List of notable Tamil People

Administrators and Heads of State

Presidents of the Indian Union
Ramaswamy Venkataraman (born 1910), 8th President of India (July 25, 1987 – July 25, 1992).
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (born 1931), 11th President of India (July 25, 2002–2007).
Presidents of other countries
Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920–2000), was Governor-General & President of Mauritius .
Angidi Veeriah Chettiar, Acting President of Mauritius (Feb 15, 2002 - Feb 18, 2002).
Ariranga Govindasamy Pillay, Acting President of Mauritius (Feb 18, 2002 - Feb 25, 2002).
Sellapan Ramanathan, President of Singapore (September 1, 2002 – Present).
[edit]Governor-General of India
C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Only Indian Governor General of India (1948 - January 26, 1950), writer
Administrators During British Colonial Rule
N (Narayanaswamy). Sadasivam (d.1960), Auditor-General of Burma (-1942).
Dewans of Princely States
Ramayyan Dalawa, Dewan of Travancore from 1737 to 1756.
Sir A. Seshayya Sastri (1828–1903), Indian administrator. Dewan of Travancore from 1872 to 1877 and Pudukkottai from 1878 to 1894.
Ramiengar, Dewan of Travancore from 1881 to 1887
Sir K. Seshadri Iyer, longest serving Dewan of Mysore state.
Shungrasoobyer, Dewan of Travancore from 1892 to 1898.
P. Rajagopalachari, Dewan of Cochin from 1897 to 1901 and Travancore from 1904 or 1906 to 1914.
Sir V.T.Krishnamachari - Dewan of Baroda.
R. K. Shanmukham Chetty, Dewan of Cochin from 1931 to 1945.
Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer (1879–1966), Advocate General of State of Madras in the 1920s, penultimate Dewan of Travancore
Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar, last Dewan of Mysore state.
International positions
Navanethem Pillay - High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Radhika kumaraswamy - Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict
James Appathurai - Spokesperson for NATO.
Jag Mohan - Dean/Principal/Board Governor, Centennial College, Toronto, Canada
Indian independence movement

Puli Thevar, Polygar chieftain who fought against first and win over British East India Company in the 1750s and 1767s.
Thalapathy Venni Kaladi, he was the general of Puli Thevar and a brave warrior who died while fighting the British(he belonged to the Devendra kula vellalar community).
"Quaid-e-Millat"Muhammad Ismail Indian freedom fighter and IUMl Founder
The Maruthu Pandiyar brothers Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu who fought the British in the First and Second Polygar Wars.
Dheeran Chinnamalai (1756–1805), Polygar chieftain and feudatory of Tipu Sultan who fought the British in the Second Polygar War.
Sir S. Subramania Iyer (1842–1925), lawyer, jurist and theosophist who co-founded the Home Rule Movement along with Annie Besant, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He is affectionately called Grand Old Man of South India.
G. Subramania Iyer (1855–1916), Freedom fighter and founder of "The Hindu" English newspaper.
Queen velu nachiyar(1766–99)who was the first lady in india fought and win to get back her kingdom.
Pasumpon muthuramalinga thevar ,( great follower and friend of nethaji subash chandra bose and leader of warrior tamil community(thevar) )
Veeran Alagu muthu kone servai a polygar fight against british and death by shot in arsenal.
V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872–1936), independence fighter, who launched the first Indian ship on Indian waters under British Rule.
V. V. S Iyer (1881–1925) Tamil scholar and freedom fighter.
Subramanya Bharathy (1882–1921), Indian freedom fighter, Tamil poet and social reformer. Often regarded as the national poet of Tamil Nadu.
V. Kalyanasundaram (1883–1953), Scholar and independence fighter
Janaki Thevar who was a lady commander in Nethaji' INA.
Subramaniya Siva (1884–1925), Freedom fighter and close associate of Bharathi and V.V.S.Iyer
Sir P. S. Sivaswami Iyer
Sathyamurthy (1887–1943), Indian freedom fighter and leader of the Congress party in the erstwhile Madras presidency.
Vanchinathan (1886–1911), Patriot who killed General Ash and committed suicide at Maniyachi.
Champakaraman Pillai(1891–1934), independence fighter
T.Sadasivam (1902–1997), Freedom fighter and husband of famous singer M.S. Subbulakshmi.
Tiruppur Kumaran, independence fighter
K. Kamaraj, Freedom Fighter, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, All India Congress President
Quid-E-Milath Mohamed Ismail, independence fighter, Member of Parliament and was the President of Indian Muslim League.
Lakshmi Sehgal (1914-), Head of Rani Jhansi Brigade, women's wing of the Indian National Army and a close associate of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. Presidential candidate in 2002 President's election.
Janaky Athi Nahappan
Independence movements in other countries

Thillaiaadi Valliammai (1899–1914), South African militant, who inspired Mahatma Gandhi to involve in the Freedom Movement.
Thambi Naidoo, South African militant & Early collaborator of Mahatma Gandhi in the Freedom Movement.
Naransamy Roy Naidoo (1901–1953), South African
Amma Naidoo (1908–1993), South African
George Naicker (1919–1998), South African
Periyapaiya Nattar (1885–1949), South Africanwho inspired byMahatma Gandhi to involve in the Freedom Movement.
V. T. Sambanthan, One of the three founding fathers of Malaysia.
Shanti Naidoo, South African revolutionary & fought against the apartheid regime.
Nadesa padayachi (South Africa)
Velupillai Prabhakaran (Tamil Eelam)
Political leaders

India
Ex-Ministers in the Union government
C. Subramaniam (1910–2000), Former Union Minister, Bharat Ratna Awardee & Father of the Indian 'Green Revolution'.
R. K. Shanmukham Chetty (1892–1953), first Finance Minister of independent India.
Mohan Kumaramangalam, Eminent Lawyer, Former Union Minister and Son of P. Subbarayan.
Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, Eminent Lawyer, Former Union Minister & Congress/BJP Leader. Son of Mohan Kumaramangalam.
K. Santhanam (1895–1980), Freedom Fighter & the First Railway Minister of independent India.
T.T. Krishnamachari (1899–1974), Industrialist & Indian Finance Minister 1956–1958 and 1964–1966, resigning from the position twice.
Satyavani Muthu Former Union Cabinet Minister, and the one of first non-congress and dravidian party members from Tamil Nadu along with Aravinda Bala Pajanor to be part of the Union government.
Aravinda Bala Pajanor, (born 1935) Senior Advocate, Former Union Minister for Petroleum, Natural Gas, Chemicals & Fertilizers, and one of the first non-congress and dravidian party members from Tamil Nadu along with Satyavani Muthu to be part of the Union government.
