List of Iyers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of Iyers (people from the Iyer caste of Tamil Brahmins)
[edit] Overview
The Iyers, in spite of taking up modern vocations, have continued to preserve their unique ancient identity and traditions. It would be useful to the modern world to recognize the distinguishing features of the people produced by the community. This would prove useful in understanding the Iyer community and interacting with them better.
[edit] Spiritual leaders
- Ramana Maharishi was a sage who meditated in the forests of Arunachala.
- Sheshadri Swamigal was a great Siddha who lived in the forests of Arunachala.
- Swami Sivananda was a great yogi who lived in Rishikesh,in the foothills of Himalayas.
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is the founder of the Art of Living.
- Jagadgurus of Sringeri, pontiffs of the famous Sharada Peetam, the first of the four mutts established by Adi Sankara
- Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swamiji, who has done yeoman service in regard to a more receptive attitude of Muslims for building a Rama temple in Ayodhya, is the present pontiff of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.
- Bharati Krishna Theerthaji was the Shankaracharya of Puri.He also brought Vedic mathematics to the modern world.
- Krisha Premi a great saint and devotee of Krishna in modern times.
- Muralidhar Guruji A great devotee of Lord Krishna in modern times
- Siva Sri Paskarakurukkal A Sri Lankan Tamil priest resident in Germany, responsible for the building of the second biggest Hindu temple of Europe, the Sri Kamadchi Ampal Temple.
[edit] Scientists and academics
- Sir CV Raman (Nobel laureate and physicist)
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Nobel laureate and physicist)
- G. N. Ramachandran [1] (Biochemist who solved the three-dimensional x-ray diffraction structure of collagen, and whose "Ramachandran plot" describing the steric freedom available to amino acids in proteins is described in nearly every basic Biochemistry text book)
- Rappal Sangameswaraier Krishnan Scientist Emeritus, Ex-Head of Physics. Dept. IISc, Ex-Vice Chancellor of Trivandrum University, a favorite protégé of Sir C.V.Raman & also has an effect to his name - Krishnan Effect
- Vilayanur Ramachandran Neuro Scientist, University of San Diego
- M S Swaminathan (b. 1925) has been called the father of the Green Revolution in Indian agriculture in the 1960s. As a result of his efforts, India became a net exporter of food by the mid 1970s. Swaminathan however has been Director General, International Rice Research Institute (Manila), and has received the Magsaysay Award (1971).
- S.R. Ranganathan Important figure in Library Science
- Raghavan Iyer Indian-born political philosopher and Hindu scholar.
- Palamadai S. Lokanathan World Renowned Economist.
- Rajagopala Chidambaram Former Director of BARC, now Chief Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister of India
- T. N. Ananthakrishnan Former Director, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta
- L.A. Ramadas Former Director of Meteorological department of Government of India
- Krishnaswami Alladi Chairman, Department of Mathematics, University of Florida
- Raghuram Rajan Chief Economist, IMF (check - Iyengar?)
- U.V.Swaminatha Iyer Aka. "Tamil thatha U.ve.sa" Father of Tamil Revival movement
- Subramanya Bharathy Tamil poet and Freedom fighter
[edit] Computer professionals
- Raman Parasuraman Large scale application system designer and Linux developer from Chennai. Involved in operating system and database integration research.
[edit] Journalists and writers
- Professor K. V. Krishna Iyer Highly respected professor and author of reference books on Kerala History
- Ramachandra Guha - Historian, Columnist and author of a popular treatise on Cricket
- Ulloor Parameswara Iyer Famous Malayalam poet
- "Kalki" B. Krishnamurthy Journalist and Novelist par excellence, founder of tamil weekly "Kalki".
- V. V. S Iyer Tamil Scholar and Freedom Fighter.
- V. S. Srinivasa Sastri - Rt. Honourable Srinivasa Sastri was a freedom fighter, great orator and teacher. Was called the "Silver Tongued Orator of the British Empire" by Winston Churchill[2]
- Pico Iyer (noted author)
- Mowni (S. Mani Iyer) short story writer
- H.R. Seshadri Iyer (well known astrologer and author)
- Raghavan N. Iyer (1930-1995), philosopher, professor Theosophist; father of Pico Iyer (q.v.)
- R. K. Narayan (Indian author of great fame)
- R. K. Laxman (Indian cartoonist and humorist). R. K. Laxman is the younger brother of R. K. Narayan
- T. P. Kailasam - noted Kannada writer and considered as the "Father of modern Kannada Theater"
- Cho Ramaswamy Political analyst, editor of Tughlaq, and film actor.
