List of Tamil people

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

This is a list of notable Tamils.

Kings and rulers

See also: List of Tamil monarchs

Tamil dynasties

• Chola Dynasty
• Pandyan Dynasty
• Chera Dynasty
• Pallava Dynasty
• Eastern Ganga Dynasty
• Ay Dynasty
• Velir Dynasty
• Aryacakravarti Dynasty
• Vanni Dynasty

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)

Presidents and Governor General

Indian Governor General

• C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), former Governor-General of India, 1948–1950; first Bharat Ratna awardee in India.

Indian presidents

• R. Venkataraman (1910–2009), former President of India, 1987–1992; formerly the Vice President of India.
• A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015), former President of India; Bharat Ratna awardee; "Missile Man of India".

Other countries' presidents

• S.R. Nathan (1924–2016), President of Singapore (2002–2011)
• Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920–2000), President of Mauritius (1992–1992)
• Angidi Veeriah Chettiar (1928–2010), acting President of Mauritius (2002–2002)
• Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay (1945–), acting President of Mauritius (2002–2002)

International positions

• Radhika Coomaraswamy (1953–), Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
• James Appathurai (1968–), Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Ex-spokesperson for NATO,
• Roy Padayachie (1950–2012), Minister of Public Service and Administration of the Republic of South Africa; also served in the economics desk of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal and as deputy head of local government portfolio; consultant to UNICEF, UNESCO and the World Bank[1]
• Sunder Pichai CEO of Google
• Indra Nooyi CEO of PepsiCo
• Raghuram rajan Governor RBI
• Suresh Narayanan CEO of Nestle

Independence movement

Indian independence movement

• Puli Thevar (1715-1767)
• Rani Velu Nachiar (1730-1796)
• Maruthu Pandiyarkal.
• Rettamalai Srinivasan (1860–1945)
• V. O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872–1936)
• Dheeran Chinnamalai
• Subramanya Bharathi (1882–1921), poet and social reformer
• V. Kalyanasundaram (1883–1953), scholar
• Subramaniya Siva (1884–1925), writer
• Jeevanandham (1907–1963)
• Champakaraman Pillai (1891–1934)
• Tiruppur Kumaran (1904–1932)
• U. Muthuramalingam Thevar (1908–1963)
• K. Kamaraj (1903–1975)
• Immanuvel Devendrar (1924-1957)
• Veerapandiya Kattabomman (1760-1799)
• Muhammad ismail (1896-1972)
• Veeran Sundaralingam (1770-1799)

Independence movements in other countries

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

Contributions to Tamil people

• 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)
• C. Rangarajan (1932–), Governor of Andhra Pradesh (1997–2003)
• T.V. Rajeswar (1926–), IPS Officer, Governor of Sikkim (1985–1989), West Bengal (1989–1990) and Uttar Pradesh (2004–2009)
• Jothi Venkatachalam (1917–unknown), Governor of Kerala (1977-1982)
• P. Ramachandran (1921–2001)Governor of Kerala (1982-1988)
• E.S.L. Narasimhan (1945–), IPS officer, Governor of Chhattisgarh (2007–2010), Andhra Pradesh (2007–incumbent) and Telangana (2014–2019)
• P. Sathasivam (1949–), Chief Justice of India (2013–2014), Governor of Kerala (2014–2019)
• V. Shanmuganathan (1949–) , Governor of Manipur (2015-2016), Governor of Arunachal Pradesh (Additional charge) (2016–2017),Governor of Meghalaya (2015–2017)
• Tamilisai Soundararajan (1961–), Medical Doctor, President of BJP in Tamil Nadu (2014–2019), Governor of Telangana (2019–Incumbent)

Chief Ministers

Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu

• P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja (1898–1957)
• C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Bharat Ratna awardee
• K. Kamaraj (1903–1975), Bharat Ratna awardee
• M. Bhaktavatsalam (1897–1987)
• C. N. Annadurai (1909–1969)
• V. R. Nedunchezhiyan (1920–2000)
• M. Karunanidhi (1924–2018)
• M. G. Ramachandran (1917–1987), Bharat Ratna awardee
• J. Jayalalithaa (1948–2016)
• O. Panneerselvam (1951–)
• Edappadi K. Palaniswami (1953–)