R.V.Swaminathan (1909–1984), Freedom Fighter and union Minister of State for Agriculture.he was three term M.L.A. from(1952,1962,1967)three term MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (1971,1977,1980) three term TNCC PRESIDENT from 1967, 1971 ,1977. he was closely associated with Mahatma gandhiji. when mahatma gandhiji toured Tamil Nadu.in 1933-34 he stayed twice in his house in paganeri village.he was instrumental in bring a private bill along with K.T.kosalram which facilitated in removal of DEVAR COMMUNITY from DENOTIFIED list.he was popularly known as R.V.S.
Madhaviah Anantanarayanan, High Court Judge.[1]
Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
C. Rajagopalachari
M. Bhaktavatsalam
K. Kamaraj (born 1903)
C. N. Annadurai (born 1909)
M. Karunanidhi (born 1924)
J. Jayalalitha
O. Panneerselvam
Central Ministers
P. Chidambaram (born 1945), Home Minister of India.
Mani Shankar Aiyar (born 1941), Panchayat Raj, Youth Affairs, Sports and North East Region Minister of India.
A. Raja,Ex.Communications and Information Technology Minister of India.
Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment of India.
S. S. Palanimanickam, Minister of State for Finance of India.
K. Venkatapathy, Minister of State for Law and Justice of India.
S. Regupathy, Minister of State for Forests and Environment of
G.K. Vasan, Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation of India.
V. Radhika Selvi, Minister of state for Home Affairs of India.
Dayanidhi Maran, Textiles Minister of india
Anbumani Ramadoss,Minister of Health and Family Welfare(2004–2009).
M.K.Azhagiri, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Other countries
S Jayakumar (born 1939), Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore.
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister of Education, Singapore (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry).
Vivian Balakrishnan (born 1961), Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore (half-Tamil, half-Chinese).
S Rajaratnam (1915–2006), ex-Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry).
S Dhanabalan, ex-Minister (various portfolios), Singapore.
J. B. Jeyaretnam, (1926–2008) ex-opposition leader and MP, Singapor (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry).
P. P. Devaraj, Former Cabinet Minister of Srilanka.
Radhakrishnan,Current Deputy Minister for Industry Affairs of Srilanka.
Samy Vellu, Ex-Works Minister(Lost in 2008 election) and Leader of Malaysian Indian Congress, Malaysia.
K.R. Somasundram (born 1930), Politician and member of Malaysian Indian Congress, Malaysia.
Radhakrishna Padayachi (born 1950), Deputy Minister for Communication, Republic of South Africa.
Gunasagaran Gounder, A prominent politician and a member of Fiji Labour Party, Fiji.
Perumal Mupnar, A prominent politician and a member of Fiji Labour Party, Fiji.
S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, Popularly known as "Thanthai Chelva", Leader and Father figure of Sri Lankan Tamils.
S. Thondaman, Leader of Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka and had served continuously for 21 years in the Sri Lankan Cabinet from 1978.
N. Shanmugathasan, A prominent Communist politician, Sri Lanka.
Joseph Pararajasingham (1934–2005), A Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka.
Lakshman Kadirgamar (1932–2005), Ex-Foreign Minister, Sri Lanka.
Veerasingham Anandasangaree, Member of Parliament for 26 years, Sri Lanka.
C. Rajadurai, Minister 1977–1994 & Member of Parliament for 26 years, Sri Lanka.
Murugesu Sivasithamparam, Member of Parliament for 26 years & Chief opposition whip for 3years, Sri Lanka.
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, Member of Parliament for 21 years & Chief opposition whip for 9 months, Sri Lanka.
Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, Constitutional Expert & Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka.
Appapillai Amirthalingam, Leader of the opposition, Parliament of Sri Lanka.
Douglas Devananda, Leader of EPDP and Minister of Rehabilitation, Sri Lanka.
K.W.Devanayagam, Minister of Home affairs 1977–1988 & Member of Parliament for 36 years, Sri Lanka.
Defence (India)
Army
General Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam (1913–2000), 7th Chief of Army Staff (June 7, 1966–June 7, 1969).
General Krishnaswamy Sundararajan (1930–1999), 14th Chief of Army Staff (February 1, 1986–April 30, 1988).
General Sundararajan Padmanabhan (born 1940), 20th Chief of Army Staff (September 30, 2000–December 31, 2002).
Air Force
Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishna Swamy (born 1943), 19th Chief of Air Staff (December 31, 2001–December 31, 2004).
Air Marshal Ramdas
Navy
Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson, 12th Chief of the Naval Staff (March 1, 1982–November 30, 1984).
Admiral Sushil Kumar, 18th Chief of the Naval Staff (December 30, 1998–December 29, 2001).
Commander Joseph Peter(b.25-12-1954)
Admiral Laksminarayan Ramdas
Award winners

Nobel Laureates
C. V. Raman, for Physics - 1930.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, for Physics - 1983.
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, for chemistry - 2009.
Abel Laureates
S. R. Srinivasa Varadhan, for his fundamental contributions to probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviation - 2007.
Academy Award
A. R. Rahman, for Academy Award for Best Original Score - 2009.
Ramon Magsaysay Award
The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established in April 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 Public Service - 1974.
R. K. Laxman, for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts - 1984.
Jockin Arputham, for Peace and International Understanding - 2000.
Aruna Roy, for Community Leadership - 2000.
V Shanta, for Public Service - 2005.
Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian honour.
C. V. Raman for Science & Engineering 1954.
C. Rajagopalachari for Public Affairs 1954.
S. Radhakrishnan for Public Affairs 1954.
K. Kamaraj for Public Affairs 1976 (Posthumous).
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam for Science & Engineering 1997.
C Subramaniam for Public Affairs 1998.
M. S. Subbulakshmi for Arts & Music 1998.
M.G. Ramachandran for public affairs (posthumous)
Padma Vibhushan
The Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian honour.
This is NOT a complete list, please add/modify.
Naryana Raghvan Pillai for Public Affairs 1960.
H. Vardaraja Iyengar for Civil Service 1962.
Arcot Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar for Medicine 1963.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar for Science & Engineering 1968.
K. V. Kalyana Sundaram for Public Affairs 1968.
P. Prabhakar Kumaramangalam for Civil Service 1970.
Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar for Civil Service 1970.
B. Sivaraman for Civil Service 1971.
T. Swaminathan for Civil Service 1973.
M. S. Subbulakshmi for Arts 1975.
T. Balasaraswati for Arts 1977.
M. S. Swaminathan for Science & Engineering 1989.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam for Science & Engineering 1990.
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer for Arts 1990.
V. Arunachalam, for Literature & Education 1990.
Lakshmi Sahgal for Public Affairs 1988.
