Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, 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.

History

Sir Thomas Munro asked for a Committee of Public Instruction to form in 1826. In 1836, the committee's duties changed to the "Committee of Native Education". The plans drawn up by the committee did not commend themselves to the Governor of Madras, Lord Elphinstone, who proposed nineteen resolutions that passed unanimously. Elphinstone chose E. B. Powell, a

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Wrangler in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

, to be the first principal, and Powell accepted the post. He arrived in Mumbai (Bombay) on September 20, 1840, but did not reach Chennai (Madras) until 24 November. Meanwhile, the committee had invited Cooper from Hoogly College, Kolkata, to temporarily carry out the principal duties at a salary of Rs 400 per month. Cooper accepted the invitation and came to Chennai (Madras). He and his staff opened Presidency School, a preparatory school, in a rented building in Egmore known as Edinburgh Home, on 16 October 1840. Cooper remained in the primary school for only a few months. Soon after Powell's arrival, and before the high school department opened on 12 April 1841, he returned to Kolkata. The preparatory school shifted to Popham's Broadway in 1841. The schools grew into Presidency College. When the University of Madras was founded in 1857, Presidency College became affiliated with it. In 1870, the college moved to its present location in Kamaraj Salai, opposite

Marina Beach Marina Beach, or simply the Marina, is a natural urban beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, along the Bay of Bengal. The beach runs from near Fort St. George in the north to Foreshore Estate in the south, a distance of , making it the second longest ...

Presidency College Madras Maths Intermediates 1941

Ranking

In the

National Institutional Ranking Framework National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology released annually by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The framework was approved by the former Ministr ...

(NIRF) for the year 2023, Presidency College has been ranked 3rd again. Presidency College is ranked third as per National Institutional Ranking Framework for colleges in the year 2022.

Notable alumni

* Alagappa Alagappan (1925–2014), Indian-born American founder of the Hindu Temple Society of North America * Alladi Ramakrishnan, Founder of Institute of Mathematical Sciences * Vallal Dr. RM. Alagappa Chettiar, (1909–1957), Industrialist and Philanthropist * E. S. Appasamy (1878–1963), educator, social worker in Chennai. * K. Seshadri Iyer - Dewan of Mysore * Diwan Bahadur Siram.Venkataramadas Nayudu, Diwan of Pudukkottai and Former Chief secretary and Magistrate of

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

. * T. R. A. Thumboo Chetty First Indian Chief Judge of the Chief Court of Mysore, Offg. Dewan of Mysore. *

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (; 19 October 1910 – 21 August 1995) was an Indian Americans, Indian-American theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to the scientific knowledge about the structure of stars, stellar evolution and ...

- Nobel laureate in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Bharat Ratna The Bharat Ratna (; ) is the highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distin ...

C. V. Raman, Nobel laureate in

C. Rajagopalachari, the last

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C. Subramaniam - Minister, Finance Government of India * G. P. Pillai, freedom fighter, close aide to Gandhiji during South African Indian issue * Singaravelar,Veteran Communist leader * T. M. Nair, one of the founders of Justice Party * K. M. Cariappa, first Commander-in-Chief of Defence Forces of independent India * Benegal Rama Rau, Governor,

Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...

* S. Jagannathan, Governor,

* K. V. K. Sundaram,

Chief Election Commissioner of India The Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections. An election commissioner is appointed by the President of India on the recommendatio ...

(1958–1967) * P. Chidambaram, Former Finance Minister of India * M. P. Periasamy Thooran * P Rajagopalachari,

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

of Cochi state and Travancore * V Gopalsamy (Vaiko), Former MP, Founder of MDMK * N. Ram, managing director and Editor-in-Chief, ''

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'' * G. N. Balasubramaniam, Carnatic vocalist * V. S. Chandralekha, politician and former IAS officer * Paravastu Chinnayya Soori, Telugu scholar *

Sarvepalli Gopal Sarvepalli Gopal (23 April 1923 – 20 April 2002) was a well-known Indian historian. He was the son of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first Vice-President and the second President of India. He was the author of the ''Radhakrishnan: A Biography ...

