List of Tamil people explained
This is a list of notable Tamils.
Ancient Kings and Rulers
See also: List of Tamil monarchs.
Tamil dynasties
Other royal families
Governor-Generals, Presidents and Vice Presidents
- C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Governor-General of the Union of India (1948–1950)
- R. Venkataraman (1910–2009), President of the Republic of India (1987–1992) and Vice President the Republic of India (1984–1987)
- Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920–2000), Governor-General of the Union of Mauritius (1986–1992)
- Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920–2000), President of the Republic of Mauritius (1992–1992)
- A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015), President of the Republic of India (2002–2007)
- S. R. Nathan (1924–2016), President of the Republic of Singapore (1999–2011)
- Angidi Veeriah Chettiar (1928–2010), Acting President of the Republic of Mauritius (2002–2002)
- Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (1945–), Acting President of the Republic of Mauritius (2002–2002)
- Kamala Harris (1964–), Vice President of the United States of America (2021–present)
- Tharman Shanmugaratnam (1957–), President of the Republic of Singapore (2023–present)
Prime Ministers
- Moses Nagamootoo (1947–), Prime Minister of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana (2015–2020)
Multinational positions
- Radhika Coomaraswamy (1953–), Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
- 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
Indian independence movement
Independence movements in other countries
- Thillaiaadi Valliammai (1898–1914), South African militant
- Captain Miller (1966–1987), Tamil rebel and member of the Tamil Tigers, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka; known as the LTTE's first Black Tiger (suicide bomber).
- V. T. Sambanthan (1919–1979), one of the three founding fathers of Malaysia
- Pon Sivakumaran (1950–1974), Eelam Tamil rebel and the first Tamil militant to commit suicide by swallowing cyanide
- Ponnambalam Ramanathan, leader in the Sri Lankan independence movement
- Ponnambalam Arunachalam, leader in the Sri Lankan independence movement
- Cankili I also known as Cekaracacekaran VII, most remembered Jaffna kingdom king in the Eelam Tamil history. He was very active in resisting Portuguese colonial inroads into Eelam.
- Cankili II, known as the last King of the Jaffna Kingdom
- Arumaipperumal, Batticaloa chieftain in the 18th century who led a rebellion against the British colonial occupiers in 1803
- Pandara Vanniyan (1775–1810), Tamil Chieftain who ruled in Vanni Nadu in 18th century AD. He is referred to by some as the last Tamil king in Sri Lanka, who also rose to revolt against the British Ceylon empire and Dutch Ceylon empire, who died battling the British colonial rule on the island.
- Periyapillai, known to mount the major attack on the Portuguese fort in the Mannar Island to regain territory lost during Cankili's rule
- Migapulle Arachchi also known as Chinna Migapillai, feudal lord from the Jaffna Kingdom who became a rebel leader just after its annexation by the Portuguese Empire in 1619. His title Arachchi, is a title given to the commanders of Lascarins or native military forces.
- Varunakulattan, 17th-century feudal lord and military commander from the Jaffna Kingdom. He led a rebellion as the military commander of Thanjavur Nayak against the Portuguese in their conquest of the Jaffna kingdom in 1619. Although the nominal king was Cankili II, Varunakulattan was described as the king of Karaiyars, and wield the real power in the Jaffna Peninsula.
- Puviraja Pandaram
- Kasi Nayinar Pararacacekaran
- Ethirimana Cinkam
- S. A. Ganapathy (1912 or 1917 – 4 May 1949), was a veteran of the communist underground resistance during Japanese occupation and postwar trade unionist in then Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia).