DK Pattammal for Arts 1999.
R. Chidambaram for Science & Engineering 1999.
R. K. Narayan for Literature & Education 2000.
K. Kasturirangan for Science & Engineering 2000.
R. K. Narayan, for Literature & Education 2000.
C. V. Narasimhan for Civil Service 2001.
C. Rangarajan for Literature & Education 2002.
R. K. Laxman for Arts 2005.
Raja Jesudoss Chelliah, for Public Affairs 2007.
Balu Sankaran, for Medicine 2007.
V. Krishnamurthy, for Civil Service 2007.
Viswanathan Anand, for Sports 2008.
Padma Bhushan
Main article: List of Tamil recipients of the Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is India's third highest civilian honour.
Nammakal Kavignar Ramalingam Pillai
Ilaiyaraaja - Veteran musician and Tamil music director.
A. R. Rahman - Oscar winning Tamil Musician.
Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati - sculptor and architect
Shiv Nadar- is an Indian industrialist and philanthropist
Padma Shri
Main article: List of Tamil recipients of the Padma Shri
The Padma Shri is India's fourth highest civilian honour.
Prof. M. Anandakrishnan - Chairman IIT Kanpur, Eminent Academician
Venu Srinivasan - The Chairman of the TVS Motor Company.
Kamal Haasan - One of the leading method actors in India.
chinna kalaivanar vivek - One of the leading method comedian and actors in India.
Sivanthi Adithan- is the owner of popular Tamil newspapers Dina Thanthi
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.
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is India's highest sporting honour.
Vishwanathan Anand, for Chess (1991–1992).
Dhanraj Pillay, for Hockey (1999–2000).
Arts, music & literature
Akilan, Jnanpith Award, (1975).
Jayakanthan, Jnanpith Award, (2002).
Subbu Arumugam, Sangeet Natak Akademi award, (2005).
L. Athira Krishna, Guinness World Record holders.
R. K. Narayan, Sahitya Akademi.
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.
Social workers

Narayanan Krishnan - from madurai, serving mentally disabled. He has been selected as one of the top10 in CNN Heroes 2010
Krishnammal Jagannathan - Works for upliftment of farmers and poor people. Has won the Right Livelihood Award in 2008.
Industrialists & CEO's

India
Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar, Industrialist, Philanthropist & Educator who established Annamalai University.
Rajah Sir Muthiah Chettiar, Industrialist, Philanthropist and First Mayor of Madras.
Alagappa Chettiar (1909–1957), Industrialist, Philanthropist & Educator who established Alagappa University.
M. A. Chidambaram Chettiar, Industrialist.
Kulandaivel Mudaliar, Chennai Silks founder.
Chenniappan, Nilgiris founder.
M.Thiagarajan, Paramount airways
K.P.Natarajan, KPN travels
Pothy Moopanar, Pothys Textiles founder.
R.M.K.Viswanathan, RMKV founder.
Jayachandaran, Jayachandran Silks founder.
S. Ramadorai, former CEO of Tata Consultancy Services
Ayya Nadar, founder of Ayyan Group of Companies
Shanmuga Nadar, founder of Standard Fireworks and other firework industries in Sivakasi
Selvarathinam, founder of Saravana Stores, Chennai
Shiv Nadar, founder and CEO of HCL Technologies
A.C. Muthiah, Chairman of Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation SPIC
V. G. Panneerdas, founder of VGP Group of Companies
G.Munusamy, founder of Gold Winner
R. G. Chandramogan, founder of Arun Icecreams
P. Rajagopal, founder of Hotel Saravana Bhavan chain of restaurants.
H. Vasanthakumar, founder of Vasanth & Co and Vasanth TV.
V. R. Muthu, CEO and son of founder of Idhayam oil
K. P. Kandasamy, founder of Dinakaran
S. P. Adithanar, founder of Dina Thanthi
N.Mahalingam Gounder, Educator, Industrialist and Philanthropist.
Kalanidhi Maran, Media Baron.
M. G. Muthu, founder of MGM Group of Companies and MGM Dizzee World
A Sivasailam, Chairman Amalgamations Group
Karumuttu Thiagarajan Chettiar, Industrialist, Philanthropist & Educator.
M. A. M Ramasamy Chettiar, Industrialist, Philanthropist and Pro-Chancellor of Annamalai University.
Sivasankaran Chairman, Sterling group.
Namakkal P.G.Periasamy, Founder and CEO PGP Groups.
B Muthuraman, Managing Director, Tata Steel.
Dharmaveera K Govindaswamy Naidu, Industrialist & Philanthropist
Venu Srinivasan, Chairman of TVS Motor Company and Sundaram-Clayton.
Mallika Srinivasan, CEO of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited
M. V. Subbiah, CEO of the Murugappa Group.
KG Baalakrishnan, Chairman and Managing Director KG Group of companies, Coimbatore
Mani Subramanian, CEO of the Keane India Private Limited.
R V Perumal, CEO of Hotel New Vijaya, Bodi
Narayanan Vaghul, ex-Chairman of ICICI Bank
Saravanan Santhanam, Founder & CEO, Simha Incorporation
Other countries
Indra Nooyi, Chairperson of PepsiCoWorld.
B. S. Abdur Rahman, (also known as B. S. A. Rahman) Vice-Chairman of ETA Ascon Star Group UAE
Syed M. Salahuddin, Managing Director of ETA Ascon Star Group UAE
Sarv Saravanan, Vice-President & Managing Director of EMC Corporation India Centre of Excellence (COE)
Lakshmi Narayanan, CEO & President of Cognizant Technology Solutions USA.
Ram Shriram, One of the founding members of Google Inc.
V. S. Rajendran, CEO & President of Numeric Technologies Limited USA
Robert Chandran, Founder and CEO of Chemoil Corporation, United States.
K. B. Chandrashekar, Founder and CEO of e4e Inc & Jamcracker, Inc, USA.
Shoba Purushothaman, Co-Founder and CEO of The NewsMarket Inc, United States.
Bala S. Manian (born 1944), Silicon Valley Entrepreneur, USA.
S Dhanabalan, Chairman, DBS Bank (Singapore).
J.Y.M.Pillay, Chairman, Singapore Exchange (stock market) (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry).
Marimutu Sinivasan, Founder and Chairman of Texmaco Group, Indonesia, a giant textile, machinery and aotomotive manufacturer.
Ananda Krishnan, CEO of Maxis Communications and MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems, Malaysia.
J.M.Abdul Aziz His Respectful, (1905–1958), Director Generale of JM Abdul Aziz et Fils, Saigon Vietnam, recipient of Légion d'honneur of France, Nichan Iftikhar of Tunisia, Ordre du Nichan El-Anouar of French Somaliland, Royal Order of Sahametrei of Cambodia and Extreme Orient.
