maran (1966–), former Minister of Communications and Information Technology
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–), former Minister of Defence Ministry and present Finance Minister
Anbumani Ramadoss (1968–), former Minister of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India
Pon Radhakrishnan (1952–), former Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping
Mohan Kumaramangalam (1916–1973), former Minister of Iron and Steel
S. Jaishankar (1955–), Minister of External Affairs of India
L. Murugan (1977–), Minister of State in the Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying & Information and Broadcasting

Political leaders outside of India[edit | edit source]

Moses Veerasammy Nagamootoo (1947–), Prime Minister, Guyana
S Jayakumar (1939–), former 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 (1929–), former Cabinet Minister of Sri Lanka
Radhakrishnan, 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 (1913–1999), 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, 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
Kamala Harris, United States Senator; Vice President of the United States
Maya Harris, Vice President for Democracy, Rights and Justice at the Ford Foundation and Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California.
Vanushi Walters, New Zealand lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party representing the Upper Harbour electorate^[2]

Governors of the Reserve Bank of India[edit | edit source]

S. Venkitaramanan, 18th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India

Political families[edit | edit source]

Tamil Nadu[edit | edit source]

P.T. Rajan family[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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
  - Rangarajan Kumaramangalam (1952–2000), member of parliament (Lok Sabha); son of Mohan Kumaramangalam, grandson of P. Subbarayan
    - Rangarajan Mohan Kumaramangalam (1978–), member of the Indian National Congress; great grandson of P. Subbarayan; grandson of Mohan Kumaramangalam, son of Rangarajan Kumaramangalam
  - Lalitha Kumaramangalam (1957–), member of the National Executive of the BJP; daughter of Mohan Kumaramangalam, granddaughter of P. Subbarayan
- Parvathi Krishnan (1919–2014), member of the Communist Party of India; daughter of P. Subbarayan

C.P. Ramaswami Iyer family[edit | edit source]

Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer (1879–1966), Member of Madras Legislative Council

M. Bhaktavatsalam family[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

C. Rajagopalachari alias Rajaji (1878–1972), Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (1937–1940)

E.V.K. Sampath family[edit | edit source]

- E.V.K.S. Elangovan (1948–), son of E. V. K. Sampath

Kumari Ananthan family[edit | edit source]

H. Kumari Ananthan (1933–)
- Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961–), daughter of Kumari Ananthan
H. Vasanthakumar (1950–2020), brother of Kumari Ananthan

G.K. Moopanar family[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

M. Karunanidhi (1924–2018), Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- M. K. Alagiri (1951–), Former Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, son of Karunanidhi
- M. K. Stalin (1953–), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, son of Karunanidhi
- Kanimozhi Karunanidhi (1968–), Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), daughter of Karunanidhi
- Dayanidhi Alagiri (unknown–), Indian cinema producer, grandson of Karunanidhi
- Udhayanidhi Stalin (1977–), Member of Legislative Assembly (Tamil Nadu), grandson of Karunanidhi
- Arulnithi Tamilarasu (1987–), Indian actor, grandson of Karunanidhi
- Murasoli Maran (1934–2003), Former Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, nephew of Karunanidhi
- Kalanithi Maran (1964–), Founder of the Sun Group, grand-nephew of Karunanidhi
- Dayanidhi Maran (1966–), Former Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, grand-nephew of Karunanidhi

Sri Lanka[edit | edit source]

Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy family[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

S. Pararajasingam, senator, son in law of P. Arunachalam, married Pathmavathy (daughter of P. Arunachalam)

V.P. Ganeshan family[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Arumugam Canagaratnam (1873–1929), 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[edit | edit source]

Army[edit | edit source]

General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam (1913–2000), 7th Chief of Army Staff (1966–1969)
General Krishnaswamy Sundararajan (1930–1999), 14th Chief of Army Staff (1986–1988)

Navy[edit | edit source]

Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson (1923–2011), 12th Chief of Naval Staff, India, 1982–1984
Admiral Sushil Kumar (1940–2019), 16th Chief of the Naval Staff (India) (1988–2001)
Vice Admiral Nilkanta Krishnan (1919–1982), Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, India, 1947–1976

