Muthiah Annamalai Chidambaram (12 October 1918 – 19 January 2000) was an Indian industrialist and cricket administrator. He was the youngest son of Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar, Raja of Chettinad.

Early life

Chidambaram was born at

Kanadukathan Kanadukathan is a Town Panchayat (T.P.), Town Panchayat in the Karaikudi taluk of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Demographics In 2001, Kanadukathan had a population of 4,795 people. Of these, 10% were under 6 years of age. The town is ...

on 12 October 1918, the third and youngest son of

Annamalai Chettiar ''Diwan Bahadur'' Sir Satappa Ramanatha Muthiah Annamalai Chettiar, Raja of Chettinad KCSI (30 September 1881 – 15 June 1948) better known as Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar was an Indian industrialist, banker, educationist and philanthropist ...

, the

Raja of Chettinad The Raja of Chettinad was an honorary title bestowed on the head of the S. Rm. M. family of Kanadukathan in the Chettinad region by the government of the Madras Presidency during the British Raj era in India. The title was first bestowed upon Sir ...

. He was the younger brother of

M. A. Muthiah Chettiar Sir Muthiah Annamalai Muthiah Chettiar, Rajah of Chettinad KCSI (5 August 1905 – 12 May 1984) better known as Rajah Sir Muthiah Chettiar was an Indian Industrialist, banker, politician, philanthropist, and cultural activist who served as F ...

and M. A. Ramanathan Chettiar.

Career

He started off with a scooter factory in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Automobile Products of India Automobile Products of India (API) was founded in 1949 at Bombay (now Mumbai), by the British company Rootes Group, and later bought over by M. A. Chidambaram of the MAC Group from Madras (now Chennai). The company manufactured Lambretta scoot ...

in 1946 and later became the Director of the Indian Aluminium Company at a young age. He was instrumental in founding the Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) and served as the chairman till his death. He was the Mayor of Madras in 1955. He was the president of the Southern Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 1951 to 1957. Chidambaram became the Vice President of the

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

(BCCI) in India in 1956, President from 1960–61 to 1962-63 and treasurer for about twenty years. He was the head of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) for 32 years. He was also the President of All India Lawn Tennis Association from 1963 to 1966. He played a significant role in the negotiations between the TNCA and the Madras Cricket Club over the construction of a stadium on the club's ground in

Chepauk Chepauk is a locality in Chennai, India. The name Chepauk is popularly used to refer to the M. A. Chidambaram International Cricket Stadium, also known as the Chepauk Stadium. It is also home to the Chepauk Palace, built in the Indo-Saraceni ...

. Completed in 1980, this stadium was later named

M. A. Chidambaram Stadium M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, commonly known as the Chepauk Stadium, is a cricket stadium in Chepauk, Chennai. It is named after former BCCI president M. A. Chidambaram, and is operated by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. It was established ...

in his honour. He was also an honorary life member of MCC, the Marylebone Cricket Club. Besides being a pioneering industrialist, MAC is also remembered for his contribution to several other fields. He started the Tamil Isai Sangam to promote music in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

. His trust contributed substantially to the Voluntary Health Service started by Dr K. Sanjeevi.

Family

Chidambaram has a son

A. C. Muthiah Annamalai Chidambaram Muthiah (born 1941) is an Indian industrialist and cricket administrator. He served as the Chairman of Southern Petrochemical Industries Limited (SPIC) and is the chairman of Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering (SVCE) ...

and a daughter Seetha. His nephew is the former

Finance Minister of India The minister of finance (Vitta Mantrī ) (or simply, the finance minister, short form FM) is the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India. One of the senior most offices of the Union Cabinet, the finance minister is r ...

P. Chidambaram Palaniappan Chidambaram (born 16 September 1945), better known as P. Chidambaram, is an Indian politician and lawyer who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. He served as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee o ...

Legacy

The

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 ...

(formerly the Madras Cricket Club Stadium) is named after M. A. Chidambaram.

References

External links

* ''M.A. Chidambaram, a multi-faceted personality'',

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

, 21 January 2000 * ''Sporting fraternity pays rich tributes to MAC'', The Hindu, 21 January 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chidambaram, M. A. 1918 births 2000 deaths Indian cricket administrators Businesspeople from Chennai Mayors of Chennai Indian industrialists Presidents of the Board of Control for Cricket in India 20th-century Indian businesspeople