Arvind Sanmugam of Canada, Chairman and CEO of Chez Leeloo Canada, Chairman of the World Police Academy, Chairman and President of Tan Theta, CEO of Canadian Peacemakers Corporation, Chairman of Sinecure Corp, CEO of Chez Leeloo Philippines, CEO of Baronair Canada. Individual with same name, claiming to be an international venture capitalist has recently been arrested in Toronto for +1.5 million dollars in fraud. REFERENCE: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/09/14/fraud-charges.html#socialcomments
Eminent Scholars

Academicians
Dr.[2] Founder & Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, India and J.L. Kellogg Distinguished Professor of Accounting and Information Management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University
Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar, Mayor of Madras (1928–30), Vice Chancellor of University of Kerala(1951–61),Travancore.
Dr. A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar, First Indian principal of the Madras Medical College and Longest serving Vice Chancellor of the University of Madras.
Dr. Chandran D.S.Devaneasan, First Indian Principal of Madras Christian College and First Vice Chancellor of North Eastern Hill University.
V. L. Ethiraj, Founder of Ethiraj College for Women
Padmabhushan N. Ramaswami Ayyar, Founder of Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College and Savithri Vidyasala Hindu Girls' Higher Secondary School, Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India
Malcolm Adiseshiah (1910–1994), Economist, Former Deputy Director General of UNESCO & founder MIDS (Madras Institute of Development Studies).
V C Kulandaiswamy, An eminent Educator and Technologist. Formerly Vice Chancellor of Anna University, IGNOU & Tamil Virtual University.
M. Varadarasan, Outstanding Tamil Scholar, Winner of Sahithya Academy award and Ex-Vice Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University.
Sivaraj Ramaseshan (1923–2003), Distinguished Scientist & ex-Director of the IISc.
Prof. S.Sandrasegaram, current Dean of Faculty of Education, University of Colombo[3]
M. Anandakrishnan, Chairman, Madras Institute of Development Studies & Formerly Vice Chancellor of Anna University.
Arjun Appadurai, Contemporary Social theorist, Educator & Founder of the School of International Relations, JNU, New Delhi.
M Lakshmanan An eminent Microbiologist, Former Vice Chacellor of Madurai Kamaraj University & Ex-President of Association of Microbiologists of India.
Dr. V.C.Balasubramaniam - Director, Institute of Pathology, MMC,
Dr.M Murugesh Mudaliar, Principal, BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore.
E.A. George Moses - Founder SBOA School & Junior College
Dr.T Kuthalingam, An eminent Scientist and Technologist, Former Vice Chacellor of Madurai Kamaraj University.
Dr. H.S.S. Lawrence, An eminent Educator who was formerly Director of School Education, Tamil Nadu and UNESCO Expert to Government of Afghanistan. He is known as the Architect of Tamil Nadu Higher Secondary Education and Father of Vocational Education in Tamil Nadu
C.K. Prahalad Distinguished University 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.
Ian Kiran German Minister of Sri Lankan Origin and owner of world's largest container leasing companies
Agriculture
M. S. Swaminathan ia a great agricultural scientist who is also the known as being the father of the Green Revolution in India.
Botanists
Ganapathi Thanikaimoni (1938–1986), often referred as Thani was widely known for his manifold contributions to the science of Palynology.
M. O. P. Iyengar Prominent Indian botanist
Computer science
Madhu Sudan (born 1966), Computer scientist, professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
Hari Balakrishnan, Computer scientist, professor of EE and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Also the most cited author of indian origin, in the world.
Arogyaswami Paulraj (born 1944) Wireless Engineering, Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. A pioneer of wireless smart antenna technology and also credited to be the father of Indian military sonar technology during his earlier career in India.
Siva Kumar, Computer scientist, professor of computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and chairman of IIT Computer Centre.
Bhaskaran Raman, Computer scientist, professor of computer science at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
VN Padmanabhan, Computer scientist at the Microsoft Research India
Krithi Ramamritham, Computer scientist, professor of computer science and Dean of R & D at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Also the most cited Indian Academician in the world.
Srinidhi Varadarajan, director of Virginia Tech's Terascale Computing Facility.
P. Anandan, Prominent Computer Vision researcher who did pioneering work in optical flow, motion estimation, video mosaicking and 3-D scene analysis, Currently Managing Director of Microsoft Research India.
Finance & economics
C. Rangarajan, Economist & Ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1992–1997).
Marti Subrahmanyam, Finance Expert & Professor at New York University (NYU) & Board of Directors of Infosys & ICICI.
Bala V. Balachandran, Management Expert & Professor at the Kellogg School of Management.
Ravi Jagannathan, Economist & Professor at the Kellogg School of Management.
Lakshman Krishnamurthi, Marketing Expert & Professor at the Kellogg School of Management.
H. V. R. Iyengar, Ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1957–1962).
S. Jagannathan, Ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1970–1975) and Executive at the World Bank & IMF.
M. Narasimham, Banker, Ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1977) and Executive at the World Bank & IMF.
S. Venkitaramanan, Ex-Governor, Reserve Bank of India (1990–1992).
K. Ramachandran, Director, CFO, Barclays Wealth, India (2008-).
T. N. Srinivasan (born 1933), Economist and the Samuel C. Park, Jr. Professor of Economics at Yale University.
Raghuram Rajan, Ex-Chief Economist, IMF.
V.G. Narayanan, Management Expert & Professor at the Harvard Business School.[citation needed]
Sendhil Mullainathan, Co-founder of Ideas-42
Law
A.V. Winslow, Ex-Associate Justice, Singapore Supreme Court (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry)[citation needed]
Karthy Govender, Commissioner, South African Human Rights commission & Law Professor at the University of Natal.
Kamala_Harris
Mathematics
Srinivasa Aiyangar Ramanujan (1887–1920), 20th century Mathematician known for his contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions
Subbayya Sivasankaranarayana Pillai (1901–1950), well known for his work in Number theory.
Kollagunta Gopalaiyer Ramanathan (1920–1992), known for his well-recognized achievements in Number theory.
Christie Jayaratnam Eliezer (1918–2001) Mathematician & Tamil rights activist from Sri Lanka and a recipient of the Order of Australia.
C. S. Seshadri, Director, Chennai Mathematical Institute and Trieste Awardee.
S.R. Srinivasa Varadhan - Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society
Mudumbai Seshachalu Narasimhan, Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society (1996)
Professor Madabusi S Raghunathan, Mathematician & Fellow of the Royal Society[citation needed]
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.
Jayaram Sethuraman, Professor emeritus at Florida State University. Came up with the stick breaking construction of the Dirichlet process.