Air Force[edit | edit source]

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

Independence Movement[edit | edit source]

Prabhakaran, founder of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Award winners[edit | edit source]

Nobel Prize winners[edit | edit source]

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

Fields Medal[edit | edit source]

Akshay Venkatesh, Fields Medal in mathematics, 2018

Bharat Ratna[edit | edit source]

The Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor

C. Rajagopalachari, Former Governor-General of India, 1954
C. V. Raman, Indian Physicist, 1954
K. Kamaraj, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, 1976
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India, 1997
M. S. Subbulakshmi, Indian Singer, 1998
C. Subramaniam, Former Union Minister of Defence, 1998

Padma Vibhushan[edit | edit source]

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
Ilaiyaraaja, for Music, 2018

Padma Bhushan[edit | edit source]

The Padma Bhushan is India's third highest civilian honour.

Sivaji Ganesan, 1984
Kamal Haasan, Arts
Ilaiyaraaja, veteran musician and Tamil music director
A. R. Rahman, Oscar-winning musician from Chennai; referred to as the Mozart of Madras
Arogyaswami Paulraj, wireless technology pioneer
Shiv Nadar, Indian industrialist and philanthropist
Jayakanthan, author
Muthulakshmi Reddy, doctor, social reformer
Krishnammal Jaganathan, Social Service

Padma Shri[edit | edit source]

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

Sivaji Ganesan (1966), Arts
K. Balachander (1987), Arts
Vairamuthu (2003), Literature and Education
B. Palaniappan (2006), Medicine
Sivanthi Adithan (2008), Literature and Education
Vivekh (2009), Arts
Mecca Rafeeque Ahmed (2011), businessman and entrepreneur

Ramon Magsaysay Award[edit | edit source]

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

M.S.Swaminathan, for Community Leadership, 1971
M.S. Subbulakshmi, for classical carnatic genre, 1974
Jockin Arputham, for Peace and International Understanding, 2000
Palagummi Sainath, journalist, 2007
Kulandei Francis, 2012
T.M. Krishna, 2016

Dadasaheb Phalke Award[edit | edit source]

The 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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award[edit | edit source]

The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is India's highest sporting honor.

Viswanathan Anand, for Chess, 1991–92
Dhanraj Pillai, for Men's field hockey, 1999–2000
Mariyappan Thangavelu, for Paralympic high jump, 2020–2021

Jnanpith Award[edit | edit source]

The Jnanpith Award is India's highest literary honor

Akilan, 1975
Jayakanthan, 2002

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award[edit | edit source]

Vyjayanthimala, Sangeet Natak Akademi, 1982

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship[edit | edit source]

Guinness World Records[edit | edit source]

L. Athira Krishna, Guinness World Record holder
Suresh Joachim, Canadian actor, producer, and multiple-Guinness World Record holder
V.S. Kumar Anandan, his many records include swimming the Palk Strait, from Sri Lanka to India and back in 51 hours, in 1971
Kutraleeswaran, swam across English Channel in 1994 when he was just 13 years old; the same year, he swam across six channels to break Mihir Sen's record of swimming across five channels in a calendar year
Rajasekharan Parameswaran, Guinness World Records^[3] holder.
Aari Arujunan, actor and Guinness World Record holder

Arjuna Award[edit | edit source]

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

Kutraleeswaran, youngest Arjuna Award winner

Oscar awards[edit | edit source]

A. R. Rahman, won the Academy Award for Best Original Score and Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2009
Cottalango Leon, won the Academy Award for scientific and technical achievement "the design, engineering and continuous development"[a] of Sony Pictures Imageworks itView technology in 2016

Social workers[edit | edit source]

Pandit iyothee thass, Anti-caste activist, founding father of dravidian movement and first buddhist revivalist of india
M.B.Nirmal, founder and chairman of Exnora International
Suresh Joachim, founder and chairman of World Peace Marathon
Krishnammal Jagannathan
Naraina Pillai
Anjali Gopalan, first Indian Tamil woman awarded with the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, "Knight in the order of the legions of Honor", the highest award from France, 2013
Harish Iyer, Mumbai based blogger^[4] and LGBT rights activist^[5]
Chinna Pillai, started Kalanjiam, a microcredit movement in villages
Traffic Ramasamy, self-appointed traffic policeman, public interest litigator and social activist from Chennai
Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty international
Rettamalai Srinivasan, Dalit activist