Chief Ministers of Puducherry

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

Central Ministers

• R.K. Shanmukham Chetty (1892–1953), former Finance Minister of independent India
• Jana Krishnamurthi (1928–2007), former Union Law Minister
• K. Santhanam (1895–1980), former Railway Minister of independent India
• Satyavani Muthu (1923–1999), former Union Cabinet Minister
• Vazhappady K. Ramamurthy (1940–2002), former Union Cabinet Minister of Petroleum
• M. Arunachalam (1944–2004), former union Cabinet Minister of Labour
• P. Chidambaram (1945–), former Finance Minister of India
• A. Raja (1963–), former Communications and Information Technology Minister of India
• Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan (1947–), former Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment of India
• K. Venkatapathy (1947–), former Minister of State for Law and Justice of India
• S. Regupathy (1950–), former Minister of State for Forests and Environment
• Gingee N. Ramachandran (1944–), former Union Minister of State, Finance
• M.K. Azhagiri (1951–), former Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers
• S. S. Palanimanickam (1950–), former Minister of State for Finance of India
• S. Jagathrakshakan (1950–), former Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry
• T. R. Baalu (1941–), former Minister of Shipping and Road Transport and Highways
• Mani Shankar Aiyar (1941–), former Union Cabinet Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas
• Subramanian Swamy (1939–), former Cabinet Minister of Commerce and Law
• Murasoli Maran, former Minister of Commerce and Industry
• Dayanidhi Maran, former Minister of Communications and Information Technology
• R. Velu (1940–), former Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways
• V. Radhika Selvi (1976–), former Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs
• V. Narayanasamy (1947–), former Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
• Nirmala Sitharaman (1959–), former Minister of Defence Ministry and present Finance Minister[2]
• Anbumani Ramadoss (1968–), former Minister of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India
• Pon Radhakrishnan (1952–), former Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping
• Mohan Kumaramangalam former Minister of Iron and steel
• Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of India

Political leaders in other countries

• Moses Veerasammy Nagamootoo (1947–), Prime Minister, Guyana
• S Jayakumar (1939–), former Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore
• Tharman Shanmugaratnam (1957–), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Singapore
• Vivian Balakrishnan (1961–), Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore
• S Rajaratnam (1915–2006), former Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore
• S Dhanabalan (1937–), former Minister (various portfolios), Singapore
• J. B. Jeyaretnam (1926–2008), ex-opposition leader and MP, Singapore
• Ramasamy Palanisamy (1949–), Deputy Chief Minister of Penang state, Malaysia
• Nagalingam Shanmugathasan (1920–1993), founding General Secretary of the Ceylon Communist Party, Sri Lanka
• Bala Tampoe (1922–2014), Tamil trade unionist, Sri Lanka
• Pillayan alias Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (1975–), former Chief Minister of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
• P. P. Devaraj (1929–), former Cabinet Minister of Sri Lanka
• Radhakrishnan, Deputy Minister for Industry Affairs of Sri Lanka
• Visvanathan Rudrakumaran, Prime Minister of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam
• Samy Vellu (1937–), former Works Minister and Leader of Malaysian Indian Congress, Malaysia
• K.R. Somasundram (1930–), politician and member of Malaysian Indian Congress, Malaysia
• Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (1926–2008), founder of Reform Party of Singapore
• Radhakrishna Padayachi (1950–2012), Deputy Minister for Communication, Republic of South Africa
• Rathika Sitsabaiesan (1981–), Member of Parliament, Canada
• Gunasagaran Gounder, prominent politician and a member of Fiji Labour Party, Fiji
• Perumal Mupnar, prominent politician and a member of Fiji Labour Party, Fiji
• S.J.V. Chelvanayakam (1898–1977), leader and father figure of Sri Lankan Tamils
• Savumiamoorthy Thondaman (1913–1999), leader of Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka and had served the Sri Lankan Cabinet
• N. Shanmugathasan (1920–1993), prominent Communist politician, Sri Lanka
• Joseph Pararajasingham (1934–2005), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Lakshman Kadirgamar (1932–2005), former Foreign Minister, Sri Lanka
• Veerasingham Anandasangaree (1933–), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Murugesu Sivasithamparam (1923–2002), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Rajavarothiam Sampanthan (1933–), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam (1944–1999), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Appapillai Amirthalingam (1927–1989), leader of the opposition, Parliament of Sri Lanka
• Douglas Devananda (1957–), leader of EPDP and Minister of Rehabilitation, Sri Lanka
• Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani (1903–1974), Tamil journalist, writer, publisher, social activist
• Patrick Pillay, Minister of External Affairs of the Seychelles
• Jean-Paul Virapoullé (1944–), member of the Senate of France, representing the island of Réunion
• E.E.C. Thuraisingham (1898–1979), first local Member in British-ruled Malaya
• Kamala Harris, United States Senator; 2020 Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States