- Malayattoor Ramakrishnan Malayalam novelist
- K. Subrahmanyam Indian journalist and strategic analyst
- V.D. Trivadi Renowned humorist and journalist known for his middles in The Times of India. Was known as Art Buchwald or Russell Baker of India.
- Kothamangalam Subbu Renowned playwright and director. He is famous his work ' Thillana Mohanambal' which was made into a movie starring Shivaji Ganesan and Padmini
[edit] Advocates and social activists
- V. R. Krishna Iyer (Judicial expert and Justice, Supreme Court of India)
- Sir Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar One of the Founding fathers of Indian Constitution.
- Sir T. Mutthusami Iyer - Eminent Lawyer and Judge of Madras High Court in late 19th Century
- Sir Sundaram Iyer- Judge of the Madras High Court in late 19th Century
- Sir P. Sivaswami Iyer - Advocate General of State of Madras from (1907 -1911).
- Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer - Advocate General of State of Madras in the 1920's, Last Dewan of Travancore
- Rajah Iyer- Former Advocate General of State of Madras
- Patanjali Sastri- Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India
- Govind Swaminathan- Eminent Lawyer and former Advocate General of Tamil Nadu
- V. P. Raman-Former Advocate General of Tamil Nadu and former Additional Solicitor General of India
- G. Ramaswamy-Former Attorney General for India
- Viswanatha Sastri -Eminent lawyer of the Supreme Court of India
- Alladi Kuppusami -Former Chief Justice Andhra Pradesh High Court
- T. L. Venkatrama Iyer - Judge Supreme Court of India
- Sharad A. Samy, Esq. - U.S. & U.K. International Structured Finance Lawyer
- Rt. Hon. Silver Tongue Srinivasa Sastry ( contemporary of Gandhi) , Member Privy Council (in British days)-called so in honour of his oratory skills
[edit] Patriots
- Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan First Vice President of India, Second President.
- Satyamurthy Indian freedom fighter
- Subramanya Bharathy (Indian freedom fighter and noted Tamil poet and social reformer.)
- Kalki Sadasivam Freedom fighter and husband of M.S. Subbulakshmi.
- Vanchinathan Patriot who killed General Ash and committed suicide at Maniyachi.
[edit] Sports persons
- Vishwanathan Anand (Chess grandmaster and former FIDE World Chess Champion)
- Nirupama Vaidyanathan First Indian woman to play a round in Grand Slam.
- Professor K. V. Iyer World famous body Builder.
- Javagal Srinath Genial Indian Fast bowler
- VVS Laxman Elegant stroke playing batsman of Indian cricket.
- Rahul Dravid Present Captain of the Indian Cricket Team.
[edit] Modern visual and music artists
- Hariharan Singer (Colonial Cousins)
- Mahalaxmi Iyer Singer
- Naresh Iyer Singer
- Ramesh Vinayagam Music Director
- Shankar Mahadevan Music Director
- Vijay Iyer Jazz musician
- Mohan Vaidhya Singer
- Rajhesh Vaidhya Veena musician
- Usha Uthup Singer
- Kavita Krishnamurthy, singer
[edit] Civil servants and government officials
- T. N. Seshan 10th Chief Election Commissioner of India, a Palakkad Iyer
- R. Venkataraman 8th President of India (1987-1992); Vice-President of India (1984-1987)
- T. S. Krishnamurthy A former Chief Election Commissioner.
- K. Subrahmanyam Former Secretary (Defense Production), Home Secretary (Tamil Nadu) and Director (Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses).
- M.R. Sivaraman Former Revenue Secretary ( 1992-1996)(Government of India), Former Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (1996-1999)
- Mani Shankar Aiyar Union Minister from the Congress Party (several terms, incl. current term)
[edit] Entertainers
- Arvind Krishna Upcoming cinematographer in the Tamil film industry.
- Arvind Swamy Actor cum entrepreneur.
- G V Iyer Internationally renowned Director-Producer of Sanskrit movies like Adi Shankaracharya,Ramanujacharya and Bhagawat Gita.
- G. Anantha Aiyer Well know NRI Tamil Playwright.
- Gemini Ganesan Famous Tamil Actor (late).
- Mani Ratnam Film Maker
- "Delhi" Ganesh Tamil actor performing family roles.