Business and administration[edit | edit source]

Tamil billionaires[edit | edit source]

Tamil executives and business people[edit | edit source]

Bhargav Sri Prakash, scientist, inventor of digital vaccines, hedge fund manager, Founder & CEO of FriendsLearn
Palani G. Periasamy, Chairman of PGP Group of companies
Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, Inc.
Prabhakar Raghavan, Senior vice President of Google Inc.
Kalanidhi Maran, founder and head of Sun TV Network; ex-owner of SpiceJet Airline and owner of Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL team
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata & Sons
Subramaniam Ramadorai, adviser, Prime Minister of India
Suresh Joachim, CEO WBBAS, No Poverty No Disease No War, World Peace Marathon and Suresh Joachim International Group Of Companies.
Valiama Narain
Ramamurthy Thyagarajan

Educationalists[edit | edit source]

L. S. Kandasamy, teacher at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Jeppiaar, founder, Sathyabama University
V. L. Ethiraj, founder, Ethiraj College for Women
Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy, founder, Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan
B.S. Abdur Rahman, founder, B. S. Abdur Rahman University
Munirathna Anandakrishnan, former chairman, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and former Vice-Chancellor, Anna University
Bala V. Balachandran, founder, Dean & Chairman, Great Lakes Institute of Management
V. M. Muralidharan, former Chairman, Ethiraj College for Women
Subra Suresh, President of Carnegie Mellon University, former Dean of the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, former Director of the National Science Foundation^[7]
Ramayya Krishnan, Dean of Heinz College and H. John Heinz III, W. W. Cooper and Ruth F. Cooper Professor of Management Science and Information Systems at Carnegie Mellon University

Philanthropists[edit | edit source]

Diplomats[edit | edit source]

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

Journalists and broadcasters[edit | edit source]

J. S. Tissainayagam, journalist, 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, editor-in-chief of The Hindu newspaper owned by Kasturi and Sons
Cho Ramaswamy, editor of the Tamil political journal Tughlaq
Thenkachi Ko. Swaminathan, Deputy Director of All India Radio, 'Indru oru thagaval Fame'
Hari Sreenivasan, Public Broadcasting Service

Scientists[edit | edit source]

Mylswamy Annadurai, scientist with the Indian Space Research Organization; Director of 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
Kailasavadivoo Sivan, current chairperson of Indian Space Research Organization.

Social anthropologists[edit | edit source]

Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah

Academicians[edit | edit source]

Arumugam Vijiaratnam, became the first Pro-Chancellor of Nanyang Technological University in 1992 and served until 2005
Bala V. Balachandran, founder and dean of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, India; 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 of 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; Ex-Vice Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University
Prof Philip Jeyaretnam, professor of law; member of Public Service Commission
Prof Sittampalam Shanmugaratnam, former Head of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the National University of Singapore
Arjun Appadurai, contemporary social theorist; educator; founder of the School of International Relations, JNU, New Delhi
Dr. H.S.S. Lawrence, educator; formerly Director of School Education, Tamil Nadu; UNESCO Expert to the 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 of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
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, awarded the 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[edit | edit source]

G. Nammalvar, Indian organic farming scientist
M. S. Swaminathan, agricultural scientist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee

Botanists[edit | edit source]

Computer science[edit | edit source]

Ramanathan V. Guha, known for his work on Cyc, Schema.org, Meta Content Framework, Resource Description Framework; developed the first version of RSS
Madhu Sudan (1966–), professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; member of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Hari Balakrishnan, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; 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
Shiva Ayyadurai
Ravindran Kannan, a principal researcher at Microsoft Research India
T. V. Raman
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google

Finance and economics[edit | edit source]