, chairman, National Book Trust and historian *

Nataraja Guru Nataraja Guru (born P. Natarajan, 18 February 1895 – 19 March 1973) was a disciple of Narayana Guru. Nataraja Guru founded Narayana Gurukula on 1923 for the integral study of various wisdom approaches. Biography Nataraja Gúrú was born in B ...

* C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer, Dewan of Travancore * P. S. Sivaswami Iyer, Law Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council *

V. K. Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, independence activist, politician, lawyer, and statesman. During his time, Menon contributed to the Indian independence movement and India's foreign r ...

(1896–1974),

Defence Minister of India The Minister of Defence (ISO: ''Rakṣā Maṁtrī'') is the head of the Ministry of Defence and a high ranking minister of the Government of India. The Defence minister is one of the most senior offices in the Union Council of Ministers as we ...

(1957–1962) * C. R. Pattabhiraman, Minister, Law and Company Affairs, GOI * Palani G. Periyasamy, businessman * Ganapathi Thanikaimoni, Palynologist, Fyson Prize recipient * Uma Sambanthan,

social activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from ...

* K. K. Srinivasan, founder of a pre-school for hearing-impaired children * R. S. Subbalakshmi, educator and social reformer * P. Subbarayan, Chief Minister of

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

* K. Subrahmanyam, Secretary, Defence Production,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

* Srinivasa Varadhan, Abel Prize laureate in Mathematics * R. K. Krishna Kumar, Former director of Tata Sons and

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

awardee * T. R. Seshadari, Chemist and

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

award *

O. V. Vijayan Ottupulackal Velukkuty Vijayan (2 July 1930 – 30 March 2005), commonly known as O. V. Vijayan, was an Indian author and cartoonist, who was an important figure in modern Malayalam language literature. Best known for his first novel '' Khasakk ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

, * Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan, Plant pathologist and

awardee * C. V. Subramanian, Mycologist,

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Shanti or Shanthi may refer to: In Sanskrit * Inner peace, a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress * Kshanti, one of the paramitas of B ...

recipient * Pothan Joseph,

Journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

* Janaki Ammal,

Botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

awardee * Thavamani Jegajothivel Pandian, Geneticist and

recipient * T. R. Govindachari, Natural product chemist, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar laureate * K. S. Hegde,

Supreme court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

Judge and Speaker of the

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* M K Stalin,

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* M M Ismail, Former chief justice

madras high court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

* K R Ramanathan,

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

and

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

. * Vazhakkulangarayil Khalid,

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

of the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

* M.B Sreenivasan -

Music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

* Edatata Narayanan,

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

freedom fighter A freedom fighter is a person engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom, particularly against an established government. The term is typically reserved for those who are actively involved in armed or otherwise violent rebellion. Termi ...

* K.G Subramanyan, artist. He was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ( , lit. "Lotus Grandeur") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons w ...

* Psycho Muhammad,

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

* Govindarajan Padmanaban,

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

and biotechnologist *

Kasu Brahmananda Reddy Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (28 July 1909 – 20 May 1994) was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India, from 29 February 1964 to 30 September 1971. On 3 June 1977, he was elected president of the Indian National Congress. Early life Kasu Brahma ...

, Former Chief minister Andhra Pradesh * P. V. Rajamannar, Chief Justice

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

* A. L. Abdul Majeed, Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament * Nilakanta Mahadeva Ayyar, member of the erstwhile Indian Civil Service * C. V. Runganada Sastri,

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

, civil servant and

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

* Sarah Chakko, first woman to be elected to the presidency of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

. * M. K. Chandrashekaran,

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

, founder of Indian chronobiology * P. Coomaraswamy, member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of represe ...

