List of Tamil people


This is a list of notable Tamils.

Ancient Kings and Rulers

Tamil dynasties

Other royal families

Multinational positions

Independence movement

Indian independence movement

Independence movements in other countries

Contributions to Tamil people

Prime Ministers

Lieutenant governors of union territories

Union Ministers

Political leaders outside of India

Governors of the Reserve Bank of India

Political families

Tamil Nadu

C. Rajagopalachari family

C.P. Ramaswami Iyer family

D. Jayakumar family

E. V. K. Sampath family

G. K. Moopanar family

H. Kumari Ananthan family

M. Bhakthavatsalam family

M. Karunanidhi family

An O. Panneerselvam family

P. Subbarayan family

P. T. Rajan family

Sri Lanka

Arumugampillai Coomaraswamy family

Arunachalam Ponnambalam family

S. Pararajasingam family

V. P. Ganeshan family

  • V. P. Ganeshan, founder of the Democratic Workers' Congress, film producer and actor
  • * Mano Ganesan, Member of Parliament, Provincial Councillor, son of V.P. Ganeshan
  • * Praba Ganesan, Member of Parliament, Provincial Councillor, son of V.P. Ganeshan

Savumiamoorthy Thondaiman family

G. G. Ponnambalam family

Arumugam Canagaratnam family

Military leaders

Army

Navy

Air Force

Independence Movement

Award winners

Nobel Prize winners

Fields Medal

Bharat Ratna

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

Padma Vibhushan

The Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian honour.

Padma Bhushan

The Padma Bhushan is India's third highest civilian honour.

Padma Shri

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

Ramon Magsaysay Award

The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established in 1957 in memory of Ramon Magsaysay, the late president of the Philippines. It is often considered to be Asia's Nobel Prize.

Dadasaheb Phalke Award

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in cinema, given annually by the Government of India for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. It was instituted in 1969, the birth centenary year of Dadasaheb Phalke, considered as the father of Indian cinema.

Param Vir Chakra

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

Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is India's highest sporting honor.

Jnanpith Award

The Jnanpith Award is India's highest literary honor

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship

Guinness World Records

Arjuna Award

The Arjuna Award was instituted in 1961 by the Government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in national sports.

Oscar awards

Social workers

Criminals

  • Bentong Kali, was a Malaysian-Tamil criminal and mobster who gained a national attention in the 1990s. He was implicated in over 17 different murders, and terrorized the capital Kuala Lumpur through violence, extortion and heroin smuggling. He also made headlines when he challenged the police to arrest him. He was finally gunned down by Royal Malaysia Police's Special Actions Unit from Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur.
  • Douglas Devananda is a paramilitary leader, politician and a proclaimed offender in India and is wanted on charges of murder, attempt to murder, child prostitution, rioting, unlawful assembly and kidnapping. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, tried unsuccessfully to assassinate him over 10 times.
  • Varadarajan Mudaliar, also known as Vardhabhai and Vardha, was an Indian-Tamil crime boss. He was one of the infamous trio of mafia gang leaders of Mumbai the other being Karim Lala and Haji Mastan. His origin is North Arcot district of Tamil Nadu, from where his father migrated to Tuticorin to work in shipping business. He was born in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. From early 1960s to the 1980s; he was one of the most powerful mob bosses in Bombay, along with Haji Mastan and Karim Lala.
  • Haji Mastan, was an organised crime gang leader, originally from Tamil Nadu and based in Bombay. He was one of an infamous trio of mafia gang leaders in Bombay for over two decades from the 1960s to the early 1980s, along with Karim Lala leader of the Pathan gang, and Varadarajan Mudaliar, another famous gang leader from Tamil Nadu in South India.
  • Auto Shankar, was a serial killer and a gangster from the state of Tamil Nadu active in Chennai throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Business and administration

Tamil billionaires

Tamil executives and business people

Educators

Philanthropists

Diplomats

Journalists and broadcasters

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, who served as chairperson of Indian Space Research Organization.

Social anthropologists

Academicians

Agriculture

Botanists

Computer science

Finance and economics

Law

Mathematics

Medicine

Engineering (scientists)

Zoologists

Music

Tamil music

Carnatic music

Hindustani music

Film music

Western music

Other

Dance

Cinema

Directors

Actors

Actresses

Music composers

In Hollywood

Other entertainers

Sports and games

Athletics

Basketball

Boxing

  • Venkatesan Devarajan was the second Indian to win a medal at the Boxing World Cup after Pu Zoramthanga, from Mizoram. He is from Chennai, India. He was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1995. He competed in the men's bantamweight event at the 1992 Summer Olympics. V. Devarajan has been a fighter on and off the boxing ring. He broke new ground by becoming the first Indian to win a World Cup medal on foreign soil in 1994.
  • Kalaivani Srinivasan is a female boxer from Tamil Nadu who won a silver medal at the Indian Seniors National Boxing Championship in Vijayanagar in 2019. She was named the ‘Most Promising Boxer’ at the Indian National Boxing Championship in 2019. She later won a gold medal at the South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal in 2019.

Carrom

Volleyball

Chess

Cricket

India

Other countries

Football

Hockey

Mountain climbing

Racing

Squash

Tennis

Entertainers

Religion and spirituality

Tamil literature

Classical literature

Religious literature

Shaivism

Vaishnavism

Islam

Jainism

Christianity

Modern literature

India

Other countries

Others

Modern art