Political families

Tamil Nadu

P.T. Rajan family

• P.T. Rajan (1892–1974), former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency
  • P.T.R. Palanivel Rajan (1932–2006), former minister in the state cabinet; son of P.T. Rajan

P. Subbarayan family

• P. Subbarayan (1889–1962), former Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (1926–1930)
  • Mohan Kumaramangalam (1916–1973), former Minister of Steel and Mines, son of P. Subbarayan
    • Rangarajan Kumaramangalam (1952–2000), member of parliament (Lok Sabha); son of Mohan Kumaramangalam, grandson of P. Subbarayan
    • Lalitha Kumaramangalam (1957–), member of the National Executive of the BJP; daughter of Mohan Kumaramangalam, granddaughter of P. Subbarayan
  • Parvathi Krishnan (1919–2014), was member of the Communist Party of India; daughter of P. Subbarayan

C.P. Ramaswami Iyer family

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

M. Bhaktavatsalam family

• M. Bhaktavatsalam (1897–1987), Chief Minister of Madras state (1962–1967)
  • • Jayanthi Natarajan (1954–), former Minister of State for Environment and Forests, daughter of Rukmini, granddaughter of M. Bhaktavatsalam

Rajaji family

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

E.V.K. Sampath family

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

Kumari Ananthan family

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

G.K. Moopanar family

• G.K. Moopanar (1931–2001), Indian politician and founder of the Tamil Maanila Congress
  • G.K. Vasan (1964–), State leader of the Indian National Congress, former Union Minister of Shipping, son of G.K. Moopanar

M. Karunanidhi family

• M. Karunanidhi (1924–2018), former President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
  • M.K. Alagiri (1951–), former Central Minister, son of Karunanidhi
  • M.K. Stalin (1953–), President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, son of Karunanidhi
  • Kanimozhi (1968–), Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), daughter of Karunanidhi
  • Murasoli Maran (1934–2003), former Central Minister, nephew of Karunanidhi
  • Dayanidhi Maran (1966–), former Central Minister, grand-nephew of Karunanidhi

Dr. S. Ramadoss family

• S. Ramadoss
  • Anbumani Ramadoss

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 (873–?), 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)

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)

Air Force

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

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 is India's highest civilian honour.

• Sir C. V. Raman, first Asian Nobel Laureate to win prize in the science field, 1954
• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, first President of India, 1954
• C. Rajagopalachari, first governor general of India and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, 1954
• K. Kamaraj, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, 1976
• Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, 1997
• Dr. M. G. Ramachandran, film actor and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, 1988
• C. Subramaniam, for Public Affairs, 1998
• M. S. Subbulakshmi, first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna; first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award, 1998

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

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

Padma Shri

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

• Sivaji Ganesan (1966), Arts
• K. Balachander (1987), Arts
• Kamal Haasan (1990), Arts
• Vairamuthu (2003), Literature and Education
• B. Palaniappan (2006), Medicine
• Sivanthi Adithan (2008), Literature and Education
• Actor Vivek (2009), Arts
• Mecca Rafeeque Ahmed (2011), businessman and entrepreneur
• Prabhu Deva (2019), Arts

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
• Palagummi Sainath, journalist, 2007
• 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

Main article: List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is India's highest sporting honour.