[edit]Medicine
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, French Institute of Pondicherry, awarded the Fyson Prize in Natural Science.
Sundaram Ramakrishnan, Cancer researcher and Professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Mohammed Rela, one of the World's top liver transplant surgeons at the King's College Hospital.
R. Venkataswami, founder of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the Stanley Medical College.
Govindappa Venkataswamy, Founder of Aravind Eye Hospital
Ravi Iyengar, Professor and founder of the Iyengar Laboratory, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Mayilvahanan Natarajan, Orthopedic Surgeon and pioneer of limb salvage surgery in bone tumours.
R.P.Shanmugam, Founder, Dept of Surgical Gastroenterology, Stanley Medical College, Cehnnai and the First to perform a Liver transplant in a Government Hospital in India.
Scientists
Dr. Sukumar Devotta, Chemical Engineer by profession and Director of The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which shared Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 with Al Gore. for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, 1930 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, 1983 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Dr K. Kasturirangan, Former Chairman of ISRO and present director of National institute of advanced studies (NIAS).
Raja Ramanna, Former Chairman of Dept. of Atomic Energy and presided over India's first nuclear test in 1974.
Dr.P. K. Iyengar, Former Chairman of Dept. of Atomic Energy.
M.R.Srinivasan, Former Chairman of Dept. of Atomic Energy.
R. Chidambaram, Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister of India & ex-Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission.
S.R. Ranganathan, Eminent librarian who devised the five laws of library science.
Dr.A. Sivathanu Pillai, Defence Scientist and the CEO of the Indo-Russian Brahmos company, which developed and manufactures the world's one and only supersonic cruise missile.
G. N. Ramachandran (1922–2001), one of the most important Indian Scientists of the 20th century made major contributions to Biology and Physics.
Ranjan Roy Daniel (1923–2005), Physicist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research & ex-Chairman of the Advisory Committee for Space Science at ISRO.
Venkatraman Radhakrishnan (born 1929) is an internationally renowned Space Scientist and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Mylswamy Annadurai (born 1958), Project Director of ISRO's Chandrayaan-1.
R. V. Perumal, Former Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
Vedhachalam, Former Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
P. S. Veeraraghavan, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
Dr Krishnan, Associate Director, ISRO Inertial Systems Unit.
S Ramakrishnan, Associate Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
Annamalai Pillai, Director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre
M Natarajan ,Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, DGR&D and Secretary, DRDO
Dr. Krishnamurthy Sekhar, Chief Controller R&D (Implementation), DRDO
Dr W Selvamurthy, Chief Controller R&D (Life Sciences) & R&D (Human Resources), DRDO
G Elangovan, Chief Controller R & D (R&M), DRDO
Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu - Former Chairman of UMS and Scientist
A. E. Muthunayagam, Former Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre& Chairman of Board of Governors, IIT Chennai.
V.S. Arunachalam, ex-Defence Scientist DRDO & Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Ramanuja Vijayaraghavan (born 1931), Physicist at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Poondi Kumaraswamy (1931–1988), Hydrologist and inventor of Kumaraswamy distribution.
A. P. Balachandran Indian theoretical physicist
Krishnapillai Sivasithamparam Winthrop Professor (Australia) - Plant Pathology[citation needed]
Zoologist
T N Ananthakrishnan, A distinguished Entomologist and Zoologist. Former Head of the Department of Zoology and founder director of the Entomology Research Institute, Loyola College, Chennai.
Mahadeva Subramania Mani, A distinguished Entomologist, famous for his studies on high altitude Entomology.
Arts & 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
Nithi Kanagaratnam[citation needed]
Carnatic music
Papanasam Sivan
Lalgudi Jayaraman
Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
T. N. Seshagopalan
T. M. Krishna
Madurai Mani Iyer
Veena Dhanammal
E. Gayathri
M. S. Subbulakshmi
D. K. Pattammal
Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
Muthuswami Dikshitar
Dr. N. Ramani
L. Athira Krishna
Aruna Sairam
T. Brinda
T. Muktha
T. Viswanathan
R. Vedavalli
Sirkazhi Govindarajan
Maharajapuram Santhanam
Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram
Sanjay Subrahmanyan
T. M. Krishna
Seetha Rajan[citation needed]
K.J.YESUDASS
S.P.BALASUBRAMANIYAN
T.M.SOUNDHARA RAJAN
Sudha Raghunathan
Unni Krishnan
Nithyashree Mahadevan
Nisha Rajagopalan
Bombay Jayashri
Alathur Brothers - Alathur Brothers Srinivasa Iyer (1912–1964) & Sivasubramania Iyer (1916–1980)
Seetha Doraiswamy.[citation needed]
Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar
Poochi Srinivasa Iyengar
Patnam Subramania Iyer
G. N. Balasubramaniam
Pudukottai Malayappa Iyer[citation needed]
M. L. Vasanthakumari
Charumathi Ramachandran
Film music
K. V. Mahadevan, Composer Winner, National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1968 & 1980)
M.S.Viswanathan
V. S. Narasimhan, Composer, Violinist[citation needed]
Ilaiyaraaja (born 1943), Composer, Winner, National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1984, 1986 & 1989)
A. R. Rahman (born 1967), Musician, Composer & Winner, Academy Award for Best Original Song (2008), National Film Award for Best Music Direction (1993), (1997), (2002) & (2003).
Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 1979), Composer
Harris Jayaraj (born 1975), Composer
Karthik Raja, Composer
Bharathwaj, Composer
Shankar Mahadevan, Singer, Composer
Deva (music director), Composer
Sankar Ganesh, Composer
Gangai Amaran, Composer
T. K. Ramamoorthy, Composer
G. V. Prakash Kumar, Composer
Western music
M.I.A., (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) British musician.
Xavier Naidoo, German singer/songwriter and founder of Söhne Mannheims.
KRISHAN (Rap Artist) (Krishan Maheson) Sri Lankan Tamil musician.
BONEKILLA (Rap Artist/Producer) (Suren Puthirasigamoney) Sri Lankan musician.
Yogi B (Yogeswaran Veerasingam), Malaysian hiphop artist, founder of Poetic Ammo
Dr.Burn (Ruban Manoharan), Malaysian Tamil rapper.[citation needed]
Landslyde, (Chandrakumar Balakrishnan) Lead singer of Dragon Red, a Malaysian Rap Metal band and former member of Poetic Ammo.
Kamahl (Kandiah Kamalesvaran), Australian cabaret/easy listening singer.
Tharini Mudaliar, Australian singer and violinist.
Clarence Jey, Californian producer/song-writer for Emmy winning TV animation Growing Up Creepie.[citation needed]
Jacintha Abisheganaden, Singaporean singer.