Contributions to Tamil people
Governors of states
- C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Governor of West Bengal (1947–48)
- P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja (1898–1957), Governor of Odisha (1954–56)
- Jothi Venkatachalam (1917–unknown), Governor of Kerala (1977–82)
- P. Ramachandran (1921–2001), Governor of Kerala (1982–88)
- T. V. Rajeswar (1926–2018), Governor of Sikkim (1985–89), West Bengal (1989–90) and Uttar Pradesh (2004–09)
- C. Rangarajan (1932–), Governor of Andhra Pradesh (1997–2003)
- Sasindran Muthuvel (1974–), Governor for West New Britain Province (2012–Incumbent)
- E. S. L. Narasimhan (1945–), Governor of Chhattisgarh (2007–10), Andhra Pradesh (2007–19) and Telangana (2014–19)
- P. Sathasivam (1949–), Governor of Kerala (2014–19)
- V. Shanmuganathan (1949–), Governor of Manipur (2015–16), Meghalaya (2015–17) and Arunachal Pradesh (2016–17)
- Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961–), Governor of Telangana (2019–24)
- La. Ganesan (1945–), Governor of Manipur (2021–23), West Bengal (2022) and Nagaland (2023–Incumbent)
- C. P. Radhakrishnan (1957–), Governor of Jharkhand (2023–24), Telangana (2024) and Maharashtra (2024–Incumbent)
Lieutenant governors of union territories
Chief Ministers
- C. V. Vigneswaran (1939–), Chief Minister of Northern province of Sri Lanka (2013–2018)
- S. Chandrakanthan (1975–), Chief Minister of Eastern province of Sri Lanka (2008–2012)
- P. Subbarayan (1889–1962), Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (1926–1930)
- P. T. Rajan (1892–1974), Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (1936–1936)
- C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (1947–1949) and Tamil Nadu (1952–1954)
- P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja (1898–1957), Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (1949–1950) and Tamil Nadu (1950–1952)
- K. Kamaraj (1903–1975), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1954–1963)
- M. Bhakthavatsalam (1897–1987), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1963–1967)
- V. Venkatasubba Reddiar (1909–1982), Chief Minister of Puducherry (1964–1967; 1968–1968)
- C. N. Annadurai (1909–1969), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1967–1969)
- V. R. Nedunchezhiyan (1920–2000), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1969–1969; 1987–1988)
- M. G. Ramachandran (1919 - 1989), Chief minister of Tamil Nadu (1977 - 1987)(malayali)
- M. Karunanidhi (1924–2018), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1969–1976; 1989–1991; 1996–2001; 2006–2011)
- S. Ramassamy (1939–2017), Chief Minister of Puducherry (1974–1974; 1977–1978)
- V. N. Janaki Ramachandran (1924–1996), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1988–1988)(half malayali)
- J. Jayalalithaa (1948–2016), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1991–1996; 2001–2001; 2002–2006; 2011–2014; 2015–2016)
- V. Vaithilingam (1950–), Chief Minister of Puducherry (1991–1996; 2008–2011)
- P. Shanmugam (1927–2013), Chief Minister of Puducherry (2000–2001)
- O. Panneerselvam (1951–), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (2001–2002; 2014–2015; 2016–2017)
- N. Rangasamy (1950–), Chief Minister of Puducherry (2001–2008; 2011–2016; 2021–Incumbent)
- V. Narayanasamy (1947–), Chief Minister of Puducherry (2016–2021)
- Edappadi K. Palaniswami (1954–), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (2017–2021)
- M. K. Stalin (1953–), Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (2021–Incumbent)
Deputy Chief Ministers
- M. K. Stalin (1953–), Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (2009–2011)
- O. Panneerselvam (1951–), Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (2017–2021)
Union Ministers
- R. K. Shanmukham Chetty (1892–1953), Minister of Finance (1947–1948)
- N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar (1882–1953), Minister of Defence (1952–1953)
- K. Santhanam (1895–1980), Minister of State for Transport and Railways (1948–1952)
- C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Minister of Home Affairs (1950–1951)
- P. Subbarayan (1889–1962), Minister of Transport and Communications (1959–1962)
- C. Subramaniam (1910–2000), Minister of Defence (1979–1980)
- Mohan Kumaramangalam (1916–1973), Minister of Steel and Mines (1971–1973)
- Sathiavani Muthu (1923–1999), Minister of Social Welfare (1979–1979)
- Aravinda Bala Pajanor (1935–2013), Minister of Petroleum, Chemicals and Fertilizers (1979–1979)
- P. Chidambaram (1945–), Minister of Finance (2012–2014)
- Murasoli Maran (1934–2003), Minister of Commerce and Industry (1999–2002)