• Viswanathan Anand, for chess (1991–92); first recipient of the award

Jnanpith Award

• Akilan, Jnanpith Award, 1975
• Jayakanthan, Jnanpith Award, 2002

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

• Vyjayanthimala, Sangeet Natak Akademi, 1982

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship

• Karaikudi Sambasiva Iyer
• Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
• Papanasam R. Sivan
• V. Raghavan

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.

Arjuna Award

Main article: List of Tamil recipients of the 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

• 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

Business and administration

Tamil billionaires

• B.S. Abdur Rahman
• Ananda Krishnan
• Kalanithi Maran
• Shiv Nadar
• Ram Shriram
• A. Vellayan
• Maha Sinnathamby
• G. Gnanalingam
• R. G. Chandramogan
• Sundar Pichai
• T. S. Kalyanaraman[6]
• Subaskaran Allirajah
• Sridhar Vembu

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.
• 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
• Valiama Narain
• Ramamurthy Thyagarajan

Educationalists

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

Philanthropists

• Annamalai Chettiar
• Pachaiyappa Mudaliar
• Chengalvaraya Naicker
• Kandasamy Kandar
• Alagappa Chettiar

Diplomats

• 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
• 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
• M. S. Swaminathan, agricultural scientist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee

Botanists

• Ganapathi Thanikaimoni (1938–1986)
• M.O.P. Iyengar
• Dr. C. Livingstone

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

• Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
• Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920), known for his contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions
• Swami Bharati Krishna Tirtha, known for his book Vedic Mathematics
• Ramachandran Balasubramanian, Indian number theorist; Director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai, India
• Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai (1901–1950), known for his work in number theory
• Kollagunta Gopalaiyer Ramanathan (1920–1992), known work in number theory
• Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer (1918–2001), mathematician and Tamil rights activist from Sri Lanka; recipient of the Order of Australia
• C. S. Seshadri, Director of the Chennai Mathematical Institute; Trieste awardee
• S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, mathematician and fellow of the Royal Society, Abel Prize winner. Pioneer of LargeDeviations Theory.
• C. P. Ramanujam (1938–1974), worked on number theory and algebraic geometry
• T. S. Vijayaraghavan (1902–1955), worked on Pisot–Vijayaraghavan number
• Ravindran Kannan, Professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at Yale University; joint winner of the 1991 Fulkerson Prize in discrete mathematics for work on the volumes of convex bodies
• Kannan Soundararajan
• Conjeeveram Seshadri
• Ramaiyengar Sridharan
• Chidambaram Padmanabhan Ramanujam
• Srinivasacharya Raghavan
• Madabusi Santanam Raghunathan
• A. A. Krishnaswami Ayyangar, exponent of Vedic mathematics
• Mudumbai Seshachalu Narasimhan, mathematician and fellow of the Royal Society (1996)
• K. R. Parthasarathy, Professor Emeritus at the Indian Statistical Institute of New Delhi
• Ramaiyengar Sridharan, mathematician at Chennai Mathematical Institute; awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Mathematical Science
• Raman Parimala, known for her contributions to algebra
• S. Ramanan, works in algebraic geometry
• Kavita Ramanan, daughter of S. Ramanan. Mathematician at Brown University