- Jaishankar Actor in the tamil film industry (late).
- Jeyaraman Tamil/Malayalam Actor
- K. Balachander Famous cinema director.
- "Cho" Ramaswamy - Actor, Stage Director, Lawyer, Journalist, Political Analyst
- T.R.MahaLingam - Famous actor,singer,director in the 1950s-1960s.
- Mani Ratnam Famous Movie Director, full name: Subramanian Gopalaratnam Iyer.
- Moulee Famous Playwright and comedy actor in tamil cinema.
- Pepsi Uma Well known and liked VJ on the SUN Network of India.
- Priya V Upcoming Director - "Kanda Naal MudhaL"
- S. Ve. Shekher Famous Comedy Actor and MLA
- Sivakumar Ananthasubramanian Upcomig Director. First film in Telugu "Chukkallo Chandrudu" (2006)
- Soundarya Famous Telugu actress (late).
- P.C. Sreeram - Ace Cinematographer of "Nayakan" and "Agni Natchathiram" among several other famous films. Also director.
- Ramya Krishnan - Actress, TV Hostess
- Padma Lakshmi - October 2006, she began hosting the Bravo reality show Top Chef 2.
- Vidya Balan Bollywood - Actress.
- Trisha Krishnan - Upcoming actress in the Tamil and Telegu film industry.
- Siddharth Narayan - Upcoming Actor in the Telugu,Tamil and Hindi film industry, a Tanjore Iyer.
[edit] Classical artists
- Rukmini Devi Arundale One who popularized Bharathanatyam
- Padma Subrahmanyam Renowned Bharathanatyam dancer.
- Vani Ganapathy
[edit] Carnatic musicians
The list below features the famous carnatic musicians in the history.
- Muthuswami Dikshitar, Composer/One among the "Trinity of Carnatic Music"
- Shyama Shastri, Composer/One among the "Trinity of Carnatic Music"
- Oothukadu Venkatasubbier, Composer (Also known as Venkata Kavi)
The list below features carnatic musicians of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Century.
- vocalist Madurai Pushpavanam Iyer
- vocalist Chembai Vaidyanatha Iyer
- vocalist Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer
- composer/vocalist G. N. Balasubramaniam
- vocalist D. K. Pattammal
- vocalist Rajam Pushpavanam
- vocalist D. K. Jayaraman
- violinist Dr.L.Subramaniam World renowned violinist
- vocalist Madurai Mani Iyer
- vocalist T V Sankaranarayanan
- mridangist Kumbhakonam Rajappa Iyer
- mridangist Palakkad Mani Iyer
- mridangist Palghat Raghu
- mridangist Umayalpuram Sivaraman
- mridangist Trichy Sankaran
- mridangist Namakkal K.Gaurishankar Iyer
- Flutist Dr. N. Ramani[3]
- composer/vocalist Papanasam Sivan
- violinist T N Krishnan
- composer/violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman
- vocalist K V Narayanaswamy
- composer/vocalist Maharajapuram Santhanam
- M S Gopalakrishnan, violinist
- Sanjay Subrahmaniam, vocalist
- Radha Ramji, vocalist
- Sowmya, vocalist
- Nithyashri Mahadevan, vocalist
- Anuradha Sriram, vocalist
- Aruna Sairam, vocalist
- Trichur Ramachandran, vocalist
- M. L. Vasanthakumari, singer
- Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, singer
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico.
- Jana Krishnamurthi Ex-President of the BJP & Former Union Law Minister.
- Subramanium Swamy, Lawyer, Academician, Economist, Politician, President of the Janata Party.
- Gurumurthy RSS Intellectual
- Lakshmi Sehgal, a Presidential Canditate and former head of INA women command.
- Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar Economist and writer of Swaminomics
- Ramesh Kallidai Secretary General, Hindu Forum of Britain, an Iyer from Kallidaikurichi in Tamilnadu who is leading the largest and most influential Hindu organisation in the UK
- V V Ramani, Former Chairman & CEO, The Dhanalakshmi Bank Limited
- Sreekanth Anantharaman Banker
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- A website on Professor K V Iyer
- A website on life and teachings of Swami Sivananda
- A website dedicated to the teachings of Ramana Maharishi
- Brief biography on Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman
- A well-written biography on the legendry Iyer Saint and Scholar Appayya Dikshitar
- Some information on Ramanujacharya, who was born in an Vadama Iyer family and founded a rival or new community - Iyengars