- Subramanian Swamy (1939–), Minister of Commerce, Law and Justice (1990–1991)
- M. Arunachalam (1944–2004), Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers (1997–1998)
- T. R. Baalu (1941–), Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways (2004–2009)
- P. R. Kumaramangalam (1952–2000), Minister of Power (1998–2000)
- Sedapatti R. Muthiah (1945–2022), Minister of Surface Transport (1998–1998)
- M. Thambidurai (1947–), Minister of Law, Justice, Company Affairs and Surface Transport (1998–1999)
- R. K. Kumar (1942–1999), Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Finance (1998–1998)
- Kadambur M. R. Janarthanan (1929–2020), Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions and Finance (1998–1999)
- K. Ramamurthy (1940–2002), Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas (1998–1999)
- Gingee N. Ramachandran (1944–), Minister of State for Textiles (2003–2003)
- A. Raja (1963–), Minister of Communications and Information Technology (2009–2010)
- Pon. Radhakrishnan (1952–), Minister of State for Finance (2017–2019)
- K. Jana Krishnamurthy (1928–2007), Minister of Law and Justice (2002–2003)
- A. K. Moorthy (1964–), Minister of State for Railways (2002–2004)
- M. K. Alagiri (1951–), Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers (2009–2013)
- G. K. Vasan (1964–), Minister of Shipping (2009–2014)
- Anbumani Ramadoss (1968–), Minister of Health and Family Welfare (2004–2009)
- Mani Shankar Aiyar (1941–), Minister of Panchayati Raj (2004–2009)
- S. S. Palanimanickam (1950–), Minister of State for Finance (2004–2013)
- K. Venkatapathy (1947–), Minister of State for Law and Justice (2004–2009)
- Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan (1947–), Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment (2004–2009)
- R. Velu (1940–), Minister of State for Railways (2004–2009)
- S. Regupathy (1950–), Minister of State for Environment and Forests (2007–2009)
- Dayanidhi Maran (1966–), Minister of Textiles (2009–2011)
- V. Radhika Selvi (1976–), Minister of State for Home Affairs (2007–2009)
- D. Nepoleon (1963–), Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment (2009–2013)
- S. Jagathrakshakan (1950–), Minister of State for Commerce and Industry (2012–2013)
- V. Narayanasamy (1947–), Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (2010–2014)
- Nirmala Sitharaman (1959–), Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs (2019–Incumbent)
- S. Jaishankar (1955–), Minister of External Affairs (2019–Incumbent)
- L. Murugan (1977–), Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (2021–2024); Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (2021–Incumbent); Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (2024–Incumbent)
Political leaders outside of India
- Moses Veerasammy Nagamootoo (1947–), Prime Minister, Guyana
- Jeanne Dupleix, (1706-1756), French political advisor
- Karim Ghani, Southeast Asian politician
- Abdul Razak (1898-1947), Burmese politician
- S. Jayakumar (1939–), former Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore
- Shiva Ayyadurai, American conservative influencer, entrepreneur, and engineer
- Tharman Shanmugaratnam (1957–), President of Singapore, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Singapore
- Vivian Balakrishnan (1961–), Minister for Foreign Affairs, Singapore
- Indranee Rajah (1963–), Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Finance and Second Minister for National Development, Singapore
- K. Shanmugam (1959–), Minister for Law and Minister for Home Affairs, Singapore
- S. Rajaratnam (1915–2006), former Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore
- S. Dhanabalan (1937–), former Minister (various portfolios), Singapore
- S. Iswaran (1962–), Minister for Transport, Singapore
- S. R. Nathan (1924–2016), former President of Singapore
- J. B. Jeyaretnam (1926–2008), ex-opposition leader and MP, Singapore
- Ramasamy Palanisamy (1949–), Deputy Chief Minister of Penang state, Malaysia
- Tommy Thomas, barrister and former Attorney General of Malaysia
- K. S. Rajah, Senior Counsel and former Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore
- 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 (1937–2022), 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
- Kenneth Jeyaretnam (1959–), Secretary-General of Reform Party of Singapore
- Janil Puthucheary (1972–), Party Whip of the People's Action Party, 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
- Raja Krishnamoorthi (1973–), American congressman
- E. E. C. Thuraisingham (1898–1979), first local Member in British-ruled Malaya
- 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]