Medicine

• Balamurali Ambati, world's youngest doctor at age 17[8]
• Rangaswamy Srinivasan, ultraviolet excimer laser / LASIK inventor at IBM Research
• V.S. Ramachandran, neuroscientist; Director Professor at UC San Diego
• S.S. Ratnam, pioneer in Singapore in-vitro fertilisation; Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry
• Ganapathi Thanikaimoni, palynologist at French Institute of Pondicherry; awarded the Fyson Prize in Natural Science
• Govindappa Venkataswamy, founder of Aravind Eye Hospital
• Ravi Iyengar, professor and founder of the Iyengar Laboratory, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
• Gunamudian David Boaz, Indian Tamil psychologist
• Paul Kalanithi , Neurosurgeon

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
• 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
• Sankar Ganesh, composer
• Deva (1950–), composer, singer
• S. A. Rajkumar (1964–), composer
• Sirpy (1962–), composer
• A. R. Rahman (1967–), composer, singer, winner of Academy Award for Best Original Song, National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1993, 1997, 2002 & 2003)
• Yuvan Shankar Raja (1979–), composer, singer, winner of Cyprus International Film Festival Award in 2006 for Raam
• Harris Jayaraj (1975–), composer
• D. Imman (1983–), composer, singer
• Srikanth Deva, composer, singer
• Bobo Shashi, composer, singer
• Karthik Raja (1973–), composer
• Bharathwaj (1960–), composer, singer
• G. V. Prakash Kumar (1987–), composer, singer, actor
• Vijay Antony (1975–), composer, singer, actor
• Anirudh Ravichander (1990–), composer, singer
• James Vasanthan, composer
• Santhosh Narayanan (1983–), composer
• Mohamaad Ghibran (1980–), composer

Western music

• M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam), British musician
• Clarence Jey (Clarence Jeyaretnam), Sri Lankan American record producer
• Yogi B (Yogeswaran Veerasingam), Malaysian hiphop artist, founder of Poetic Ammo
• Kamahl (Kandiah Kamalesvaran), Australian cabaret/easy listening singer
• Tharini Mudaliar, Australian singer and violinist
• 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 RnB singer[9]
• Dinesh Kanagaratnam, Sri Lankan hiphop artist
• Hiphop Tamizha, Tamil rap duo
• Vidya Vox

Other

• Jaclyn Victor, Malaysian singer, winner of inaugural Malaysian Idol
• Lydian Nadhaswaram, Child Prodigy, Indian Pianist, winner of The World's Best, 2019

Dance

• T. Balasaraswati
• Chitra Visweswaran
• Padma Subramanyam
• Rukmini Devi Arundale
• Anita Ratnam
• Vyjayanthimala
• Rajee Narayan

Cinema

Directors

Main article: List of Indian film directors § Tamil film directors

Actors

See also: List of Tamil film actors

• Ajith

• Vijay
• Dhanush
• Gemini Ganesan
• Kamal Haasan
• R. Madhavan
• Suriya
• Saravanan
• Sivaji Ganesan
• Arun Vijay
• Vijayakanth
• Harish Kalyan
• Siddharth
• Karthi
• Vijay Sethupathi
• Sivakarthikeyan
• Vadivelu
• Goundamani
• Senthil
• Karthik
• Ramarajan
• Vivek
• Santhanam
• Sathyaraj
• Sathish
• Sibi Sathyaraj
• Vikram
• M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar
• N. S. Krishnan
• P. U. Chinnappa
• T. R. Mahalingam
• M. R. Radha
• Yogi Babu
• Manivannan
• Thengai Srinivasan
• Manobala
• Venniradai Moorthy
• Karunas
• Delhi Ganesh
• Singamuthu
• Kumarimuthu
• Vinu Chakravarthy
• Vijay Antony
• G. V. Prakash Kumar
• T. Rajendar
• Silambarasan
• Jayam Ravi

Actress

See also: List of Tamil film actresses

• Janani Iyer
• Vyjanthimala
• Madhoo
• Priyamani
• Vani Bhojan
• Dhansika
• Athulya Ravi
• Priya Bhavani Shankar
• Vidya Balan
• Nivetha Pethuraj
• Riythvika

