V. L. Ethiraj (born 18 July 1890) was an Indian lawyer and philanthropist who founded Ethiraj College for Women, a college in Chennai, India.
His father was Thiru. Vellore Lakshmanaswamy Mudaliar from Thottapalayam village in Vellore district in Tamil Nadu, India.
V. L. Ethiraj received his undergraduate degree from what is today Presidency College, Chennai and received his law degree from the University of Dublin. When he returned to India, he joined The Madras Bar. He was the first Indian to be appointed as Crown Prosecutor by the British Raj.
He donated one million rupees (Rs.10 lakhs) as an endowment for Ethiraj College for Women. He believed that educating a man is educating an individual, but educating a woman is educating the entire family.
One of Ethiraj's successes was the Lakshmikanthan murder case which he successfully fought in defense of Tamil actors M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and N. S. Krishnan and got them released from prison.
Education in Chennainow it is a most famous college in India.