- Vivek Ramaswamy, candidate in the USA 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries
Governors of the Reserve Bank of India
Political families
Tamil Nadu
C. Rajagopalachari family
C.P. Ramaswami Iyer family
D. Jayakumar family
- D. Jayakumar (1960–), Former Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
- J. Jayavardhan (1987–), Former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); son of Jayakumar
E. V. K. Sampath family
G. K. Moopanar family
- G. K. Moopanar (1931–2001), Former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)
- G. K. Vasan (1964–), Former Union Minister of Shipping; son of Moopanar
H. Kumari Ananthan family
- H. Kumari Ananthan (1933–), Former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha)
- H. Vasanthakumar (1950–2020), Former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); brother of Kumari Ananthan
- Vijay Vasanth (1983–), Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); nephew of Kumari Ananthan
M. Bhakthavatsalam family
M. Karunanidhi family
- 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
- 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
An O. Panneerselvam family
- O. Panneerselvam (1951–), Former Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- P. Ravindhranath (1980–), Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); son of Panneerselvam
P. Subbarayan family
- P. Subbarayan (1889–1962), Former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency; Former Union Minister of Transport and Communications
P. T. Rajan family
- P. T. Rajan (1892–1974), Former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency
Sri Lanka
Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy family
Arunachalam Ponnambalam family
S. Pararajasingam family
V. P. Ganeshan family
- V. P. Ganeshan, founder of the Democratic Workers' Congress, film producer and actor
- Mano Ganesan (1959–), Member of Parliament, Provincial Councillor, son of V.P. Ganeshan
- Praba Ganesan (1964–), Member of Parliament, Provincial Councillor, son of V.P. Ganeshan
Savumiamoorthy Thondaiman family
G. G. Ponnambalam family
Arumugam Canagaratnam family
Military leaders
Army
Navy
Air Force
Independence Movement
- Velupillai Prabhakaran, founder of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
- Vaithilingam Sornalingam, also known as Colonel Shanker, was founder of the air wing and marine division of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
- Ambalavanar Neminathan commonly known by the nom de guerre Raju) was a leading member of the Tamil Tigers, Raju served as the head of the LTTE's Engineering Corps. He was special commander of the Leopard Commandos, an infantry unit, and chief technical officer in the Kittu Regiment, the LTTE's artillery unit which Raju helped create.
- Pottu Amman, was the second-in-command of Tamil Tigers. was a Head of Tiger Organization Security Intelligence Service and the Black Tigers.
- Lt. Colonel Thileepan
Award winners
Nobel Prize winners
Fields Medal
Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna, Highest Civilian Award of the Republic of India
Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian honour.
- Arcot Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar, for Medicine, 1963
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, for Science & Engineering, 1968
- K. V. Kalyana Sundaram, for Public Affairs, 1968
- Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar, for Civil Service, 1970
- T. Swaminathan, for Civil Service, 1973
- T. Balasaraswati, for Arts, 1977
- V. Arunachalam, for Literature & Education, 1990
- Raja Jesudoss Chelliah, for Public Affairs, 2007
- Balu Sankaran, for Medicine, 2007
- V. Krishnamurthy, for Civil Service, 2007
- Ilaiyaraaja, for Music, 2018
Padma Bhushan
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
- Vijayakanth, Arts
Padma Shri
The Padma Shri is India's fourth highest civilian honour.
Ramon Magsaysay Award
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.
Dadasaheb Phalke Award
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.
Param Vir Chakra
The Param Vir Chakra is India's highest military honor.
Sahitya Akademi Award
See main article: List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil.
Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is India's highest sporting honor.
Jnanpith Award
The Jnanpith Award is India's highest literary honor
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship
Guinness World Records
- 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
The Arjuna Award was instituted in 1961 by the Government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in national sports.