Marti Subrahmanyam, professor at New York University (NYU); on 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 of the Reserve Bank of India (1957–1962)
S. Jagannathan, ex-Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (1970–1975); executive at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)
M. Narasimham, banker; ex-Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (1977); executive at the World Bank and IMF
S. Venkitaramanan, ex-Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (1990–1992)
K. Ramachandran, Director and CFO of Barclays Wealth, India (2008–)
T.N. Srinivasan (1933–), economist; Samuel C. Park Jr. Professor of Economics at Yale University
Raghuram Rajan, Professor at University of Chicago Booth School of Business, ex- Governor of Reserve Bank of India (2013–2016), Chief Economist, International Monetary Fund (IMF), (2003–2007)
Sendhil Mullainathan, co-founder of Ideas-42
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Ramon Navaratnam
Raj Chetty, listed in 2008 by The Economist as one of the top eight young economists in the world
Swaminathan Gurumurthy, Indian economist
Arvind Subramanian, Indian Economist, Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (2014–2018)
Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Indian Economist, Associate Professor in Indian School of Business and current Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (2018-)

Law[edit | edit source]

K. Sripavan, Chief Justice of Sri Lanka; former Deputy Solicitor General; judge and president of the Court of Appeal; Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
Rajesh Sreenivasan
Karthy Govender, Commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission; law professor at the University of Natal
K.S. Rajah, former Supreme Court Judge – Singapore
Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; South African of Indian origin and Tamil descent; first non-white woman on the High Court of South Africa; has 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
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; 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
Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah, C. J. Koh Professor of Law at the National University of Singapore
Malliha Wilson, Former Assistant Deputy Attorney General of the Government of Ontario

Mathematics[edit | edit source]

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
Ramachandran Balasubramanian, Indian number theorist; 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; recipient of the Order of Australia
C. S. Seshadri, Director of the Chennai Mathematical Institute; Trieste awardee
S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, mathematician and fellow of the Royal Society, Abel Prize winner. Pioneer of LargeDeviations Theory.
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
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 Institute; awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Mathematical Science
Raman Parimala, known for her contributions to algebra
S. Ramanan, works in algebraic geometry
Kavita Ramanan, daughter of S. Ramanan. Mathematician at Brown University

Medicine[edit | edit source]

Balamurali Ambati, world's youngest doctor at age 17^[8]
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 at French Institute 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, Indian Tamil psychologist
Paul Kalanithi, Neurosurgeon
Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist of WHO
Celine Gounder, is an American Tamil infectious disease physician, internist, epidemiologist, filmmaker, and medical journalist who specializes in infectious disease and global health^[9]
Raghavan Varadarajan, Molecular Biologist At Indian Institute Of Science, Bangalore
V. Shanta, Cancer Specialist Head Of Adyar Cancer Institute

Engineering (scientists)[edit | edit source]

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; director of the National Institute of Advanced studies (NIAS)
Raja Ramanna, former Chairman of Department of Atomic Energy; 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; CEO of the Indo-Russian Brahmos company
G. N. Ramachandran (1922–2001), made major contributions to biology and physics
R. V. Perumal, former Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre
Ramanuja Vijayaraghavan (1931–), physicist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Udaya Kumar, designer of the Indian rupee sign
Vallampadugai Srinivasa Raghavan Arunachalam
Poondi Kumaraswamy, only person to have received both the Homi Bhabha Fellowship 1967–69 and the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship 1975–77, two of the country's top research awards; hydrologist
P.S.Krishnaprasad, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Maryland
S. Somasegar, recipient of the Asian American Engineer of the Year Award
S.Vanajah, the only woman among four finalists who outlasted 11,000 other Malaysians who applied for the astronaut selection process in 2003
Ramamurti Shankar, John Randolph Huffman Professor of Physics at Yale University
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

Zoologists[edit | edit source]

Mahadeva Subramania Mani, entomologist

Music[edit | edit source]

Tamil music[edit | edit source]

Muthu Thandavar, one of the Tamil Trinity
Marimutthu Pillai, one of the Tamil Trinity
Arunachala Kavi, one of the Tamil Trinity
Kollangudi Karuppayee
Nagore E.M. Hanifa

Carnatic music[edit | edit source]