Music composers

See: Film musicAR Rahman

In Hollywood

• Sendhil Ramamurthy, actor in NBC drama Heroes and Netflix series Never Have I Ever ; half Tamil
• Ashok Amritraj, filmmaker, producer
• Sunkrish Bala, actor in ABC show Notes from the Underbelly
• Mindy Kaling, actor in NBC sitcom The Office; half Tamil
• Aziz Ansari, actor
• Poorna Jagannathan, actress in Netflix series Never Have I Ever
• Chandran Rutnam, award-winning director for the movie A Common Man at the Madrid International Film Festival
• M. Night Shyamalan, director; half Tamil
• Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, actress in Netflix series Never Have I Ever

Other entertainers

• Aziz Ansari, comedian
• Padma Lakshmi, model and television host
• Romesh Ranganathan, British comedian
• Sindhu Vee, British stand up comedian. (Half Tamil).

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

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
• Kumaran, played for Indian team and currently playing for IOB, Chennai
• 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

Cricket

India

• Buchi Babu Naidu (1868–1908), "father of South Indian cricket"
• Cota Ramaswami (1896-presumed dead), represented India in both international cricket and tennis
• M.Baliah Naidu (1895–1948), represented India in international cricket
• M.J. Gopalan (1909–2003), represented India in both international hockey and cricket
• C.R. Rangachari (1916–1993), pace bowler, Indian Cricket Team
• M. Suryanarayan (1930–), 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 From (MADURAI)Only player from District to Represent Indian Cricket Team.

• V.B. Chandrasekhar, batsman, Indian Cricket Team
• Bharat Arun (1962–), pace bowler, Indian Cricket Team
• Murali Kartik (1976–), spin bowler, Indian Cricket Team, Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune Warriors
• Sadagoppan Ramesh (1975–), batsman, Indian Cricket Team
• Subramaniam Badrinath (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 (2017–), All-rounder, Indian Cricket Team, Royal Challengers Bangalore
• Mithali Raj, (1982–) Captain, Indian Women's Cricket Team

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–), General Secretary of Asian Football Confederation; member of FIFA Strategic Studies Committee & Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup
• Peter Thangaraj (1938–2008), Olympion; Goalkeeper of Indian football team that won the Gold Medal at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games
• Syed Sabir Pasha, represented Indian football team in the early 1990s; also played for and coached Indian Bank-Chennai

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

• Narain Karthikeyan, Coimbatore, India's first Formula 1 driver
• Karun Chandhok, Formula 1 driver
• S. Karivardhan, car constructor and National Champion
• Naren Kumar, four time National Rally Champion
• J. Anand, three time National F3 Grand Prix winner
• Ajith Kumar, mechanic, F2 racer, Moto gp racer

Squash

• Nicol David, former world number 1
• Deepika Pallikal, Indian women Squash Champion
• 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 andsinger
• Sirkazhi Govindarajan, vocalist and Carnatic music exponent
• Vethathiri Maharishi, founder of the World Community Service Center
• 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
• Appayya Dikshidar (1520–1593), philosopher, followed the Advaita school of Indian philosophy
• Anandabharati Aiyangar (1786–1846), poet
• Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950)
• Yogaswami (1872–1964)
• Bangaru Adigalar (1941–)
• Sivananda Saraswati (1887–1963), proponent of Yoga and Vedanta
• Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy (1924–2014), Cardinal Priest of S Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci fuori Porta Cavalleggeri, Vatican City
• Dayananda Saraswati (1930–2015), founder of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam
• Yogiraj Shri Vethathiri Maharishi, founder of The World Community Service Center, an organisation striving for world peace from 1911
• Bala Prajapathi Adikalar, Pattathu Ayya of Swamithope pathi and leader of the Ayyavazhi religion
• Bishop Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah (1874–1945), the first Anglican Indian bishop, consecrated as the first bishop of the diocese of Dornakal in 1912
• Thirumuruga Kirupananda Variyar
• D.G.S. Dhinakaran, Christian Evangelist; founder of Jesus Calls Ministries
• Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Spiritual Guru, Founder, Art of Living Foundation
• Perumal Rasu, philosopher and painter
• Laxmisena, of the Mel Sithamur Jain Math, primary religious head of the Tamil Jain community[11]
• Sadhu Kuppuswami, instrumental in the establishment of the Sangam organisation in Fiji
• Swami Vipulananda, Hindu social reformer, literary critic, author, poet, teacher and ascetic from the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka
• Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Sufi Muslim mystic hailing from Sri Lanka