Oscar awards
Social workers
- 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
- 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
Criminals
- Bentong Kali (1961–1993), was a Malaysian-Tamil criminal and mobster who gained a national attention in the 1990s. He was implicated in over 17 different murders, and terrorized the capital Kuala Lumpur through violence, extortion and heroin smuggling. He also made headlines when he challenged the police to arrest him. He was finally gunned down by Royal Malaysia Police's Special Actions Unit from Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur.
- Douglas Devananda (1957-) is a paramilitary leader, politician and a proclaimed offender in India and is wanted on charges of murder, attempt to murder, child prostitution, rioting, unlawful assembly and kidnapping. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), tried unsuccessfully to assassinate him over 10 times.
- Varadarajan Mudaliar (1926–1988), also known as Vardhabhai and Vardha, was an Indian-Tamil crime boss. He was one of the infamous trio of mafia gang leaders of Mumbai the other being Karim Lala and Haji Mastan. His origin is North Arcot district of Tamil Nadu, from where his father migrated to Tuticorin to work in shipping business. He was born in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. From early 1960s to the 1980s; he was one of the most powerful mob bosses in Bombay, along with Haji Mastan and Karim Lala.
- Auto Shankar (1954–1995), was a serial killer and a gangster from the state of Tamil Nadu active in Chennai throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Business and administration
Tamil billionaires
- Ananda Krishnan, Chairman of Usaha Tegas Snd Bhd
- Kalanithi Maran, founder and chairman of Sun Group
- Shiv Nadar, founder and chairman emeritus of HCL Technologies
- Ram Shriram, founding board member of Google
- A. Vellayan, vice-chairman of the Murugappa Group
- Maha Sinnathamby, businessman and property developer
- G. Gnanalingam, chairman of Westports Malaysia
- R. G. Chandramogan, entrepreneur
- Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc
- B. S. Abdur Rahman, entrepreneur and philanthropist
- T. S. Kalyanaraman, chairman and managing director of Kalyan Jewellers
- Subaskaran Allirajah, chairman of LycaMobile
- Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho Corporation
Tamil executives and business people
See main article: Tamil executives and businesspeople.
- Palani G. Periasamy, Chairman of PGP Group of companies
- Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
- Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, Inc.
- Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube
- Vasant Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis
- Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex
- Ronald Arculli, Chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and Non-official Members Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong (Exco)
- 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
Educators
- 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[6]
- 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
Diplomats
Journalists and broadcasters
- 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
- Ranga Yogeshwar, Luxembourgish physicist and science journalist
- Marc Fennell, Irish-Australian journalist, media personality, and author
- 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
- 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
Academicians
- 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
Botanists
Computer science
Finance and economics
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Ramaiyengar Sridharan
- 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
- Balamurali Ambati, world's youngest doctor at age 17[7]
- 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
- Manoj Durairaj, Cardiac surgeon, philanthropist and winner of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice
- 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[8]
- Raghavan Varadarajan, Molecular Biologist At Indian Institute Of Science, Bangalore
- V. Shanta, Cancer Specialist Head Of Adyar Cancer Institute
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; 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
Music
Tamil music
Carnatic music
Film music
- 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
- Kavita Krishnamurti (1958–), singer
- D. Imman (1983–), composer, singer
- Srikanth Deva, composer, singer
- Bobo Shashi, composer, singer
- Karthik Raja (1973–), composer
- Bharadwaj (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
- Joshua Sridhar (2004–), composer
- Nivas K. Prasanna (2014–), composer
Western music
- Master Dhanraj, Mentor of Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman
- Guy Sebastian, Malaysian-Australian singer and songwriter
- M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam), British musician
- Sketchy Bongo (Yuvir Pillay), South African musician and DJ
- 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
- Shan Vincent de Paul, Canadian singer-songwriter, 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[9]
- Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Sri Lankan hiphop artist
- Hiphop Tamizha, Tamil rap duo
- Vidya Vox, American singer
- Yanchan, Canadian music artist
- Priya Ragu, Swiss singer
Other
Dance
Cinema
Directors
Actors
See also: List of Tamil film actors.