* V. L. Ethiraj,

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

* Salim Ghouse, actor * T. R. Govindachari,

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

* S. Srinivasa Iyengar, freedom-fighter * L. V. Ramaswami Iyer, Indian

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

* K. Rajah Iyer, Advocate-General of Madras Presidency * Sarukkai Jagannathan, tenth Governor of the

* Kadambur R. Janarthanan, Union minister of India * K. S. Venkataramani, lawyer and a writer in English * V. Kanakasabhai, lawyer and historian * Sonti Kamesam, timber engineer and scientist * Kanmani, film director * Pattathuvila Karunakaran, film producer and short story writer * Gopalan Kasturi, Editor of

* M. O. P Iyengar, prominent Indian botanist and phycologist * Dr. V. Shanta,

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...

* Gana Bala, Playback Singer * Pushpavanam Kuppusamy, Folk Singer *

Thol. Thirumavalavan Tholkappiyan Thirumavalavan (born in 17 August 1962 as Ramasamy Thirumavalavan), better known as Thol. Thirumavalavan is a political leader, scholar and activist from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is a Member of Parliament from Ch ...

, Indian politician * Moosa Raza * Dr. A. K. Viswanathan IPS * T. Ananda * P. S. Sivaswami Iyer, Vice chancellor

Madras University The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

* S. Subramania Iyer, Vice chancellor

* Palapatti Sadaya Goundar Kailasam, Chief Justice of

* B. Jagannadha Das, Judge of the

* D. Ramanaidu, Dadasaheb Phalke award recipient and Former MP *

Mithavaadi Krishnan Changaramkumarath Krishnan Vakkeel was a community leader, banker, social reformer, and journalist from Kerala, India. He was a champion of implementing the revolutionary socialist reforms proposed by Sree Narayana Guru for the upliftment of th ...

, Social reformer * Moorkoth Ramunny, First Malayalee pilot in the Royal Indian Air Force * Kezhekapt Rukmini Menon, Second woman to be a career diplomat in India * O. V. Alagesan,

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and

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s * K. Kunjunniraja, Writer and Scholar * Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Vice Chancellor of

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

* T. J. Gnanavel, Film Director * Syam Sudhakar, Poet, Professor

Notable faculty

* E. B. Powell *

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 188817 April 1975; natively Radhakrishna) was an Indian academician, philosopher and statesman who served as the President of India from 1962 to 1967. He previously served as the vice president of ...

John Mathai John Matthai CIE (1886–1959) was an Indian economist who served as Independent India's first Railway Minister and subsequently as well as India's Finance Minister, taking office shortly after the presentation of India's first Budget, in 1 ...

* Alfred Gibbs Mourne * Philip Furley Fyson * Mark Hunter (Civil Servant) * E. W. Middlemast * Gustav Solomon Oppert * Harold Papworth * Peter Percival * A. Chakravarthi * Paravastu Chinnayasuri * T. R. Govindachari * P. C. Kokila * T. P. Meenakshisundaram * Mu. Metha * Chirayinkeezhu Ramakrishnan Nair * M. Nannan * Samuel Satthianadhan * B. G. L. Swami * Atoor Ravi Varma * Perumal Murugan * M. O. P Iyengar *

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer U.V. Swaminatha Iyer (19 February 1855 – 28 April 1942) was a Tamil language, 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 ...

, Tamil scholar Victoria hostel chennai

In popular culture

Presidency College (mainly its campus) was the place where many films were shot, including: * '' Mouna Ragam'' (1986) * '' Nayakan'' (1987), court scenes *'' Iyer the Great'' (1990) * ''Idhayam'' (1991) * '' Thiruda Thiruda'' (1993), government office scenes * ''Maanbumigu Manavan'' (1996) * '' Kadhal Desam'' (1996) * '' Sipayi'' (1996) * '' Aaytha Ezhuthu'' (2004) * ''Nanban'' (2012), hostel scenes * ''The Man Who Knew Infinity'' (2015)

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Presidency College, Chennai Arts and Science colleges in Chennai Colleges affiliated to University of Madras Educational institutions established in 1840