List of Tamil people

This is a list of notable Tamils.

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Ancient Kings and Rulers

Tamil dynasties

Other royal families

Rulers of Ramnad
- Ramanatha Sethupathi (?–1979), last Raja of Ramnad estate
- Rajeswari Nachiyar, only daughter of last Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi, present titular ruler of Ramnad estate
- Rajkumar Sethupathi, actor, brother of last Raja Ramanatha Sethupathi and Latha, married leading actress in the 1980s Sripriya
- Latha, actress, 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)

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

Nagappan Padayatchi (1891 – 6 July 1909)
Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone (1710–1757)
Puli Thevar (1715–1767)
Marudhanayagam pillai (1725–1764)
Rani Velu Nachiar (1730–1796)
Rettamalai Srinivasan (1860–1945)
Dheeran Chinnamalai
Subramanya Bharathi (1882–1921), poet and social reformer
V. Kalyanasundaram (1883–1953), scholar
Subramaniya Siva (1884–1925), writer
Dawood Shah (1885–1969), scholar
Muhammad Ismail Rowther (1896–1972)
Jeevanandham (1907–1963)
Champakaraman Pillai (1891–1934)
Tiruppur Kumaran (1904–1932)
K. Kamaraj (1903–1975)
Veeran Sundaralingam (1770–1799)
Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar
V. O. Chidambaram pillai (1872-1936)

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

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

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)
Sasindran Muthuvel (1974–), Governor for West New Britain Province (2012–Incumbent)
E. S. L. Narasimhan (1945–), Governor of Chhattisgarh (2007–2010), Andhra Pradesh (2007–2019) 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 (2019–2024)
La. Ganesan (1945–), Governor of Manipur (2021–2023), West Bengal (Additional charge) (2022) and Nagaland (2023–Incumbent)
C. P. Radhakrishnan (1957–), Governor of Jharkhand (2023–Incumbent), and Telangana (Additional charge) (2024–Incumbent)

Lieutenant Governors of union territories

Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961–), Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (Additional charge) (2021–2024)
C. P. Radhakrishnan (1957–), Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry (Additional charge) (2024–Incumbent)

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 )
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)
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, Dairying, Information and Broadcasting (2021–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

S. Venkitaramanan, 18th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
C. Rangarajan, 19th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
Raghuram Rajan, 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India

Political families

Tamil Nadu

C. Rajagopalachari family

C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Former Governor-General of India
- C. R. Narasimhan (1909–1989), Former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); son of Rajagopalachari

C.P. Ramaswami Iyer family

C. P. Ramaswami Iyer (1879–1966), Former Dewan of Travancore
- C. P. R. Pattabhiraman (1906–2001), Former Union Minister of Law and Company Affairs; son of Ramaswami Iyer

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

E. V. K. Sampath (1926–1977), Former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha)
- E. V. K. S. Elangovan (1948–), Former Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles; son of E. V. K. Sampath

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)
- Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961–), Governor of Telangana; daughter of Kumari Ananthan
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. Bhakthavatsalam (1897–1987), Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
- Jayanthi Natarajan (1954–), Former Union Minister of Environment and Forests; granddaughter of Bhakthavatsalam

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
  - 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

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
- Mohan Kumaramangalam (1916–1973), Former Union Minister of Steel and Mines; son of Subbarayan
- Parvathi Krishnan (1919–2014), member of the Communist Party of India; daughter of Subbarayan
  - Rangarajan Kumaramangalam (1952–2000), Former Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha); grandson of Subbarayan
    - Rangarajan Mohan Kumaramangalam (1978–), member of the Indian National Congress; great-grandson of Subbarayan
  - Lalitha Kumaramangalam (1957–), member of the National Executive of the BJP; granddaughter of P. Subbarayan

P. T. Rajan family

P. T. Rajan (1892–1974), Former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency
- P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan (1932–2006), Former Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly; son of P.T. Rajan
  - P. T. R. Palanivel Thiagarajan, Finance Minister of Tamil Nadu; grandson of P.T. Rajan

Sri Lanka

Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy family

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

Arunachalam Ponnambalam family

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

S. Pararajasingam family

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

V. P. Ganeshan family

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

Savumiamoorthy Thondaiman family

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

G. G. Ponnambalam family

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

Arumugam Canagaratnam family

Arumugam Canagaratnam (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

Army

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)
General Sundararajan Padmanabhan (1940–), 19th Chief of Army Staff (2000–2002)

