List of people from Tamil Nadu
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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 list of famous Tamilians
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Presidents
- Abdul Kalam, President, India
- S.R. Nathan, President, Singapore
- Ramaswamy Venkataraman, ex-President, India
- C. Rajagopalachari, ex-Governor General of India; writer & statesman
Politics
Leaders
- 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
Business icons
- 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
- R. Chidambaram, Scientific Adviser to Prime Minister; ex-Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission
- S.Dhanabalan, Chairman, DBS Bank (Singapore)
- J.Y.Pillay, Chairman, Singapore Exchange (stock market)
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
- George Sudarshan, Physics; Contributions to Particle Physics, Quantum Optics & Field Theory
- S.S. Ratnam, pioneer in Singapore in-vitro fertilisation
- Ganapathi Thanikaimoni, Palynologist, French Institute of Pondicherry, awarded the Fyson Prize in Natural Science
Cinema
- 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
- Sridevi, Bollywood Actress
Sports
- Narain Karthikeyan, Formula 1 driver
- Viswanathan Anand, World Chess Champion
- Vijay Amritraj, International Tennis Champion & Actor
- Mahesh Bhupathi, Tennis player
- Ramesh Krishnan, Tennis player
- Krishnamachari Srikkanth, ex-Indian Cricket Captain
- Srinivasan Venkataraghavan, ex-Indian Cricketer
- Lakshmipathy Balaji, Cricketer
- Nasser Hussain, former English Cricket Captain
- Murugan Thiruchelvam, chess player
Literature
- Thiruvalluvar, Tamil Author & Poet
- Subramanya Bharathy, Tamil Poet
- Bharathidasan, Tamil Poet & Rationalist
- Prof. Karmegha Konar, Tamil Poet
- R.K. Narayan, Noted Indian Author
- R.K. Laxman, Famous Indian Cartoonist & Humorist
- 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)
Other
- M.S. Subbulakshmi, Carnatic Singer, Bharat Ratna awardee - 'The Nightingale of India'
- Medha Hari, Bharatanatyam dancer
- Shankaracharya of Kanchi, Hindu Seer & Spiritual preceptor
- Varadharajan Mudaliar, known as Vardha Bhai; former prominent underworld kingpin
- Veerappan, Sandalwood smuggler and forest brigand
Pseudo-Tamilians
People who are not natives of Tamil Nadu, but lived/live in Tamil Nadu
- 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