Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a graduate college. The Presidency College is one of the oldest government arts colleges in India. It is one of two Presidency Colleges established by the British in India, the other being the Presidency College, Kolkata.
Ramaswamy Venkataraman, also known as R. Venkataraman, was an Indian lawyer, independence activist and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the eighth president of India. Venkataraman was born in Rajamadam village in Tanjore district, Madras Presidency. He studied law and practised in the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court of India. In his young age, he was an activist of the Indian independence movement and participated in the Quit India Movement. He was appointed as the member of the Constituent Assembly and the provisional cabinet. He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times and served as Union Finance Minister and Defence Minister. In 1984, he was elected as the seventh vice president of India and in 1987, he became the eighth President of India and served from 1987 to 1992. He also served as a State minister under K. Kamaraj and M. Bhaktavatsalam.
Dewan Bahadur Sachivottama SirChetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer, popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law member of the Executive council of the Governor of Madras from 1923 to 1928, Law member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy of India from 1931 to 1936 and the Diwan of Travancore from 1936 to 1947. Ramaswami Iyer was born in 1879 in Madras city and studied at Wesley College High School and Presidency College, Madras before qualifying as a lawyer from the Madras Law College. He practised as a lawyer in Madras and succeeded S. Srinivasa Iyengar as the Advocate-General of the Madras Presidency. He subsequently served as the Law member of the Governor of Madras and of the Viceroy of India before being appointed Diwan of Travancore in 1936.
Uttamadhanapuram Venkatasubbaiyer Swaminatha Iyer was a Tamil scholar and researcher who was instrumental in bringing many long-forgotten works of classical Tamil literature to light. His singular efforts over five decades brought to light major literary works in Tamil and contributed vastly to the enrichment of its literary heritage. Iyer published over 90 books in his lifetime, on a variety of matters connected to classical Tamil literature, and collected over 3,000 paper manuscripts, palm-leaf manuscripts and notes of various kinds.
Nallathagudi Srinivasa Ramaswami was an Indian sports journalist who worked for four decades with The Hindu, Mail and Indian Express, and became an assistant editor at all three newspapers. He wrote four books on cricket — Winter of Content, Indian Cricket, Indian Willow and From Porbandar to Wadekar — but was also well-versed in history, social commentary and temple architecture.
M. Subbaraya Aiyar (1885–1963) was a prominent income tax lawyer and philanthropist born in Marayur, Tanjore District in the old Madras Presidency. He started from humble beginnings in the village of Marayur and moved to Chennai as a small boy. He was educated at the Madras Christian College and the Law College in Madras and became a High Court lawyer in 1910 under the law firm headed by Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer. Constituent Assembly member Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer was a close friend of his from this time. He was later associated with D. Srinivasan, a criminal defense lawyer and father of renowned Tamil actor Kamal Haasan. After a successful practice in Income Tax Law, Aiyar co-founded three educational institutions: Vivekananda College, Vidya Mandir and Madras Institute of Technology in Chromepet, Madras.
Rev. N. Samuel of Tranquebar was a professor in divinity, pastor in the Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church (T.E.L.C.), and a hymnodist. He was a famous poet and author of many books. He was also the first member of the Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission (L.E.L.M.) Council.
Vadama, meaning "Northerners", are a sub-sect of the Iyer community of Tamil Brahmins. While some believe that their name is an indication of the fact that they were the most recent Brahmin migrants to the Tamil country others interpret the usage of the term "Vadama" as a reference to their strict adherence to the Sanskrit language and Vedic rituals which are of northerly origin.
SirKumarapuram Seshadri Iyer, was an Indian advocate who served as the 15th Dewan of Mysore from 1883 to 1901. He was the second longest serving dewan of Mysore after Purnaiah. He is regarded by most as the maker of Modern Bangalore.
Ganapathy Dikshitar Subramania Iyer was a leading Indian journalist, social reformer and freedom fighter who led the Triplicane Six in launching The Hindu, an English newspaper on 20 September 1878. He was proprietor, editor and managing director of The Hindu from 20 September 1878 to October 1898. The Tamil language newspaper 'Swadesamitran' was also founded by him in 1891.
Umayalpuram Kasiviswanatha Sivaraman is an Indian musician and exponent of the Carnatic percussion instrument, the mridangam. He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Vaidyanatha Ganapati Sthapati was a Sthapati and head of the College of Architecture and Sculpture in the Vastu Shastra tradition ascribed to the sage Mamuni Mayan.
Rao Bahadur S. A. Saminatha Iyer, also known as Thanjavur Saminatha Iyer, was an Indian lawyer, landlord, politician and theosophist who served as Chairman of the Tanjore municipality and a delegate to the 1885, 1886, 1887, 1889 and 1894 sessions of the Indian National Congress. He spoke against salt tax in the first session conducted in 1885 and in 1887, was a part of a 32-member team that wrote the constitution of the Congress. Christopher Baker and D. A. Washbrook describe him as the "most celebrated spokesman of the Tanjore gentry".
Diwan Bahadur V. S. Subrahmanya Iyer was an Indian administrator who served as the Diwan of the princely state of Travancore from 1929 to 1932.
Venkataraman Raghavan (1908–1979) was a Sanskrit scholar and musicologist. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Padma Bhushan and the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit, and authored over 120 books and 1200 articles.
The Indian independence movement had a long history in the Tamil-speaking districts of the then Madras Presidency going back to the 18th century.
K. S. Narayanaswamy, was a Carnatic veena exponent of the Thanjavur style, in which nuances and subtleties are given more importance over rhythm based acrobatics. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1979.
Chetput Ramaswami Iyer Pattabhiraman was an Indian lawyer and politician from the Indian National Congress. He was the eldest son of Indian statesman C. P. Ramaswami Iyer. He served as a Member of Indian Parliament from Kumbakonam from 1957 to 1967 and as a Union Minister from 1966 to 1967.
Sir Ramaswami Srinivasa Sarma was an Indian journalist and politician. He was the first Indian journalist to be knighted.