Navy

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
Rear Admiral Rajan Kadiragamar, 2nd Ceylonese Captain of the Royal Ceylon Navy
Admiral Travis Sinniah, 21st Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy

Air Force

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

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

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

Fields Medal

Akshay Venkatesh, Fields Medal in mathematics, 2018

Bharat Ratna

The Bharat Ratna, Highest Civilian Award of the Republic of India

C. Rajagopalachari, Former Governor-General of the Union of India; 1954
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Former President of the Republic of India; 1954
C. V. Raman, Indian Physicist; 1954
K. Kamaraj, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu; 1976
M. G. Ramachandran, Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu; 1988
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of the Republic of India; 1997
M. S. Subbulakshmi, Indian Singer; 1998
C. Subramaniam, Former Minister of Defence of the Republic of India; 1998
M. S. Swaminathan, Father of the Green Revolution in the Republic of India; 2024

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

Padma Shri

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
Vivek (2009), Arts
E. A. Siddiq (2011) Science
Mecca Rafeeque Ahmed (2011), businessman and entrepreneur

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.

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

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.

Sivaji Ganesan, 1996
K. Balachander, 2011

Param Vir Chakra

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

Major Ramaswamy Parmeshwaran (1946–1987), awarded in 1987 (posthumous) for IPKF operations in Sri Lanka

Sahitya Akademi Award

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

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

The Jnanpith Award is India's highest literary honor

Akilan, 1975
Jayakanthan, 2002

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Vyjayanthimala, Sangeet Natak Akademi, 1982

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.

Kutraleeswaran, youngest Arjuna Award winner

Oscar awards

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

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

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

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

Lakshman Kadirgamar, former Sri Lankan foreign minister and diplomat
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

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

Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah

Academicians

Arumugam Vijiaratnam, became the first Pro-Chancellor of Nanyang Technological University in 1992 and served until 2005
Bala V. Balachandran, founder 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

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

Botanists

Computer science

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

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

Mahadeva Subramania Mani, entomologist

Music

Tamil music

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

Carnatic music

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

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

Jaclyn Victor, Malaysian singer, winner of inaugural Malaysian Idol
Chen Gexin, Chinese songwriter
Chen Gang, Chinese composer
Lydian Nadhaswaram, child prodigy, Indian pianist, winner of The World's Best, 2019
Ashan Pillai, Sri Lankan born British violist and professor

Dance

Cinema

Directors

Actors

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

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

Anitha Pauldurai, basketball player

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

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

Volleyball

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

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

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]}
Samuel Moutoussamy Professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for FC Nantes and represents the DR Congo internationally.
Gurusamy Kandasamy
Syed Sabir Pasha, represented Indian football team in the early 1990s; also played for and coached Indian Bank-Chennai

Hockey

Vasudevan Baskaran, captain of the Indian hockey team that won Olympic Gold in 1980 Moscow Olympics; 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

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

Racing

Karun Chandhok, Formula 1 driver
Naren Kumar, four time National Rally Champion
Ajith Kumar, mechanic, F2 racer, Moto gp racer

Squash

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

Tennis

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

Entertainers

Vyjayanthimala, Bharatanatyam dancer; 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

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
Iyothee Thass, Buddhist philosopher and activist

Tamil literature

Classical literature

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

Religious literature

Shaivism

Sekkilhar, author of the Periya Puranam
Manikkavasagar, author of Thiruvasagam and one of the Nayanmars
Siva Prakasar, author of Nanneri
Thirumular, author of Tirumantiram
Nakkeerar author of Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai
Arunagirinathar, author of Tiruppugal

Vaishnavism

Nammalvar, author of Tiruvaymoli and one of the Alvars
Tirumalisai Alvar, author of Tiruchanda Viruttam and one of the Alvars
Andal, author of Tiruppavai and one of the Alvars
Manavala Mamunigal, proponent of Sri Vaishnavism
Periyalvar, author of Periyalvar Tirumoli and one of the Alvars
V. Akilesapillai, scholar, poet, and author of Thirukonasala Vaipavam from Sri Lanka

Islam

Umaru Pulavar (1605–1703), author of Seerappuranam, Islamic tamil poet.

Jainism

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

Modern literature