Ranjani & Gayatri
Papanasam Sivan
Sikkil Gurucharan
Lalgudi Jayaraman
Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
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
Nithyashree Mahadevan
Nisha Rajagopalan
Chinmayi
Mahathi
Aruna Sayeeram
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
S. Sowmya
M.L. Vasanthakumari
Charumathi Ramachandran
Vasundhara Devi
Vyjayanthimala
Abraham Pandithar, musicologist and siddha medicine practitioner from Madras Presidency, British India

Film music[edit | edit source]

K.V. Mahadevan (1918–2001), composer; winner of the National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1968 & 1980)
T.K. Ramamoorthy (1922–2013), composer
V. Kumar (1934–1996)
Ilayaraja
Gangai Amaran (1947–), composer, singer, director
Chandrabose (?–2010), composer
Shankar–Ganesh, composer
Deva (1950–), composer, singer
S. A. Rajkumar (1964–), composer
Sirpy (1962–), composer
A. R. Rahman (1967–), composer, singer, winner of Academy Award for Best Original Song, National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1993, 1997, 2002 & 2003)
Yuvan Shankar Raja (1979–), composer, singer, winner of 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 (1980–), composer

Western music[edit | edit source]

Master Dhanraj, Mentor of Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman
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
Tommy Genesis, Canadian rapper
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 R&B singer^[10]
Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Sri Lankan hiphop artist
Hiphop Tamizha, Tamil rap duo
Vidya Vox

Other[edit | edit source]

Jaclyn Victor, Malaysian singer, winner of inaugural Malaysian Idol
Lydian Nadhaswaram, child prodigy, Indian pianist, winner of The World's Best, 2019
Ashan Pillai, Srilankan born British violist and professor

Dance[edit | edit source]

Cinema[edit | edit source]

Directors[edit | edit source]

Actors[edit | edit source]

Actresses[edit | edit source]

Music composers[edit | edit source]

See: Film music

In Hollywood[edit | edit source]

Sendhil Ramamurthy, actor in NBC drama Heroes and Netflix series Never Have I Ever; half Tamil
Ashok Amritraj, filmmaker, producer
Geraldine Viswanathan, actress from Blockers (film); half Tamil
Sunkrish Bala, actor in ABC show Notes from the Underbelly
Mindy Kaling, actor in NBC sitcom The Office; half Tamil
Aziz Ansari, actor
Poorna Jagannathan, actress in Netflix series Never Have I Ever
Chandran Rutnam, award-winning director for the movie A Common Man at the Madrid International Film Festival; half Tamil.
M. Night Shyamalan, director; half Tamil
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, actress in Netflix series Never Have I Ever
Selva Rasalingam, actor; half Tamil
Nimmi Harasgama, actress in Funny Boy (2020 film); half Tamil
Amara Karan, actress in The Darjeeling Limited
Simone Ashley, actress in Bridgerton

Other entertainers[edit | edit source]

Aziz Ansari, comedian
Padma Lakshmi, model and television host
Romesh Ranganathan, British comedian
Sindhu Vee, British stand-up comedian; half Tamil

Sports and games[edit | edit source]

Athletics[edit | edit source]

Mariyappan Thangavelu, winner of the gold medal in Paralympics, high jump
Santhi Soundarajan, first World Peace Sports Festival Ambassador from India; first Tamil woman to win a medal at Asian Games
Mani Jegathesan
Sathish Sivalingam
Gomathi Marimuthu, winner of the gold medal in Asian athletics championship

Basketball[edit | edit source]

Anitha Pauldurai, basketball player

Carrom[edit | edit source]

A. Maria Irudayam, world carrom champion and Arjuna Award winner for carrom (1996)
R. Arokiaraj, carrom champion
B. Radhakrishnan, carrom champion

Volleyball[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Viswanathan Anand, world chess champion; 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; first woman Grandmaster from India; Arjuna Award winner for chess (2000)
Aarthie Ramaswamy, woman Grandmaster and under-18 girls' world chess champion
Baskaran Adhiban, chess Grandmaster from Tamil Nadu
S.P. Sethuraman, chess Grandmaster from Tamil Nadu
Srinath Narayanan, Chess Grandmaster From Tamil Nadu
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Chess Grandmaster From Tamil Nadu

