List of Tamil people

This is a list of notable Tamils.

Ancient Kings and Rulers

Tamil dynasties

• Chola Dynasty
• Pandyan Dynasty
• Chera Dynasty
• Eastern Ganga Dynasty
• Ay Dynasty
• Velir Dynasty
• Aryacakravarti Dynasty
• Vanni Dynasty
• Rajahnate of Cebu

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".

Non-Indian or Sri Lankan Presidents, Vice President, Prime Ministers & Governors

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

Multinational 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]
• Sundar Pichai CEO of Google
• Indra Nooyi Indian-American business executive and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of PepsiCo
• Raghuram Rajan Governor RBI

Independence movement

Indian independence movement

• Nagappan Padayatchi (1891-1909)
• Maveeran Alagumuthu Kone (1710–1757)
• Puli Thevar (1715-1767)
• Rani Velu Nachiar (1730-1796)
• Rettamalai Srinivasan (1860–1945)
• V. O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872–1936)
• Dheeran Chinnamalai
• Subramanya Bharathi (1882–1921), poet and social reformer
• V. Kalyanasundaram (1883–1953), scholar
• Subramaniya Siva (1884–1925), writer
• Jeevanandham (1907–1963)
• Champakaraman Pillai (1891–1934)
• Tiruppur Kumaran (1904–1932)
• U. Muthuramalingam Thevar (1908–1963)
• K. Kamaraj (1903–1975)
• Immanuvel Devendrar (1924-1957)
• Veeran Sundaralingam (1770-1799)

Independence movements in other countries

• Thillaiaadi Valliammai (1898–1914), South African militant
• V.T. Sambanthan (1919–1979), one of the three founding fathers of Malaysia

Contributions to Tamil people

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

Governors of states

• C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Governor of West Bengal (1947-1948)
• P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja (1898–1957), Governor of Odisha (1954-1956)
• 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 Northern Province (Sri Lanka)

• C. V. Vigneswaran (2013–2018)

Chief Ministers of Eastern Province (Sri Lanka)

• Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (2008-2014)

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)
• J. Jayalalithaa (1948–2016)
• O. Panneerselvam (2016–2016)
• Edappadi K. Palaniswami (2016–2021)

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

• A. K. Moorthy (1964-) former Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways
• R.K. Shanmukham Chetty (1892–1953), former Finance Minister of independent India
• Jana Krishnamurthi (1928–2007), former Union Law Minister
• K. Santhanam (1895–1980), former Railway Minister of independent India
• Satyavani Muthu (1923–1999), former Union Cabinet Minister
• Vazhappady K. Ramamurthy (1940–2002), former Union Cabinet Minister of Petroleum
• M. Arunachalam (1944–2004), former union Cabinet Minister of Labour
• P. Chidambaram (1945–), former Finance Minister of India
• A. Raja (1963–), former Communications and Information Technology Minister of India
• Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan (1947–), former Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment of India
• K. Venkatapathy (1947–), former Minister of State for Law and Justice of India
• S. Regupathy (1950–), former Minister of State for Forests and Environment
• Gingee N. Ramachandran (1944–), former Union Minister of State, Finance
• M.K. 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
• 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 outside of India

• 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
• Samy Vellu (1937–), former Works Minister and Leader of Malaysian Indian Congress, Malaysia
• K.R. Somasundram (1930–), politician and member of Malaysian Indian Congress, Malaysia
• Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (1926–2008), founder of Reform Party of Singapore
• Radhakrishna Padayachi (1950–2012), Deputy Minister for Communication, Republic of South Africa
• Rathika Sitsabaiesan (1981–), Member of Parliament, Canada
• Gunasagaran Gounder, prominent politician and a member of Fiji Labour Party, Fiji
• Perumal Mupnar, prominent politician and a member of Fiji Labour Party, Fiji
• S.J.V. Chelvanayakam (1898–1977), leader and father figure of Sri Lankan Tamils
• Savumiamoorthy Thondaman (1913–1999), leader of Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka and had served the Sri Lankan Cabinet
• N. Shanmugathasan (1920–1993), prominent Communist politician, Sri Lanka
• Joseph Pararajasingham (1934–2005), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Lakshman Kadirgamar (1932–2005), former Foreign Minister, Sri Lanka
• Veerasingham Anandasangaree (1933–), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Murugesu Sivasithamparam (1923–2002), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Rajavarothiam Sampanthan (1933–), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam (1944–1999), Member of Parliament, Sri Lanka
• Appapillai Amirthalingam (1927–1989), leader of the opposition, Parliament of Sri Lanka
• Douglas Devananda (1957–), leader of EPDP and Minister of Rehabilitation, Sri Lanka
• Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani (1903–1974), Tamil journalist, writer, publisher, social activist
• Patrick Pillay, Minister of External Affairs of the Seychelles
• Jean-Paul Virapoullé (1944–), member of the Senate of France, representing the island of Réunion
• E.E.C. Thuraisingham (1898–1979), first local Member in British-ruled Malaya
• Kamala Harris, United States Senator; Vice President of the United States of America
• Maya Harris, Vice President for Democracy, Rights and Justice at the Ford Foundation and Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California.
• Vanushi Walters, is a New Zealand lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party representing the Upper Harbour electorate^[2]