Actresses
See also: List of Tamil film actresses.
Music composers
See: Film music
In Hollywood
- 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 and comedian
- 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, a Canadian 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
- Charithra Chandran, actress in Bridgerton
Other entertainers
- Padma Lakshmi, American model and television host
- Angela Jonsson, Icelandic model and actress
- Amelia Henderson, British-Malaysian media personality
- Anjana Vasan, British-Singaporean actress
- Law Lan, Hong Kong actress
- Cassandra Ponti, Filipino actress
- Tatiana Kumar, French-Malaysian model
- Huzir Sulaiman, Malaysian director and actor
- Waheeda Rehman, Indian actress and dancer
- Michelle Saram, Chinese-Singaporean actress and singer
- Romesh Ranganathan, British comedian
- Sindhu Vee, British stand-up comedian; half Tamil
- Aurore Kichenin, French model
- Deborah Priya Henry, Malaysian-Irish model and television personality
Sports and games
Athletics
See main article: List of sportspeople from Tamil Nadu.
Basketball
Boxing
- Venkatesan Devarajan was the second Indian to win a medal at the Boxing World Cup after Pu Zoramthanga (boxer), from Mizoram. He is from Chennai, India. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1995. He competed in the men's bantamweight event at the 1992 Summer Olympics. V. Devarajan has been a fighter on and off the boxing ring. He broke new ground by becoming the first Indian to win a World Cup medal on foreign soil in 1994.
- Kalaivani Srinivasan is a female boxer from Tamil Nadu who won a silver medal at the Indian Seniors National Boxing Championship in Vijayanagar in 2019. She was named the ‘Most Promising Boxer’ at the Indian National Boxing Championship in 2019. She later won a gold medal at the South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2019.
Carrom
Volleyball
Chess
- 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
India
- 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
- Venkatesh Iyer, Batsman
Other countries
- Muttiah Muralitharan (1972–), highest wicket taker in test and ODI cricket from Sri Lanka
- Angelo Mathews, Sri Lankan all rounder and captain
- Russel Arnold, Sri Lankan cricketer and journalist
- Roy Dias, former Sri Lankan test cricketer/vice captain; a Tamil of Negombo Chetty
- Sridharan Jeganathan (?–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
Hockey
Mountain climbing
- M. Magendran, conquered the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest
Racing
Squash
Tennis
Entertainers
- Vyjayanthimala, Bharatanatyam dancer; introduced semi-classical dance in Bollywood[10]
- 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 and singer
- Sirkazhi Govindarajan, vocalist and Carnatic music exponent
- Dr.Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram, vocalist and Carnatic music exponent
Religion and spirituality
Tamil literature
Classical literature
Religious literature
Shaivism
Vaishnavism
Islam
Jainism
Christianity
Modern literature
India
- Subramania Bharati, social and literary writer
- Bharathidasan (1891–1964), poet and rationalist
- Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram, wrote revolutionary Tamil poems in common language
- Pudhumaipithan (1906–1948), fiction writer
- Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai, first Tamil novelist
- Akilan, novelist
- Ramalingam Pillai
- Thi. Janakiraman, novelist
- Mahavidwan Vasudeva Mudaliar, scholar
- Kalki Krishnamurthy (1899–1954), novelist and journalist
- Jayakanthan (1934–2015), writer and novelist
- G. P. Rajarathnam (1909–1979), Tamil-born Kannada poet and writer
- T. P. Kailasam (1884–1946), playwright and writer in Kannada literature from Karnataka
- Masti Venkatesha Iyengar (1891–1986), Kannada writer and recipient of Jnanpith Award
- Kannadasan (1927–1981), popularly called as Kavi Arasu; poet and film lyricist; winner of National Film Award for Best Lyrics (1969)
- Vairamuthu (1953–), poet and film lyricist; winner of National Film Award for Best Lyrics (1986, 1993, 1995, 2000, and 2003)
- Leena Manimekalai
- Indira Soundarajan, novelist and short story writer
- Ashoka Mitran (1931–2017), novelist and short story writer
- R. K. Narayan (1906–2001), English novelist and essayist
- Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliar, scholar
- Pa. Subramania Mudaliar, scholar
- Varadarasanar, novelist
- Sandilyan, novelist
- Pa. Vijay, film lyricist; winner of National Film Award for Best Lyrics (2005)
- Vaali, film lyricist
- Sujatha (1935–2008), novelist, haiku poet, film screenplay writer
- R. Raghava Iyengar
- K. S. Maniam
- Kavikko Abdul Rahman
- Makkal Pavalar Inqulab, left-leaning poet
- Mu. Metha
- Ka. Mu. Sheriff, film lyricist
- Manushyaputhiran
- Rajathi Salma, novelist
- Balakumaran (5 July 1946 – 15 May 2018)[1], Indian Tamil writer, author of over 200 novels, 100 short stories, etc.