Cricket[edit | edit source]

India[edit | edit source]

M.J. Gopalan (1909–2003), represented India in both international field hockey and cricket
C.R. Rangachari (1916–1993), pace bowler, Indian Cricket Team
M. Suryanarayan (1930–2010), batsman, Indian Test cricketer
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 and 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
Margasahayam Venkataramana (1966–), test cricketer, off-spinner
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 (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
Washington Sundar (1999–), all-rounder, Indian Cricket Team, Royal Challengers Bangalore
Thangarasu Natarajan, pacer From Salem Tamil Nadu
Varun Chakravarthy, spinner
Murugan Ashwin, leg spinner

Other countries[edit | edit source]

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 (?–1996), former NCC and Sri Lankan test cricketer/off spin bowler; 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, 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 (1968–), 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[edit | edit source]

Peter Velappan (1935–2018), General Secretary of Asian Football Confederation; member of FIFA Strategic Studies Committee & Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup^{[citation needed]}

Archery[edit | edit source]

Peter Thangaraj (1938–2008), Olympion; 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; also played for and coached Indian Bank-Chennai
Dharmalingam Kannan, footballer from Hyderabad

Hockey[edit | edit source]

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

Mountain climbing[edit | edit source]

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

Racing[edit | edit source]

Karun Chandhok, Formula 1 driver
S. Karivardhan, car constructor and National Champion
Naren Kumar, four time National Rally Champion
Ajith Kumar, mechanic, F2 racer, Moto gp racer

Squash[edit | edit source]

Nicol David, former world number 1
Deepika Pallikal, Indian women Squash Champion
Joshna Chinappa, Indian women Squash Champion

Tennis[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Vyjayanthimala, Bharatanatyam dancer; introduced semi-classical dance in Bollywood^[11]
Rukmini Devi Arundale, Bharatanatyam dancer; 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 andsinger
Sirkazhi Govindarajan, vocalist and Carnatic music exponent
Dr.Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram, vocalist and Carnatic music exponent

Religion and spirituality[edit | edit source]

Bodhidharma (5th/6th century), Buddhist monk and 28th patriarch of Buddhism; traditionally credited as the leading patriarch and transmitter of Zen to China; 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 the Advaita school of Indian philosophy
Anandabharati Aiyangar (1786–1846), poet
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
Bala Prajapathi Adikalar, Pattathu Ayya of Swamithope pathi and leader of the Ayyavazhi religion
Bishop Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (1874–1945), first Anglican Indian bishop, consecrated as the first bishop of the diocese of Dornakal in 1912
Thirumuruga Kirupananda Variyar
D.G.S. Dhinakaran, Christian Evangelist; founder of Jesus Calls Ministries
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Spiritual Guru, Founder, Art of Living Foundation
Perumal Rasu, philosopher and painter
Laxmisena, of the Mel Sithamur Jain Math, primary religious head of the Tamil Jain community^[12]
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
Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Sufi Muslim mystic hailing from Sri Lanka
Iyothee Thass, Buddhist philosopher and activist

Tamil literature[edit | edit source]

Classical literature[edit | edit source]

Tholkappiar, author of the Tholkappiyam
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 the Sangam period

Spiritual literature[edit | edit source]

Murugan[edit | edit source]

Nakkeerar author of Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai
Arunagirinathar, author of Thiruppugazh

Shaivism[edit | edit source]

Sekkizhar, author of Periapuranam
Manikkavasagar, author of Thiruvasagam and one of the Nayanmars
Siva prakasar, author of Nanneri
Thirumular, author of Thirumandhiram

Vaishnavism[edit | edit source]

Nammalvar, author of Tiruvaymoli and one of the Alwars
Thirumazhisai Alvar, author of Tiruchanda-virutham and 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

Islam[edit | edit source]

Umaru Pulavar (1605–1703), author of Seerappuranam, Islamic spiritual work on the life of Nabi under the commission of Seethakaathi, the altruist son of entrepreneur Periya Thambi Nainar Marakkayar.

Jain[edit | edit source]

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

Modern literature[edit | edit source]