Moksha, Heavy metal band from Chennai.
Rudra, Singaporean Death metal band.
Shruti Haasan, western singer, daughter of Tamil actor Kamal Haasan
Feroze Alam, a US singer songwriter and frontman for the pop band the August Story.[citation needed]
Tamil Too, US rock band.[citation needed]
Lankstyle (San-G,Vinieman), Tamil Rap/Hiphop groep from The Netherlands.[citation needed]
Classical dance
T. Balasaraswati.
Chitra Visweswaran
Kamala Lakshminarayanan.[citation needed]
Padma Subramanyam.
Rukmini Devi Arundale.
Anita Ratnam
Srinidhi Chidambaram
Cinema

Directors
A. P. Nagarajan
A. Bhimsingh
A. R. Murugadoss
Balu Mahendra (born 1946) Director, Cinematographer & Winner, National Film Award for Best Cinematography (1978) & (1983)
Bharathiraja (born 1941), Winner, National Film Award for Best Screenplay (2001)
Bhagyaraj
Cheran
C. V. Sridhar
J. Mahendran
K. Balachander (born 1930), Winner, National Film Award for Best Screenplay (1982)
Mani Ratnam (born 1956) Multi National Film Award winner.
Manoj Nelliyatu Shyamalan (also known as M. Night Shyamalan) (born 1970), two-time academy award nominated filmmaker and screenwriter[citation needed]
B. Lenin, Winner, National Film Award for Best Directing (2002)
Agaththian, Winner, National Film Award for Best Directing & National Film Award for Best Screenplay (1997)
Bala
Dharani
Parthiban
R. K. Selvamani
Selvaraghavan
S. Shankar (born 1963)
Vasanth
Vikraman
Pandiarajan
Sebastian Seeman
Kamal Hassan
K.S.Ravikumar
S. J. Suryah (born 1968)
Kothamangalam Subbu, poet, lyricist, writer, actor and director
Ameer Sultan, director & National Film Awards for Best Film - Paruthiveeran (2007)
Hari
Actors
Main article: List of Tamil Actors
[edit]Actresses
Main article: List of Tamil Actors
Music composers
See: Film Music
In Bollywood
Trisha Krishnan
Hema Malini
Esha Deol
Vidya Balan
Sridevi Kapoor
Meenakshi Seshadri
Rekha
In Hollywood
M. Night Shyamalan, Hollywood filmmaker.
Jay Chandrasekhar, Hollywood actor, comedian, writer, and film director.
Sendhil Ramamurthy, actor in NBC drama Heroes.
Ashok Amritraj, Hollywood filmmaker, producer
Sunkrish Bala, actor in ABC show Notes from the Underbelly.
Mindy Kaling, actor in NBC sitcom The Office.
Jack A Rajasekar, Fusion Edge Media film maker & producer[citation needed]
Linga Moonasamy southafrican actor worked in film Invitus as patrick[citation needed]
padma lakshmi
Other entertainers
Aziz Ansari
Sports & games

Carrom
A. Maria Irudayam, World Carrom Champion & Arjuna Award winner for Carrom (1996).
R. Arokiaraj, Carrom Champion.
K. Radhakrishnan, Carrom Champion.
B. Radhakrishnan, Carrom Champion.
E. Mahimairaj, Carrom Champion.[citation needed]
M. Natraj, Carrom Champion.[citation needed]
A. Ponnarasi, Carrom Champion.[citation needed]
G. Revathi, Carrom Champion.[citation needed]
G.Raja, Carrom Champion.[citation needed]
ilavazhagi,world carrom champion (2008).[citation needed]
[edit]Volleyball
A. Palanisamy, First Arjuna Award winner for volley ball (1961).
G E Sridharan, Arjuna Award winner.
Kumaran, played for Indian team and currently playing for IOB,Chennai.
Sundaram[disambiguation needed], former setter for Indian team and Indian Overseas Bank, Chennai.
Mangala Jeyabalan, former setter for Indian team. At present playing T.N.E.B, previously played for Hindustan photo films -ooty[citation needed]
Muthuraj, played for Indian team and currently playing for Indian Bank, Chennai.[citation needed]
Sayee Krishnan, played for Indian team and currently playing for Indian Bank, Chennai.[citation needed]
Pradeep John, represented India in Asian Games 2006 as part of Beach Volleyball.[citation needed]
Mohan Poothanathan, represented India in Asian Games 2006 as part of Beach Volleyball.[citation needed]
Sivaraman, played for Indian team and considered the best back row attacker during his playing time.[citation needed]
Natarajan J, playing currently for India and IOB, Chennai. Also the captain of the Tamil Nadu volleyball team.[citation needed]
Sivabalan, played for India and currently playing for IOB, Chennai.
Selvarasu, played for Indian junior team and currently playing for ICF, Chennai.[citation needed]
Raj Mohan, played for Indian junior team and currently playing for ICF, Chennai.[citation needed]
Kamaraj, represented Indian youth team which finished 2nd in the world championships.
J.Ramesh,Played for Indian team and played for Hindustan Photo Films[citation needed]
G.Chandra Mohan, former setter for Indian Team from Hindustan Photo Films, Ooty[citation needed]
[edit]Chess
Viswanathan Anand, World Chess Champion and the first Indian to earn the title of Grandmaster.
Manuel Aaron, The first Indian to earn the title of International Master.
Murugan Thiruchelvam, Chess player from United Kingdom.
Krishnan Sasikiran, Grandmaster & Arjuna Award winner for Chess (2002).
S. Vijayalakshmi, Six time Women's national champion of India, the First Women Grandmaster from India & Arjuna Award winner for Chess (2000).
S. Meenakshi, Women Grandmaster and sister of S. Vijayalakshmi.[citation needed]
Aarthie Ramaswamy, Women Grandmaster and under-18 girls' World Chess champion.
R. B. Ramesh, Grandmaster and National Champion of India & Winner of the 2002 British Chess Championship.
P. Mahesh Chandran, Grandmaster.[citation needed]
Deepan Chakkravarthy, Grandmaster & Winner of the Asian Junior Championship at Colombo in 2002.[citation needed]
S. Arun Prasad, International Grandmaster Winner of Scottish Chess Championship in 2009,[citation needed]
G. B. Prakash, Grandmaster Elect.[citation needed]
P. Konguvel, International Master.[citation needed]
Lanka Ravi, International Master.[citation needed]
S. Kidambi, International Master.[citation needed]
K. Murugan, International Master.[citation needed]
T. S. Ravi, International Master.[citation needed]
V. Saravanan, International Master.[citation needed]
T. N. Parameswaran, International Master.[citation needed]
R. Balasubramanian, International Master.
S. Poobesh Anand, International Master.[citation needed]
M. R. Venkatesh, International Master.[citation needed]
N. Sudhakar Babu, International Master.[citation needed]
Cricket
India
Buchi Babu Naidu (died 1908),Father of Chennai Cricket.