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

Spiritual literature

Murugan

• Nakkeerar author of Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai
• Arunagirinathar, author of Thiruppugazh

Shaivism

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

Vaishnavism

• Nammalvar, author of Tiruvaymoli and one of the Alwars
• Thirumazhisai Alvar, author of Tiruchanda-virutham and one of the Alwars
• Andal, author of Tiruppaavai and one of the Alwars
• V. Akilesapillai, scholar, poet and author of Thirukonasala Vaipavam from Sri Lanka

Islam

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

Jain

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

Modern literature

India

• Ramachandra Guha, social and political 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–), 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–), novelist and short story writer
• R.K. Narayan (1906–2001), English novelist and essayist
• Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliar, scholar
• Pa. Subramania Mudaliar, scholar
• D.V.Gundappa, Tamil-born Kannada Poet & Writer-His famous literary work-Mankuthimmana Kagga
• Varadarasanar, novelist
• Sandilyan, novelist
• Pa. Vijay, film lyricist; winner of National Film Award for Best Lyrics (2005)
• Vaali, film lyricist
• Sujatha Rangarajan (1935–), novelist, haiku poet, film screenplay writer
• 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
• Edwin Thumboo (1933–), Singaporean writer
• Shyam Selvadurai, Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist
• R. Raghava Iyengar
• K.S. Maniam
• Rani Manicka, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 2003 for South East Asia and South Pacific region
• Kavikko Abdul Rahman
• Makkal Pavalar Inqulab, left-leaning poet
• Mu Metha
• Kavi Ka. Mu. Sheriff, film lyricist
• Manushyaputhiran
• Rajathi Salma, novelist
• Balakumaran (5 July 1946 – 15 May 2018)[1] was an Indian Tamil writer, author of over 200 novels, 100 short stories, etc.

Other countries

• Ronnie Govender, won the 1997 Commonwealth Writers' Prize
• Kessie Govender, playwright, actor and theatre director; founded the Stable Theatre
• Kandappu Murugesu, Sri Lankan poet

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
• Gagan Narang, Olympic medalist (shooting)

Modern art

• K.K. Raghava
• S. Chandrasekaran, nominated for the APBF Signature Art Prize 2008 as one of the top ten

See also

• Tamil people
• Tamil diaspora
• List of Sri Lankan Tamils
• Tamil Canadian
• Tamil American
• Tamil Malaysians
• British Tamil
• Tamil Australian
• Tamil Indonesians
• Tamil South Africans
• Tamil Germans
• Tamils in France
• Tamil Mauritian

References

1. http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/roy-padayachie
2. Nirmala Sitharaman
3. Rajasekharan Parameswaran, Rajasekharan Parameswaran. "Guinness World Records". guinness world records. GWR.
4. Bose, Sushmita (December 12, 2008). "Living in Times of Terror, Reaching out in Cyberspace". Khaleej Times. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
5. "The Solid Seven: India's most influential Gays & Lesbians". Pink-Pages. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
6. "Sridhar Vembu - India's Richest& family".
7. "Leadership at Carnegie Mellon University". www.cmu.edu. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
8. http://www.howstuffworks.com/9-youngest-in-their-fields.htm#page=6
9. http://tamilculture.ca/londons-rb-sensation-arjun/
10. Raheja, Dinesh (May 6, 2002). "Bollywood's Dancing Queen". Rediff. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
11. "Glossary | Terms | Eastern Terms | Bhattaraka". Herenow4u.net. January 16, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2012.