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)
Governor-Generals, Presidents and Vice Presidents
C. Rajagopalachari (1878–1972), Governor-General of the Union of India (1948–1950)
R. Venkataraman (1910–2009), President of the Republic of India (1987–1992) and Vice President the Republic of India (1984–1987)
Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920–2000), Governor-General of the Union of Mauritius (1986–1992)
Veerasamy Ringadoo (1920–2000), President of the Republic of Mauritius (1992–1992)
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015), President of the Republic of India (2002–2007)
S. R. Nathan (1924–2016), President of the Republic of Singapore (1999–2011)
Angidi Veeriah Chettiar (1928–2010), Acting President of the Republic of Mauritius (2002–2002)
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]
Captain Miller (1966–1987), Tamil rebel and member of the Tamil Tigers, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka; known as the LTTE's first Black Tiger (suicide bomber).
Cankili I also known as Cekaracacekaran VII, most remembered Jaffna kingdom king in the Eelam Tamil history. He was very active in resisting Portuguese colonial inroads into Eelam.
Migapulle Arachchi also known as Chinna Migapillai, feudal lord from the Jaffna Kingdom who became a rebel leader just after its annexation by the Portuguese Empire in 1619. His title Arachchi, is a title given to the commanders of Lascarins or native military forces.
Varunakulattan, 17th-century feudal lord and military commander from the Jaffna Kingdom. He led a rebellion as the military commander of Thanjavur Nayak against the Portuguese in their conquest of the Jaffna kingdom in 1619. Although the nominal king was Cankili II, Varunakulattan was described as the king of Karaiyars, and wield the real power in the Jaffna Peninsula.
Ambalavanar Neminathan commonly known by the nom de guerre Raju) was a leading member of the Tamil Tigers, Raju served as the head of the LTTE's Engineering Corps. He was special commander of the Leopard Commandos, an infantry unit, and chief technical officer in the Kittu Regiment, the LTTE's artillery unit which Raju helped create.
Pottu Amman, was the second-in-command of Tamil Tigers. was a Head of Tiger Organization Security Intelligence Service and the Black Tigers.
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.
V. S. Kumar Anandan, his many records include swimming the Palk Strait, from Sri Lanka to India and back in 51 hours, in 1971
Kutraleeswaran, swam across English Channel in 1994 when he was just 13 years old; the same year, he swam across six channels to break Mihir Sen's record of swimming across five channels in a calendar year
Bentong Kali (1961–1993), 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 (1957-) 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 (Tamil Tigers), tried unsuccessfully to assassinate him over 10 times.
Varadarajan Mudaliar (1926–1988), 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.
Auto Shankar (1954–1995), was a serial killer and a gangster from the state of Tamil Nadu active in Chennai throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
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
Mylswamy Annadurai, scientist with the Indian Space Research Organization; Director of ISRO Satellite Centre
Shiva Ayyadurai, as a high school student in 1979, he developed an electronic version of an interoffice mail system, which he called "EMAIL" and copyrighted in 1982
Kailasavadivoo Sivan, current chairperson of Indian Space Research Organization.
K. S. Rajah, former Supreme Court Judge – Singapore
Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; South African of Indian origin and Tamil descent; first non-white woman on the High Court of South Africa; has served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
A. Vaidyanatha Iyer(1890–1955), Tamil Indian activist; participated in the Indian independence movement and organized the temple entry movement in the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai; President of the Tamil Nadu Harijan Seva Sangh
Celine Gounder, is an American Tamil infectious disease physician, internist, epidemiologist, filmmaker, and medical journalist who specializes in infectious disease and global health[8]
Raghavan Varadarajan, Molecular Biologist At Indian Institute Of Science, Bangalore
V. Shanta, Cancer Specialist Head Of Adyar Cancer Institute
Venkatesan Devarajan was the second Indian to win a medal at the Boxing World Cup after Pu Zoramthanga (boxer), 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.
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
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