Cota Ramaswami (born 1896, presumed dead), represented India in both International Cricket & Tennis.
M.J. Gopalan (1909–2003), represented India in both International Hockey & Cricket.
C. R. Rangachari (1916–1993), Pace Bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
C. D. Gopinath (born 1930), Batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
S. Venkataraghavan (born 1945), ex-Captain of Indian Cricket Team and Test & ODI umpire.
K. Srikkanth (born 1959), ex-Captain and current Chief Selector of Indian Cricket Team.
T.A. Sekhar (born 1956), Pace Bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
Thiru Kumaran (born 1975), Pace Bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
T. E. Srinivasan, Batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
L. Sivaramakrishnan (born 1965), Spin Bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
V. B. Chandrasekhar, Batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
Bharat Arun (born 1962), Pace Bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
Murali Kartik (born 1976), Spin Bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
Sadagoppan Ramesh (born 1975), Batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
Subramaniam Badrinath (born 1980), Batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
W.V.Raman (born 1965), Batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
Murali Vijay (born 1984), Batsman, Indian Cricket Team.
Lakshmipathy Balaji (born 1981), Pace Bowler, Indian Cricket Team.
Dinesh Karthik (born 1985), Wicketkeeper, Indian Cricket Team.
Other countries
Muttiah Muralitharan (born 1972), Highest Wicket taker in the Sri Lankan Cricket Team.
Russel Arnold - Cricketer of the Sri Lankan team
Vinodhan John, Pace Bowler, First Sri Lankan Tamil Test cricketer 1982.
Kandiah Thirugnansampandapillai Francis, International Test & ODI umpire from Sri Lanka.
Nasser Hussain (born 28 March 1968, Madras, India) a former Essex and England cricketer , Test captain.
A Varadarajan, Batsman, Canadian Cricket Team.[citation needed]
Sanjayan Thuraisingam (born 1969), Pace Bowler, Canadian Cricket Team.
Easwaran Sinnathamby (born 1973), Pace Bowler, Canadian Cricket Team.[citation needed]
Kantharatnam Shanthikumar (born 1954), Pace Bowler, Canadian Cricket Team.[citation needed]
Mahendra Nagamootoo, West Indies Cricket Team.
Ruban Sivanadian (born 1965),ICC Umpire from Canada (born Sri Lanka)[4]
Football
Peter Velappan (born 1935), General Secretary of Asian Football Confederation and Member of FIFA Strategic Studies Committee & Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup.[citation needed]
Peter Thangaraj (1938–2008), Olympion and the Goalkeeper of Indian football team that won the Gold Medal at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games.
Komaleeswaran Sankar, Only Indian FIFA Assistant Referee for the Football World Cup and have won the Asia's 'Best Assistant Referee' award in 1999.[citation needed]
Vikash Dhorasoo is a French professional football midfielder, who is currently without a club after being sacked from French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain. He has scored one goal in eighteen matches for the French national team, and he represented his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
D.Sekar Represented indian football team in the early 80's. He also played cum coched hindustan Photo Films-Ooty.
Sabir Pasha Represented indian football team in the early 90's. He also played cum coched Indian Bank-chennai
FIFA Committees: member of FIFA Strategic Studies Committee, Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup, Football Committee Awards: FIFA Centennial
Hockey
Vasudevan Baskaran, Captain of the Indian Hockey team that won Olympic Gold in 1980 Moscow Olympics and Arjuna Award winner (1979–1980).
Dhanraj Pillay (born 1968), ex-Indian Hockey Captain, Arjuna Award winner (1995) and also winner of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (1999–2000).
Mohamad Riaz, Olympion and Arjuna Award (1998).[citation needed]
Adam Sinclair, Member of the Indian Hockey team at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Raja, Member of the Indian Hockey team.
Mathisan Selvananthan, Member of the Indian Hockey team.[citation needed]
Kabaddi
perumal ganesan, of the Indian Kabaddi team that won the Gold in 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games.[citation needed]
Racing
Narain Karthikeyan, Coimbatore, India's first Formula 1 driver.
Karun Chandhok,Formula 1 driver.
S. Karivardhan, Coimbatore, Car Constructor and National Champion.
N. Leelakrishnan, Coimbatore, 7 Times National Rally Champion.[citation needed]
Naren Kumar, Coimbatore, 4 Times National Rally Champion.
J. Anand, Coimbatore, 3 Times National F3 Grand Prix winner.
R. Gopinath, Coimbatore, F3 National Champion and Founder of SpitFire Motorsports.[citation needed]
B. Vijay Kumar, Coimbatore, Fiat Champion and LG sports founder.[citation needed]
G. R. Karthikeyan, Coimbatore, 7 Times South India Rally winner and father of Narain Karthikeyan.[citation needed]
Akbar Ebrahim, Chennai, 3 Times National F3 Grand Prix winner.[citation needed]
Tennis
Vijay Amritraj, International Tennis Champion & Actor
Anand Amritraj, International Tennis player.
Ashok Amritraj, International Tennis player.
Prakash Amritraj, International Tennis player.
Mahesh Bhupathi, International Tennis player.
Ramanathan Krishnan, International Tennis player.
Ramesh Krishnan, International Tennis player.
Nirupama Vaidyanathan, International Tennis player from Coimbatore.
Jeevan Nedunchezhian- Tennis player, World number 17th under 18[citation needed]
[edit]Cultural icons

Thirumuruga Kirupananda Variyar, Scholarly Saint.
Rukmini Devi Arundale, Bharatanatyam dancer & fonder of Kalakshetra.
Balasaraswati, Bharatanatyam dancer.
Alarmel Valli, Bharatanatyam dancer.
Chitra Visweswaran, Bharatanatyam dancer.
Padma Subramanyam, Bharatanatyam dancer.
Medha Hari, Bharatanatyam dancer.[citation needed]
Pithukuli Murugadas, Divine Musician who is known for his songs on Lord Murugan.
K. B. Sundarambal, Actress/Singer.
Sirkazhi Govindarajan, Vocalist and Carnatic Music exponent.
Dr. Sirkazhi G. Sivachidambaram, Vocalist and Carnatic Music exponent.
Tamil language icons
THIRU VALLUVAR who wrotes the 1330 THIRUKKURAL called as THE WORLD GENDRAL VEDHA. it is the only thing which was translated in all languages in the world..
Arumuka Navalar (1822–1879), Pioneer of Tamil Prose & Champion of Hinduism from Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
Maraimalai Adigal, Tamil scholar & Activist.
