List of Tamil people
This is a list of famous and notable people from Tamil Nadu, India. This would include persons who are known to a large number of people and is not based on the extent of their popularity. Neither is the list viewed from the context of the present. Their fame could be brief, what matters is that they were well-known during the peak of their popularity.
This list also includes emigrant Tamilians and could be taken as a list of famous Tamilians.
Heads of State
- Abdul Kalam, President, India
- S.R. Nathan, President, Singapore
- Ramaswamy Venkataraman, ex-President, India
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, ex-President, India
- C. Rajagopalachari, ex-Governor General of India; writer & statesman
Political leaders
- J. Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister,Tamil Nadu
- CN Annadurai, popularly known as Anna, ex-Chief Minister
- M. Karunanidhi, ex-Chief Minister
- Velupillai Prabhakaran, Chief of the LTTE
Politicians
- Mani Shankar Aiyar, Politician; Oil Minister of India
- P. Chidambaram, Politician; Finance Minister of India
- Murasoli Maran, Politician; ex-Industries Minister of India
- Dayanidhi Maran, Politician; IT & Communications Minister of India
- Kalanidhi Maran, Media Baron
- Chidambaram Subramaniam, ex-Steel & Mines Minister of India; Bharat Ratna Awardee & 'Father of the Indian Green Revolution'
- Subramanian Swamy, Politician
- T.T. Krishnamachari, Industrialist & India's first Finance Minister
- S Jayakumar, Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore
- Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister of Education, Singapore (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry)
- Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore (half-Tamil, half-Chinese)
- S Rajaratnam, ex-Deputy Prime Minister, Singapore (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry)
- S Dhanabalan, ex-Minister (various portfolios), Singapore
- J. B. Jeyaretnam, ex-opposition leader, Singapore (Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry)
- Samy Vellu, works minister, Malaysia
- Radhakrishna Padayachi, Deputy Minister for Communication, Republic of South Africa
Industrialists
- Shiv Nadar, Chairman & CEO of HCL & Forbes List of Billionaires
- M A Chidambaram, Industrialist
- Indra Nooyi, CFO of PepsiCo US
- S. Ramadorai, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services
- S Dhanabalan, Chairman, DBS Bank (Singapore)
- J.Y.Pillay, Chairman, Singapore Exchange (stock market)
- N.Mahalingam, Chairman, Sakthi Group of Companies, Coimbatore)
- Marimutu Sinivasan, Founder and Chairman of Texmaco Group, Indonesia, a giant textile, machinery and aotomotive manufacturer.)
- Tatparanandam Ananda Krishnan, CEO of Maxis Communications and MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems, Malaysia.)
Scientists/Mathematicians
- Srinivasa Aiyangar Ramanujan, Brilliant 20th century Mathematician
- Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, 1930 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, 1983 Nobel Prize Winner in Physics
- S.R. Ranganathan, Eminent librarian who devised the five laws of library science
- V.S. Ramachandran, Neuroscientist; Director Professor at UC San Diego
- C.K. Prahalad, Management Expert; University of Michigan Business School
- Marti Subrahmanyam, Finance Expert; Professor at NYU & Board of Directors of Infosys & ICICI
- S.S. Ratnam, pioneer in Singapore in-vitro fertilisation
- Ganapathi Thanikaimoni, Palynologist, French Institute of Pondicherry, awarded the Fyson Prize in Natural Science
- R. Chidambaram, Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister; ex-Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission
Cinema
- Sharath Babu
- Radhika
- Prabhu
- M. Night Shyamalan, Hollywood Filmmaker (Half Tamilian: Father is Malayali and Mother is Tamilian)
- Gemini Ganesan
- Illayaraja, Musician & Composer
- A.R. Rahman, Musician & Composer
- Kamal Haasan, 3-time National Award winning actor
- Mani Ratnam, Leading Indian filmmaker
- Sivaji Ganesan, Actor
- Hema Malini, Bollywood Actress
- Rekha, Bollywood Actress
Sportspersons
- Narain Karthikeyan, Formula 1 driver
- Viswanathan Anand, World Chess Champion
- Vijay Amritraj, International Tennis Champion & Actor
- Mahesh Bhupathi, Tennis player
- Ramanathan Krishnan, Tennis player
- Ramesh Krishnan, Tennis player
- Krishnamachari Srikkanth, ex-Indian Cricket Captain
- Srinivas Venkataraghavan, ex-Indian Cricket Captain and Test umpire
- Lakshmipathy Balaji, Cricketer
- Nasser Hussain, former English Cricket Captain
- Murugan Thiruchelvam, chess player
- Dhanraj Pillay,Hockey player
- Muttiah Muralitharan,Cricketer
Cultural icons
- Veena Dhanammal
- Rukmini Devi Arundale
- M.S. Subbulakshmi Bharat Ratna awardee
- D. K. Pattammal
- Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer,
- Medha Hari, Bharatanatyam dancer
Nobel laureates
Litterateurs
- Thiruvalluvar, Tamil Author & Poet
- Subramanya Bharathy, Tamil Poet
- Bharathidasan, Tamil Poet & Rationalist
- Prof. Karmegha Konar, Tamil Poet
- Philip Jeyaratnam, Singapore writer (also, President of Singapore Law Society)
- Gopal Baratham, Singapore writer (also, leading neurosurgeon)
- Edwin Thumboo, Singapore writer (Tamil father, Teochew Chinese mother
Others
- Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Hindu Seer & Spiritual preceptor
- Varadharajan Mudaliar, known as Vardha Bhai; former prominent underworld kingpin
- Veerappan, Sandalwood smuggler and forest brigand
People who are not natives of Tamil Nadu, but lived/live in Tamil Nadu
- M.G.Ramachandran,Malayali,ex-CM of TN; yesteryears actor
- Thanthai Periyar, Kannadiga, Popularly known for his rationalism
- J Jayalalithaa, Kannadiga, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu; yesteryears actress
- Rajnikanth One of the most popular Tamil Actors; born in Bangalore