- Pattukkottai Prabakar, Indian Tamil writer. He is a king of crime and thrill novels and also a versatile writer.
- Rajesh Kumar (writer), pseudonym of KR Rajagopal, Tamil author of crime fiction. Kalaimaamani Awardee.
- Henry Alfred Krishnapillai, Tamil Poet.
Other countries
- Ronnie Govender, South African playwright, actor, activist, won the 1997 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
- Pico Iyer, British-Japanese essayist and novelist
- Kessie Govender, South African playwright, actor and theatre director; founded the Stable Theatre
- Kandappu Murugesu, Sri Lankan poet
- Shyam Selvadurai, Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist; half Tamil
- Sharon Bala, Canadian writer
- Akwaeke Emezi, Nigerian writer and video artist; half Tamil
- Rani Manicka, Malaysian novelist, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 2003 for South East Asia and South Pacific region
- Edwin Thumboo, Singaporean writer; half Tamil
- T. K. Doraiswamy (Nakulan) (1921–2007), poet, novelist, translator, professor of English Singapore writer; President of Singapore Law Society
- Gopal Baratham (1935–2002), Singaporean writer and neurosurgeon
Others
- Arumuka Navalar (1822–1879), pioneer of Tamil prose; champion of Hinduism from Jaffna, Sri Lanka
- Siva prakasar, Saiva Siddantha, scholar, wrote 32 books in Tamil (Nanneri, Thiruchendur ula)
- Maraimalai Adigal, scholar and activist
- U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (1855–1942)
- Paventhar Bharathidasan, poet, also known as "Puratchi Kavignar"
- Kalyanasundara Mudaliar, writer
- Varadarasanar, novelist
- Erode Tamilanban, poet
- Solomon Pappaiah, scholar and debate judge
- Pudhumaipithan, revolutionary writer from the Tirunelveli Saiva Pillai community
- Jayakanthan, writer
- Kavimani Desigavinayagam Pillai, poet
- Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai, writer
- Perumal Rasu, writer, poet, painter
- Ramanuja Kavirayar, poet
Modern art
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: Roy Padayachie | South African History Online. www.sahistory.org.za.
- Web site: Spotlight on: Vanushi Walters | Office of Ethnic Communities. www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz.
- Web site: Rajasekharan Parameswaran. Rajasekharan Parameswaran. Guinness World Records. guinness world records. GWR.
- News: Bose. Sushmita. Living in Times of Terror, Reaching out in Cyberspace. December 17, 2012. Khaleej Times. December 12, 2008.
- Web site: The Solid Seven: India's most influential Gays & Lesbians. Pink-Pages. December 17, 2012.
- Web site: Leadership at Carnegie Mellon University. www.cmu.edu. 2015-12-04.
- Web site: 9 Youngest in Their Fields. September 18, 2007. HowStuffWorks.
- Web site: Tomlinson . Brett . Q&A: Dr. Celine Gounder '97 on the Opioid Epidemic, Ebola, and More | Princeton Alumni Weekly . Paw.princeton.edu . 2018-06-04 . 2021-01-24.
- Web site: London's R&B Sensation: Arjun. TamilCulture.com.
- Web site: Bollywood's Dancing Queen . May 6, 2002 . Dinesh. Raheja . 2011-01-02 . Rediff.