Rev.Father Xavier Thaninayagam Adigalar (1913–1980), from Jaffna, Sri Lanka, founder member of the International Association for Tamil Research.[citation needed]
Mahavidwan R. Raghava Iyengar, Tamil scholar & Researcher & Poet.
U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (1855–1942), Pioneer of Tamil Popularly known as Tamil Thaatha.
Spiritual icons
Alwars, There are 12 Alwars, who are devotees of Lord Vishnu and exponents of Vaishnavism.
Nayanmars, There are 63 Nayanmars, who are devotees of Lord Siva and exponents of Saivism.
Ayya Vaikundar (1809-1851) {{{(real name Muthukutty)}}}, founder and preceptor of the Ayyavazhi sect. Considered to be an avatar of the Hindu god Narayana.
Ramalinga Swamigal (1823–1873), popularly known as Vallalar.
Ramanuja (1017–1137), Philosopher and one of the most important saint of Vaishnavism.
Appayya Dikshidar (1520–1593), Philosopher, followed Advaita School of Indian Philosophy.
Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950).
Yogaswami (1872–1964), A Great Spiritual Leader from Jaffna, Sri Lanka.
Sivananda Saraswati (1887–1963), A well known proponent of Yoga and Vedanta.
Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy (born 1924), Cardinal Priest of S Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci fuori Porta Cavalleggeri, Vatican City.
Dayananda Saraswati, 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 and propagator of the famous blessing phrase of "Vaazgha Vaiyagam Vaazgha Valamudan" (வாழ்க வையகம் வாழ்க வளமுடன்) roughly translated as 'Be Blessed by the Divine'.
Bala Prajapathi Adikalar, the present Pattathu Ayya of Swamithope pathi and leader of Ayyavazhi religion.
D. G. S. Dhinakaran, prominent Christian Evangelist and founder of Jesus Calls Ministries.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,is a spiritual and humanitarian leader.
Literature

Classical literature
Thiruvalluvar, Saint Poet & Author of Thirukural.
Thirumoolar, Saint Poet & Author of Thirumandhiram.
Tholkaapiyar, Author of Tholkappiyam, one of the first Tamil grammar books.
Illango Adigal, Saint Poet & Author of Silappathikaram.
Srivilliputhurar, Author of Tamil Mahabharatham.
Seethalai Saathanar, Author of Manimegalai.
Kambar, Author of Kamba Ramayanam.
Auvaiyar, Women Saint & Author of Aathichoodi.
Tirutakakatevar, Author of Jivaka Chintamani.
Eelattu Poothanthevanar, Classical Sri Lankan Poet of Sangam period.
Spiritual literature


Johnson Gnanabaranam in the year 1995.
Hindu
Nakkeerar Author of Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai .
Thirumular, Author of Thirumandhiram.
Arunagirinathar, Author of Thiruppugazh.
Sekkizhar, Author of Periapuranam.
Manikkavasagar, Author of Thiruvasagam & One of the Nayanmars.
Nammalvar, Author of Tiruvaymozhi & One of the Alwars.
Thirumazhisai Alvar, Author of Tiruchanda-virutham & One of the Alwars.
Andal, Author of Tiruppaavai & One of the Alwars.
V. Akilesapillai, Tamil scholar Poet & Author of Thirukonasala Vaipavam from Sri Lanka.
Christian
Johnson Gnanabaranam
Henry A. Krishna Pillai
Vedanayagam Pillai
Veeramamunivar
Islam
Umaru Pulavar (1605–1703), Author of Sirappuranam, Islamic spiritual work on the life of Muhammad.
Mohammad Ibrahim, Author of Muhaidin Puranam, Islamic spiritual literature.
"Sheiku Tharjuma" Moulana M. Abdul Wahhab M.A.B.Th (1920–2002) Author of Thithikum Thirumarai, Nammanigal Naalvar and also many short stories and Articles in Tamil Magazines under various Pseudonyms; Translated Holy Quran in Tamil; Edited many Islamic Books; Was conferred the title "Nadamaadum Palkalai Kazhagam"; Vice President of Authors Guild of India; Member of Tamil Nadu Wakf Board; Partner in Threeyem Printers and Publishers; Editor of Monthly Magazine "Pirai"
Modern literature
India
Subramanya Bharathy (1882–1921), Nationalist Tamil Poet.
Bharathidasan (1891–1964), Tamil Poet & Rationalist.
Pudhumaipithan (1906–1948), Tamil Fiction Writer known for his Modern outlook and Progressive thinking.
Prof. Karmegha Konar (1889–1957), Tamil Poet.
Kalyanasundara Mudaliar , Tamil Writer.
Akilan, Novelist.
Ramalingam Pillai (Namakkal Kavignar)
Thi.Janakiraman, Novelist.
Mahavidwan Vasudeva Mudaliar: Tamil scholar
Laa.Sa. Ramamirutham, Novelist.
Kalki Krishnamurthy (1899–1954), Freedom fighter, novelist and journalist.
Jayakanthan (born 1934), Writer & Novelist.
Kannadasan (1927–1981), Popularly called as Kavi Arasu Poet, Film lyricist & Winner, National Film Award for Best Lyrics (1969).
Vairamuthu (born 1953), Poet, Film lyricist & Winner, National Film Award for Best Lyrics (1986), (1993), (1995), (2000) & (2003).
Indira Soundarajan, Novelist & Short story Writer.
Ashoka Mitran (born 1931), Novelist & Short story Writer.
R. K. Narayan (1906–2001), English novelist & essayist.
Makaral Karthikeya Mudaliar: Tamil scholar
Pa. Subramania Mudaliar: Tamil scholar
Varadarasanar: Tamil novelist
Vellai vaaranaar, Tamil scholar from Tiruvarur
Erode Tamilanban, noted poet
Koththamangalam Subbu, Poet.
Sandilyan, Novelist.
Pa. Vijay, Film lyricist & Winner, National Film Award for Best Lyrics (2005).
Vaali, Film lyricist.
Sujatha Rangarajan (born 1935), contemporary Tamil & film screenplay writer.
Krishna Srinivas (born 1913), World Poet.
T.K. Doraiswamy (Nakulan), (1921–2007), poet, novelist, translator, professor of English
Singapore writer (also, President of Singapore Law Society). (Sri Lankan Tamil father, European mother)
Gopal Baratham (1935–2002), Singaporean writer and leading neurosurgeon
Edwin Thumboo (born 1933), Singaporean writer (Tamil father, Teochew Chinese mother)
S.Ponnudurai, novelist from Sri Lanka
Shyam Selvadurai, Sri Lankan-Canadian novelist (Sri Lankan Tamil father, Sri Lankan Sinhalese mother).