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
      • Rangarajan Mohan Kumaramangalam (1978-), is member of the Indian National Congress; great grandson of P. Subbarayan; grandson of Mohan Kumaramangalam, son of Rangarajan Kumaramangalam
    • Lalitha Kumaramangalam (1957–), member of the National Executive of the BJP; daughter of Mohan Kumaramangalam, granddaughter of P. Subbarayan
  • Parvathi Krishnan (1919–2014), 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 (1950–2020), 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)
• Vice Admiral Nilkanta Krishnan (1919-1982), Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, India, 1947-1976

Air Force

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

Award winners

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

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

Tamil executives and business people

• Bhargav Sri Prakash, Scientist, Inventor of digital vaccines, hedge fund manager, Founder & CEO of FriendsLearn
• Palani G. Periasamy, Chairman of PGP Group of Companies
• Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo
• Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, Inc.
• 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

Music

Tamil music

• Muthu Thandavar, one of the Tamil Trinity
• Marimutthu Pillai, one of the Tamil Trinity
• Arunachala Kavi, one of the Tamil Trinity
• Pushpavanam Kuppusamy, Naatupura Paatu
• 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

• Master Dhanraj Mentor of Ilaiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman
• M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam), British musician
• Clarence Jey (Clarence Jeyaretnam), Sri Lankan American record producer
• Yogi B (Yogeswaran Veerasingam), Malaysian hiphop artist, founder of Poetic Ammo
• Kamahl (Kandiah Kamalesvaran), Australian cabaret/easy listening singer
• Tharini Mudaliar, Australian singer and violinist
• Tommy Genesis, Canadian rapper
• Jacintha Abisheganaden, Singaporean singer
• Rudra, Singaporean death metal band
• Shruti Haasan, western singer, daughter of Tamil actor Kamal Haasan
• Blaaze, rap artist and playback singer
• Lord Kossity
• Siva Kaneswaran, band member of The Wanted
• Arjun Coomaraswamy, UK RnB singer^[10]
• 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

Actors

• Gemini Ganesan
• Kamal Haasan
• Suriya
• Vijay
• Dhanush
• R. Madhavan
• Saravanan
• Sivaji Ganesan
• Arun Vijay
• Vijayakanth
• Harish Kalyan
• Siddharth
• Karthi
• Vijay Sethupathi
• Sivakarthikeyan
• Vadivelu
• Goundamani
• Senthil
• Ramarajan
• Vivek
• Santhanam
• Sathyaraj
• Sathish
• Sibi Sathyaraj
• Vikram
• M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar
• N. S. Krishnan
• P. U. Chinnappa
• T. R. Mahalingam
• 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; half Tamil

Actresses

• Vyjanthimala
• Sridevi, half Tamil.
• Madhoo
• Priyamani
• Vani Bhojan
• Priya Bhavani Shankar
• Nivedhithaa Sathish
• Riythvika
• Nivetha Pethuraj

Music composers

See: Film music

• A. R. Rahman
• Yuvan Shankar Raja
• Ilaiyaraaja
• Harris Jayaraj

In Hollywood

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

Basketball

• Anitha Pauldurai, Basketball Player

Entertainers

• Vyjayanthimala, Bharatanatyam dancer; introduced semi-classical dance in Bollywood^[11]
• Rukmini Devi Arundale, Bharatanatyam dancer; founder of Kalakshetra
• Balasaraswati, Bharatanatyam dancer
• Alarmel Valli, Bharatanatyam dancer
• Chitra Visweswaran, Bharatanatyam dancer
• Padma Subramanyam, Bharatanatyam dancer
• Pithukuli Murugadas, musician
• K.B. Sundarambal, actress andsinger
• Sirkazhi Govindarajan, vocalist and Carnatic music exponent
• 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^[12]
• Sadhu Kuppuswami, instrumental in the establishment of the Sangam organisation in Fiji
• Swami Vipulananda, Hindu social reformer, literary critic, author, poet, teacher and ascetic from the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka
• Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Sufi Muslim mystic hailing from Sri Lanka

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.
• Pattukkottai Prabakar Pattukkottai Prabakar is an Indian Tamil writer. He is a king of crime and thrill novels also a versatile writer.
• Rajesh Kumar (writer) Rajesh Kumar is the pseudonym of KR Rajagopal, a Tamil author of crime fiction. Kalaimaamani Awardee.

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

• 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